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Doronio nears school record for career wins
Every member of the Mountain Home High School's wrestling team who wins 100 matches over the course of their career gets their name on the "Century Club" plaque.
The plaque sits outside the school's gymnasium inside a trophy case among the trophies the team has collected over the years.
There are 17 members of the prestigious club, which dates back to when coach Lynn Knudson took over the program in 1994.
However the plaque currently only lists the names of 16 members and their career records.
Kaeo Doronio, the lone member of the club whose name isn't on that plaque, joined the club last year as a junior and is still adding to his overall win total this year as a senior.
When his name is finally added to the plaque at the end of this season, he could very well hold the school record for wins.
Doronio needs 144 wins to eclipse the mark set by Johnny Nunez from 2000-2003, who went 143-23 during his career.
Doronio, who currently has 139 wins, knows the record is within his reach and said the record would mean a lot to him.
"It would show how much I've succeeded in this program since I was a freshman," Doronio said while pointing out all of his wins have came from varsity matches.
Assistant wrestling coach Scott Mederios said the team knew at the beginning of the year Doronio would be the team's number one guy.
"He's somebody you can count on," Mederios said. "We count on him for a win every single time, which is a lot of pressure but he handles it well."
Doronio has been counted on for wins at four different weight classes this season. Though he normally wrestles in the 130-pound weight class, he has also wrestled at 125, 135 and 140 while going 29-3 this year.
"He loves to wrestle; he loves to win," Mederios said.
Doronio hasn't always loved wrestling.
His dad, a former high school wrestler himself, got him into the sport. He said he didn't like it for the first half of the season.
"Then I started winning," Doronio said. "I started liking it, then I started loving it,"
Unfortunately for his opponents, Doronio's first season was when he was in fifth grade and he hasn't looked back since. He is only five wins away from the school's all-time win record.
Mederios said it's not just the record that Doronio is after, but also the chance to surpass Nunez.
"To be mentioned in the same line as him (Nunez) would complement him the most," Mederios said. "It's not just the win record but becauses it's Johnny Nunez's win record."
Nunez won two state titles and posted the school's only undefeated season as a senior. After graduating he wrestled for Boise State University where he finished as high as fourth at the Pac-10 championship wrestling tournament.
He visits the school's mat room occasionally to talk to the team and sometimes practices with them. His name hangs from the walls in the mat room, alongside the names of the other state champions from Mountain Home.
It's a place Doronio hopes his name is hanging from at the end of the season.
Doronio placed third at the state meet as a sophomore and fourth as a junior. He knows this year is his final shot at the title that has eluded him thus far in his career.
"It's everything right now," he said. "I really want the state title."
Doronio is currently ranked first in the 130-pound weight class in the state.
He credits practice and the amount of mat time he gets as the reasons for his success, which should be no surprise for someone who calls the mat his safe haven.
"When I'm with the boys, we're like family," he said. "It gives me a place to go, kind of like a safe haven. It keeps me out of trouble and gives me something to do. My teammates are like my brothers and my coaches are like my dad."
Despite the challenges he's faced along the way, Doronio has enjoyed his time as a member of the Mountain Home High School wrestling team.
"It's been great," he said. "It's had it's ups and downs, but I've made it. It's my last year."
While it is his last year, Doronio still has a lot left that he wants to accomplish between now and the end of the season, which ends Feb. 28 at the Idaho state championships.