Laney wrestler Avery Buonocore has his sights set on a state title this winter, but the senior’s path to dominance on the mat involves far more than wins and losses.
Growing up in a turbulent Ohio household, Avery spent the early years of his life in fear. His birth father was not in the picture and one of his mother’s friends was abusive.
“If anything upset him, he would take it out on us,” Avery said. “There was six of us and there was a mom who had a low wage job looking after six kids and she needed to find someone to pay the bills and it just so happened that this guy took a lot of his frustration out on.” small children.”
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The tumultuous upbringing left Avery a child who struggled to make friends, got into fights, and was filled with anger. When he was 5 years old, his aunt adopted him and took him to North Carolina.
Even in a better situation, Avery struggled as a youth. At school he was the outcast and often did anything to attract attention.
“I grew up in an environment where I lied and lied and lied because if I lied, maybe I wouldn’t get hit. I would go to school and get in trouble every day. I would try to argue with everyone. I just wanted all the attention I could get from anyone,” he said.
While Avery was fast and energetic as a kid, he was small and didn’t fit into mainstream sports like soccer. At the age of 10, his adoptive father, Nick, introduced him to wrestling and began a life-changing endeavor.
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Aside from his natural gift for the sport, he had the perfect opportunity to unleash his previously pent-up emotions in a constructive way.
“I had a lot of problems and wrestling was an outlet that I had,” he said. “All the frustration and anger I had when I was younger, I was able to get on the mat and have the opportunity I needed. Without (wrestling) I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Laney wrestling coach Andre Adams has watched Avery transform from an athlete who lacked confidence to one of the team’s top competitors over the past two seasons.
“He’s been behind some really tough guys in the past and he was just the dumb little brother and now we’re making him a good leader,” Adams said. “He pushes people, so not everyone wants to train with him because they’re not willing to work that hard.”
A self-proclaimed introvert, Avery didn’t have many friends as a child. Wrestling changed that, and while he’s still not the most popular boy in school, the transformation has been instrumental in his growth.
“I didn’t have very many friends and I screwed up the ones I did have. No kid wants to be with another kid who always wants attention,” he said. “Wrestling calmed me down and I wasn’t that crazy. I’ve also had other people going through the same things as me, so I really connected.”
“I hate this sport”
As a junior, Avery finished runner-up in the 138-pound division, is vying for a state title this winter and will join the program at UNC Pembroke this fall.
As a freshman, however, he struggled to find his confidence. While he was naturally the best wrestler on the mat in middle school, high school brought competition from former state champions like Mark Samuel.
Avery recalls crying on the mat during a workout, not because he was hurt, but because the wrestler he was facing completely broke him down.
“I was destroyed. I got tired and he poured it on. It was like a shark smelling blood. It took an hour and a half to get my butt kicked. At that moment I thought, I hate this sport, why would I ever want to do that?” he said.
However, the tribulation of that experience taught Avery a valuable lesson for which he remains grateful to this day.
“He literally made me cry, and he didn’t stop, he just kept going. I’m really grateful for that,” he said.
During Avery’s journey, he remembers being lucky. Lucky he left his situation and was adopted at a young age. Happy to be surrounded by talented coaches and teammates. Most importantly, he feels lucky to have his parents.
“I am really grateful to a lot of people in my life. I wasn’t a good kid growing up,” he said. “I’m honestly surprised my mother stuck through all of this. She really is my savior, so I’m really grateful to her.”
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