SPORTS
East Oregonian
Page 4B
Saturday, November 19, 2016
ANGELS: Started out training football players for NFL Combine
Continued from 1B
Fiocchi grabbed the attention
of the Angels organization,
predominately General Manager
Billy Eppler, with not only his
successful overall resume but
the work put in at Dynamic
Sports Training — the sports
performance company Fiocchi
founded and has operated in
Houston since 2008.
“They got my contact and
felt like I could be a potential
fit so they reached out to me
to see if I was interested,”
Fiocchi said.
And he was.
•••
After Fiocchi’s football
playing days finished, he
first dabbled in coaching as a
graduate assistant for two years
at Eastern Illinois where he also
assisted with the team’s strength
and conditioning coach. But
once it was time for Fiocchi to
complete an internship in order
to graduate he focused on the
classwork and shortly after
began his internship at a private
facility near Chicago.
The internship turned out to
be Fiocchi’s first big break for
his career, as just five weeks
into his tenure one of the
strength coaches had to step
down and Fiocchi was hired on
and elevated into a position of
authority as an intern.
“At that facility I worked
with a professional soccer
player, professional hockey
player, and a professional
football player along with the
primary athletes that were prep
level,” he said. “So that was
some pretty good exposure.”
Fiocchi completed his
internship and graduated from
Eastern Illinois in 2004 and
soon was looking elsewhere
to continue his career. He
was still focused on working
with football players, and
had a special interest in
training college athletes as
they prepared for the grueling
process of the NFL Combine.
He started looking around at
facilities in the southern states
and soon got a job in Houston
doing just what he wanted.
But not long after he moved
to Houston Fiocchi was on the
move again to join renowned
trainer Pete Bommarito — who
Fiocchi met while training at
IMG Academy — as Bommarito
split from IMG and opened his
own facility. Fiocchi was one of
the key coaches for Bommarito’s
NFL Combine training, but soon
after got his first exposure to
training professional baseball
players as well.
Fiocchi impressed enough
during his short tenure that he
was elevated into the director
of MLB off-season training
programs at Perfect Competi-
tion in Davie, Florida, where he
got to work directly with players
like Miguel Cabrera of the
Detroit Tigers, as well as retired
players Miguel Tejada, Magglio
Ordoñez, and Raul Ibañez.
After a couple years in
Florida, Fiocchi got married
to his wife Crystal and the
couple decided to settle down
in Houston where they first
met. But instead of looking
for another place to work,
Lee Fiocchi
holds
the 2014
American
Athletic
Confer-
ence
champi-
onship
trophy
won by
University
of Houston
baseball
while he
was the
team’s
head
strength
and con-
ditioning
coach.
Contributed
photo courtesy of
Lee Fiocchi
Fiocchi thought it was time to
start on another dream of his
— owning his own business.
He started Dynamic Sports
Training in 2008, which started
out as a simple boot camp-
style workouts that he coached
at a local park. But he pounded
the pavement to advertise and
worked some connections to
try and grow the business,
which happened slower than
he had hoped.
Finally Fiocchi caught
another break as he got
connected with the head
baseball coach at Houston
Christian High School and
he started working with the
school’s baseball team. That
relationship slowly blossomed
for Fiocchi and DST and before
long he was working with most
EOU FOOTBALL:
Continued from 1B
season finale 62-0 over Briar Cliff,
and boasts a stout run defense that is
limiting teams to 109.7 yards per game.
The Mountaineers (8-2) pounding
the turf for more than 300 yards in their
27-17 win over Carroll last week, and
Camp that dedication to the running
game is something he expects the team
will need to advance in the postseason.
“It’s one of those things where
we’re not going to change who we
are,” Camp said. “We have things that
fit right into what they do and it’s going
to come down to fundamentals. If we
can block and we can take care of the
football, I feel really, really good about
our system and style of play against
anybody in the country.”
Both teams finished second in the
conference with EOU taking runner-up
to No. 6 Montana Tech in the Frontier
Conference and Doane finishing
second to No. 5 Morningside in the
Great Plains Athletic Conference.
of the school’s athletic teams.
“And since then we have
been able to establish a
relationship and we operate
out of (Houston Christian)
school’s facility under a
contract where we’re able
to provide them services
and also be able to train our
athletes at their facilities,”
Fiocchi said. “So it’s been a
really good relationship.”
That partnership helped
DST grow into what it is today,
operating out of two locations
and being a go-to place for
top amateur and professional
athletes to enhance their perfor-
mance. On top of that, DST has
also supplied the strength and
conditioning for the University
of Houston’s baseball team,
which Fiocchi spearheaded. He
will still be involved with the
overall operations at DST while
he is working with the Angels,
but the infrastructure that’s in
place allows the company to
thrive in his absence.
“It gives some guys some
opportunities to really develop
in the company but in terms
of day-to-day operations it’s
not really going to impact
anything,” he said. “And I’ll
still be back in Houston during
the off-season.”
•••
Once Fiocchi met with
the Angels, he knew it was
a no-brainer to take the job.
Getting the chance to work
with one of the best players in
the MLB in Mike Trout and
a surefire Hall of Famer in
Albert Pujols is enticing, but
the vision of the organization
really sold Fiocchi.
“I’m more excited about
where the organization is
going,” Fiocchi said. “They
(Angels) really want an athlete-
first approach and they felt
like hiring me was their most
important piece in developing
that culture of doing what’s
best for the athlete.
“But it’s cool. I’ve been
working with a lot of athletes
prior to this and I’m prepared
regardless if I’m training a
nine-year-old or whatever age
a guy like Pujols is, I’m going
to put myself in a position to
be a resource for those guys.”
Fiocchi is also looking
forward to the challenge of
working with the team through
the grueling MLB season, and
learning all tricks of the trade.
“I’m semi-familiar with
what some of those demands
are for them playing in 162
games and I’m ready for that
challenge,” he said. “Every-
thing from the day-to-day
operations to the adjustments
we’ll have to make to help
perform on a nightly basis.”
And with the Angels playing
in the American League West
Division, Fiocchi is looking
forward to some opportunities
to see some family members
during the season.
“The good thing is we play
Seattle, they’re in our division,”
Fiocchi said, “and hopefully
I’ll be able to see some of my
family for the games.”
He still has plenty of family
living in the Pacific Northwest,
as his father and grandmother
still live in Hermiston — with
his father still living in Fioc-
chi’s childhood home — and
he also has a brother living in
Kennewick, Washington and
one living in Portland. With
Fiocchi’s busy schedule as
well as his wife’s schedule as a
teacher, it’s made it difficult to
visit Hermiston as often as he
would like.
“We were just back a few
months ago in August and that
was the first in about three
years I think,” he said. “I do
miss it, the community and
where people know you pretty
well, so it’s always nice to get
back here.”
———
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com or (541)
966-0839. Follow him on
Twitter @ByEricSinger.
OSU WRESTLING:
The Tigers are a run-first team that
has churned out an average of 230.6
yards per game on the ground and
added 178.1 per game through the air.
Running back Nate Meier is their top
offensive weapon and has scored 15
touchdowns this season while posting
averages of 6.4 yards per run and
143.3 yards per game. Quarterback
Jack Shadley enters the game with a
53.1 completion percentage with 16
touchdowns and six interceptions.
EOU senior running back Alfred
Gross is averaging just under 100
yards a game on the ground with
seven rushing scores this season while
senior quarterback Zach Bartlow has
completed 58.5 percent of his passes
while throwing for 21 TDs and five
interceptions. He’s also averaging 49
yards a game rushing and has run in
five touchdowns.
Benchwarmer’s Pub and Grill
located in La Grande at 210 Depot St.
will host a viewing party, and the game
will also air live on Newstalk 103.1 FM.
Continued from 1B
(149 pounds) and Abraham
Rodriguez (157) in the Beavers’
starting lineup.
His addition to the lineup will
allow redshirt freshman Corey
Griego (1-1) to move up to 197,
and junior Cody Crawford will
enter the lineup at heavyweight
where the team is still trying to
fill the hole left by an injury to
All-American Amarveer Dhesi.
The
Wolverines
enter
Sunday’s dual with four wrestlers
in their lineup ranked in the top
20 by InterMat. The Beavers have
two — No. 17 Crawford and No.
19 141-pounder Joey Palmer.
“It’s a good test for us, that is
what it’s all about, a chance to see
where we are,” OSU coach Jim
Zalesky said. “You have to get
tested to see exactly how you stand.
“Right now we’re trying to
find out our best lineup, and go
from there.”
The Beavers beat Duke 22-20
at the Mountaineer Duals before
falling to host No. 23 Appala-
chian State 25-15.
Delgado and Rodriguez are
both 2-0. Rodriguez, a redshirt
junior, improved his career
record to 45-26 with two wins
by decision, while the redshirt
senior Delgado improved to
65-38 with one pin to give him
13 for his OSU career.
Oregon State
The unranked Rodriguez is set
to face No. 5 Brian Murphy (1-0)
in what could be the match-up of
the day. Delgado will likely see
redshirt sophomore Zac Hall
(4-2), and Coleman is matched
against redshirt junior Ernest
Battaglia (0-0).
A fourth local is also wres-
tling for the Beavers again this
season, though redshirt freshman
Hans Rockwell is behind Palmer
at 141 on the Beavers’ dual
depth chart.
The four-time state champion
at Riverside High, Rockwell
went 4-2 with two pins at the
Mike Clock Open, but had to
settle for fourth place after an
injury default and hasn’t had
a chance to wrestle since. His
next opportunity should come
when the Beavers return from
Thanksgiving break for the
Dec. 2-3 Cliff Keen Las Vegas
Invitational.
Sunday’s dual begins at noon
will be televised by the Pac-12
Network. The match is the
second annual Joe Wells Classic
in honor of the former Michigan
assistant (1979-92) and Oregon
State head coach (1992-2006)
who died of cancer in 2015.
Michigan won their meeting
in Ann Arbor last season 27-9
and owns a 7-1 advantage in the
all-time series.
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EAST OREGONIAN • HERMISTON HERALD • BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE • WALLOWA COUNTY CHIEFTAIN
CLASSIFIED INDEX
003 First Look
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515 Musical
450 Round-Up
302 Statewide Classified
155 Out of Area Property for Sale
740 Trailers
485 Miscellaneous
330 Child/ Adult Care
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100 Homes For Sale
Lost & Found
5
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125 Homes with Acreage
004 Bargain Bin!
005 Lost & Found
530 Garage Sales- Pendleton
415 Livestock
310 Business Opportunities
015 Holiday Happenings
545 Garage Sales- Athena/ Weston
430 Lawn and Garden
445 Pets
505 Wanted to Buy
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TRAVEL DOWNUNDER April
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245 Storage Units
135 Lots & Acreage
140 Commerical Property
710 Auto Parts
470 Auctions
420 Feed and Seed
200 Rentals
800 Business/ Service Directory
490 Household Items
335 Employment
100 Homes For Sale
Personals
20
Email or Call Terri or Dayle
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Homes for Sale
100
ATHENA - $128,000
Athena home/great condition. 3
bdrm, 2 ba, 1188 sf(m/l)
manufactured home, corner lot.
Large, shaded front deck, off
street and RV parking. Cari 541-
377-5058cell. #16443563
Coldwell Banker Whitney
(541) 276-0021
Homes for Sale
340 Summer Youth Jobs
255 Roommates Wanted
260 Want to Rent
010 Special Notices
535 Garage Sales- Pilot Rock
475 Fuel and Heating
325 Education/ Schools
020 Personals
555 Garage Sales- Other
500 Antiques
100
BLUE
JEANS
REALTY.
Residential,
Commercial,
Mountain properties. Call us
today to sell your home or buy
your new property.
“Our office is wherever you are”
Rocky Mikesell
Blue Jeans Realty
541-379-8690
CALL THE “Weekend & After
Hours Realtor” to view homes
at a convenient time for you.
Available on Short Notice,
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Financing
Program
Information! Call Matt Vogler,
541.377.9470
John J. Howard & Assoc.
(541) 377-9470
ATHENA - $129,900
Athena Home! 1440sf(m/l), 1
level home with 3 bedrooms 2
baths. User friendly kitchen.
F/A heating and cooling.
Fenced
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neighborhood. Jerry 541-969-
6378 cell. #16364082
Coldwell Banker Whitney
(541) 276-0021
CURRENT LOW Inventory is
providing a good time to sell! Call
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541.377.9470
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(541) 377-9470
Homes for Sale
435 Good Things to Eat
350 Wanted Employment
400 Horse and Tack
150 Real Estate Wanted
720 Trucks
540 Garage Sales- Hermiston
425 Farm Equipment
240 Office Space Available
900 Legal Notices
012 Round-Up
100
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origin, or an intention to make any
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people securing custody of children
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This newspaper will not knowingly
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call HUD toll-free at 1-800-669-
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Homes for Sale
100
BEAUTIFULLY UPDATED 4
bedroom, 3 Updated kitchen,
refinished
hardwood
floors,
newer windows,
remodeled
bathrooms,
Storage
Deluxe
including
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room,
basement pantry, bonus room
and workshop. Sharp! Call Matt
$219,000,
Vogler,
MLS:16267013
John J. Howard & Assoc.
(541) 377-9470
FABULOUS 4 bedroom, 3 bath
Town-home, with top of North
Main Views, featuring high-end
finishes, satin nickel fixtures,
granite countertops, solid doors,
vaulted
ceilings,
detailed
moldings. $239,000. Call Matt
Vogler, MLS: 16221871
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