KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE—For St. Joseph Academy’s Pablo Zolezzi, the case was always simple when it came to where he wanted to go to school. When head coach and athletic director Tino Villareal sat down with Zolezzi and asked what would be his dream school, Zolezzi responded with Texas A&M.
“College Station has been my dream school since I was 7 years old,” Zolezzi said. “To be able to have that opportunity in my hands it means a lot to me.”
On Thursday, Zolezzi made it official by signing on with the track program to throw discus with Texas A&M University in College Station.
While the road to College Station wasn’t a clear path, Zolezzi also had the University of Houston on his radar and was committed to the Cougars. That was until Villareal got a hold of Texas A&M and helped open the door for Zolezzi to head to Aggieland.
“This is a big relief and, being so late in the process, it has been hectic,” Zolezzi said. “I was deciding between A&M and the University of Houston and I ultimately picked A&M. As soon as A&M called, I was in. There was just a lot of paper work we had to do, but luckily, we got it done on time.”
Zolezzi, who graduated this past summer as the SJA school record holder in the discus, is ready for the challenges that the South Eastern Conference will bring.
“I was a little nervous about signing, but thankfully, everything went great,” he said. “I’m excited to be an Aggie and ready to excel as a person and as a student athlete. I think the challenge will be gaining size. They are a lot bigger than me, so I will hit the weight room hard. I’m ecstatic to be in the SEC conference — it is just exciting.”
Zolezzi is no stranger to track and field. His career began in junior high, where he competed in every event before finding his mojo in the discus. All that translated to Zolezzi winning multiple track meets over his career, including the Meet of Champions and the Sam Relays. Zolezzi also capped off his career as a three-time state champion in the discus, winning in his sophomore, junior and senior season.
“I have been Pablo’s athletic director and I have known him since seventh grade. He has always been a very discipline athlete and he knows what he wants,” Villareal said. “The moment he got a taste of his first state title as a sophomore, he knew he really had something special and he continued to work. He is a multi-sport athlete and played football for us and did a great job, but he never lost focus on what he wanted to do and that was to throw at a big-time program and it doesn’t get any bigger than Texas A&M.”