Jamari Cardoso-Mason is a dual-sport athlete, playing football and wrestling for the Thunderbolts.
Courtesy photo
Looks can be deceiving.
Watch
Jamari Cardoso-Mason on the mat and anyone would guess he picked up wrestling at a young age and worked his way up the ranks.
However, that's not the case.
The junior at
Cranston East (Cranston, R.I.) recently wrapped up just his third year of wrestling, competing at the state meet the last two years.
Cardoso-Mason went 2-2 this year at state at 170 pounds and just missed out on placing.
He's surprised himself just how quickly he's picked up the sport and how well he's done. Cardoso-Mason's work ethic is a big reason for his success.
"Working at it consistently," Cardoso-Mason said. "I play football, so I have a natural ability to bring people down. That's pretty much wrestling, just body control."
The 16-year-old believes football gave him a head start in the transition to wrestling. When he went out for the wrestling team as a freshman, Cranston East wrestling coach Glenn Castiglia had a conversation with the football coach, who is his friend.
"When I told him he was on my roster, he said, ‘He's a good one,' " Castiglia said. "He said, ‘This kid's going to play football.' I had heard a lot of positive things about him in terms of his ability. I said, ‘Well, if he's half the wrestler that he is a football player, we'll be in good shape.' And he has picked it up quick."
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Cardoso-Mason had a tough first year on the mat at 132 pounds, but that pushed him to succeed as a sophomore. Wrestling at 152 pounds, he advanced to state in his second season. Cardoso-Mason had a valuable learning experience at state, going 1-2.
"He did some offseason training last year, which we try to explain to these guys that these days you can't get by just doing something three months out of the year," Castiglia said. "He took that to heart, and he started doing stuff."
Cardoso-Mason improved as a wrestler in a number of areas. He's still picking up the nuances of the sport each time he's on the mat.
"My technique was way better this year than it was last year," Cardoso-Mason said. "Learning new moves and stuff like that really helped me."
Cardoso-Mason posted a 15-2 record in the regular season.
Cardoso-Mason went 2-2 this year at state
at 170 pounds, just missing a place finish.
Courtesy photo
At state, he won his first-round match by a 6-5 decision but was pinned in the first period in the second round. Cardoso-Mason rebounded in wrestlebacks for a 3-0 decision, which advanced him to the second day of the tournament. He lost the next match via pin to end his season.
"I think he was kind of upset, which hopefully will motivate him throughout the offseason," Castiglia said. "I know his main focus is football, I understand that and I don't have a problem with that. He'll never be able to completely dedicate his entire offseason just to one thing."
Football is Cardoso-Mason's passion. Being a linebacker/defensive end hybrid has helped him on the mat.
"I don't shy away from the physicality body to body contact, and that's what both sports are, physical sports," Cardoso-Mason said. "You have to have some type of toughness to be able do both sports. I guess my toughness in football transitioned to wrestling. They balance each other out."
Castiglia believes wrestling can make a football player better on the gridiron. However, he doesn't think success on the football translates to wrestling.
"In wrestling, you just learn certain skills that easily translate to football — hand fighting and balance and just being able to go one-on-one," Castiglia said. "In football, he's a tackling machine. He's unbelievable. There were times even this year where I told him that if he was working with a guy and he was on his feet and just said, ‘Listen, when it comes down to it, this is literally just football.' I said, ‘Just go tackle the guy.' It's funny because he would kind of laugh and loosen up a little bit and then he would just go and blast through the kid. It was great."
A three-year starter on defense, Cardoso-Mason had his best season in football last fall. He tied for the state lead in sacks (13.5) and finished with 75 tackles, 69 of them solo.
Cardoso-Mason rose to the occasion in his team's 42-28 victory over Portsmouth in the Division I Super Bowl. He tallied 3.5 sacks as the Thunderbolts captured their first championship in 12 years.
What makes Cardoso-Mason such a good football is he has an instinctive nose for the ball. He credits his size at 5-foot-9 as being advantageous.
"I'm undersized, but my size works to my advantage against the bigger people," he said. "I think I'm quick enough to move around them to get the ball, to get the person with the ball."
Cardoso-Mason doesn't let his small stature hamper him.
"I just play like me, I play aggressive," Cardoso-Mason said. "I'm obviously small so I'm already at a disadvantage. I just have to hit them as hard as I can and show them that I'm not afraid to be on the same field as them."
Cardoso-Mason — who is running on the track and field team this spring to get quicker for football — is interested in playing college. But because of his height, schools haven't been knocking down his door.
Cardoso-Mason plans to reach out to schools this summer. He believes he can play at any level. It certainly helps he doesn't lack confidence.
"I definitely think I'm Division I potential," Cardoso-Mason said. "This height is kind of hindering me. I definitely think I can play at the Alabamas and LSUs."
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Although Cardoso-Mason has improved each year as a wrestler, his first love is football and would like to be able to play college football one day.
Courtesy photo
