Former Sunnyside High School wrestling standout and longtime coach Sam Portillo continues to give back to the community, especially on the southside of Tucson where he is from, through the sport of which he has devoted his life.
His camp at Pueblo on Saturday morning was so significant former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, a two-time All-American at Arizona State, was a featured speaker and trainer for the youths in fifth to 12th grade.
Portillo’s venture since 1991 is unique not only in this city or this state, but in this country, in terms of wrestling and a free camp for youngsters whose parents are unable to afford similar events that charge a fee.
“I’m the only person in this country who does this,” mentioned Portillo, who would know considering his background as a coach within the USA Wrestling program.
Portillo’s former Sunnyside teammate Thom Ortiz, the head coach at Scottsdale Saguaro who was a standout wrestler and head coach at Arizona State, and MMA fighter and boxer John Moraga (another Sun Devil wrestling All-American) were also on hand.
“This is for the southside kids,” Portillo told the approximate 150 campers and their parents at the event at Pueblo.
Pueblo coaches, including head coach Josiah Smith, organized the event along with Portillo, who is on the Warriors’ staff. They prepared the wrestling room and gym and facilitated the training sessions.
“It was an awesome camp,” Portillo stated afterward. “Good, positive vibes. Cain loves Tucson and was happy and proud to be here and help these kids out.”
“We were very lucky. I couldn’t have done this without Tommy Ortiz, my best friend and compadre since we were 8 years old.”
Former Pueblo wrestler Luis Vega, now a Pima Community College success coach, brought his sons Antonio Carter and Dylan Cooper.
“It’s all that tree — those roots are embedded and it’s all about familia,” said Vega, who shares a background with Portillo and Ortiz through wrestling with all them from the southside.
“It’s about community. It’s about family.”
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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