By William Soquet
Contributing Writer
Name: Eric Sperduto
Parents: Aaron and Jody Sperduto
Activities: Football, wrestling, tennis and track and field
Eric is seemingly everywhere for the Red Raiders. He was a force on the defensive line last fall, is in the middle of the wrestling season — competing in the heavyweight class — and made it to sectionals in tennis last season. He has committed to UW-Platteville to play football.
You had a wrestling match on Jan. 19 against Preble. How did that go?
“I won. I pinned my opponent in the second period. It was senior night, so that was pretty cool.”
Tell me about your journey as a wrestler.
“I’ve had an interesting path with wrestling. I started in seventh grade, wrestled in eighth grade, wrestled freshman year, and then didn’t wrestle my sophomore year because of COVID. My junior year, I couldn’t wrestle because I tore my ACL. So this is my first year back after two years off, so I’m getting back into it.”
How has the learning curve been on your return?
“The first couple weeks were a little bit of a learning curve, but at this point, I feel like I’ve picked up where I left off and I’m progressing at a pretty good pace.”
Do you feel like the heavyweight division is competitive locally?
“I do feel like it’s pretty competitive. Off the top of my head, there are two ranked heavyweights in the conference, one from Ashwaubenon and one from Bay Port, who we wrestle (Jan. 26). That’s going to be a good match. Every match is competitive, but those two off the top of my head are the two biggest challengers in the area.”
What’s your favorite way to get a pin?
“Probably a snowplow. (It’s a move where) you do a cross-face, so you’re behind, and then you reach across and you grab an elbow and pull him in and get him on a shoulder. Then you grab the elbow with both hands and circle around — it’s really tight and it’s hard for the other person to get out. I’ve been doing it for a really long time.”
How did your senior football season go?
“I’m really proud of how our team did. We were coming off of the weird spring season my sophomore year and then going right into a fall season, so we had like eight months of football in a row. This was our first big break coming into a normal season. We had a big senior class with a lot of talent, and I thought we played really well every game. The two teams we ended up losing to were really successful teams, with West De Pere making it to state and Bay Port making it far into the playoffs. Everyone was disappointed that we didn’t do as well as we wanted to in those games, but overall, I’m really proud of how the season turned out and with how everybody played.
You were named first-team all-conference at the end of the year. What does that mean to you?
“It was really cool, especially since I missed my junior year from an ACL tear. It was my first season back in a while, so I was really worried about the learning curve and just strength-wise, how playing on the new ACL would feel. I had a lot of support, encouragement and motivation to make up for the missed season, and it felt really good to have that recognition from the coaches in the conference that saw the hard work that I was putting in. It just felt really good to be noticed.”
Do you have a specific play that stands out to you from your high school career?
“There’s one from my sophomore season that was pretty cool. I wound up getting an interception, which never happens for defensive linemen. It was a fluke play, it was a game against Ashwaubenon and I think it was my first game on varsity. It was really nerve-racking, but I ended up an interception, which was really cool.”
You committed to UW-Platteville to play football. What made you choose there?
“It was pretty much all the academic side. I like the fact that there’s a good football program. They’re known for good engineering, and they have really nice facilities. After touring, putting it all together, it just felt like the right place.”
Do you prefer to play singles or doubles in tennis?
“I prefer to play doubles. I like the teamwork aspect of it, and I like that I don’t have to run around as much.”
How does Wisconsin spring weather affect your tennis season?
“Early in the season, late March and April, it’s tough to find practice times with the courts being full of snow and really wet, and it’s also tough to have matches. I know there were at least two or three last year that were rained out, and they weren’t rescheduled because we couldn’t find a time.
What’s the best part of your game?
“I feel like I have to work on almost every part of it, but if I had to say one thing, I think that I have a pretty good serve and a pretty good drop stroke, that’s pretty consistent.”
You also dabble in track and field when it doesn’t conflict with tennis. What’s that like?
“I just do the field part. Last year was my first year trying it out, and I just do shot put and discus.”
Where is your favorite place to go out to eat after a game?
“After football home games, the parents would always buy pizza for the players. But during the football season and even into the winter, a bunch of the football guys would go to Wouters Front and get some wings on Wednesday nights after practice.”
Who are a couple of the music artists at the top of your playlist?
“I listen to a very wide variety of music. If I had to say a couple, probably The Steve Miller Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steve Lacy and Tyler, The Creator. There’s more than that, too.”
When you’re not playing sports, what are some of your hobbies?
“In the summer, I really like mountain biking and fishing. I also like ice fishing and snowmobiling. I like to work out a lot. I just like to hang out, and I play the piano as well. When I find time, not at school, I do like a little bit of that [the piano].”
Where is one of your favorite places to go?
“We don’t really travel much out of state or out of country, but the place we go to the most is our cabin up north. That’s my favorite place to go. It’s fun to snowmobile and hang out up there.”
What are some of the clubs you’re involved in?
“I’m the president of National Honor Society; I’m in Yearbook Club as the editor for the yearbook; this year, I joined Skills USA; I’m in band, although that’s only kind of a club.”
What do your academic plans look like at Platteville?
“I’m going to start with mechanical engineering, so physics and math go into that. But depending on what I figure out my interests and what I want to do, I might switch my major to chemical [engineering] or something like that.”