When Vic Custastis is on the mat, his opponents are not the only thing that falls.
The records come tumbling down right alongside them.
But there is still one record that he hasn’t reached. There’s one record he is still striving to get to, the program’s all-time wins record.
Cusastis currently sits at 163 career wins and he is chasing the all-time record of 180 wins. If he does break the record, it will come in Albany, at the state championships.
“That would mean a lot, to have my name go down in the record books for multiple different things at Wilson would be phenomenal, getting my name on the wall or on records, on books,” Cusastis said. “It would mean a lot and it would make me and my family, supporters proud that what they did meant a lot and their support throughout all of this worked out.”
This season, Cusastis is 29-1 with 20 of those wins coming via the fall or the tech fall. He is currently riding a 13-match winning streak dating back to Dec. 20. With three dual meets and an invitational before the Section VI state qualifier, Wilson is just hoping Cusasitis has enough matches left to break the record.
“I would say just the offensive dominance I think he’s had,” Wilson head coach Mike Carlo said about what separates Custastis from the competition. “… At the end of his season this year, he’ll probably own at least half of the season records and some of the career records, like for points scored or win percentage or potentially the total number of wins. … Some guys will get their win and get off the mat, he’s more in control.”
While Custastis owns multiple season and career program records, that was not always his goal. Early on the plan wasn’t quite as grand. When he first joined the team in eighth grade, Custastis was just looking to put forth an effort and never take a second in the sport for granted.
Since he started as an eighth-grader, Cusastis’ growth has been evident to his coaches. He has gotten more confident in his ability to turn around adverse situations. Cusastis has gained the ability to not panic and scramble out of challenging situations on the mat.
It was early in Custastis’ career when he figured out not only what his best skill as a grappler was, but also what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He has found his life’s passion on the mat and he wants to take it all the way to college and then a career as an athletic director.
“I think my best skill is helping people to get better at the sport of wrestling because what I’ve learned throughout my years is learning from other people, from my coaches,” Custastis said. “… I think that’s my best skill, is giving back to what I’ve learned to give back to the younger community to grow the sport of wrestling.”
Over the last five years, his success has been obvious to everybody watching, but it has not come without a lot of work behind the scenes. Cusastis loves the sport of wrestling.
He wakes up thinking about the sport and goes to bed thinking about the sport. He puts in the work during the offseason in the room and in the gym. The work does not stop when the wrestling season comes to an end.
The sport has grabbed him and won’t let go. It is a sport that he wants to be involved in even when his own career ends.
“What people don’t know is how I’ve put into this and how much I’ve dedicated my life to this and what people don’t know is my backstory,” Cusastis said. “…They don’t know how much work and dedication and grind I’ve put into that.”
Custastis is trying to make his first appearance at the state championships since his freshman season, where he lost in the third consolation round. Custastis’ recipe to make a return trip to the state capital is very simple: take care of himself and work hard every day.
If he does finish atop the podium in Albany, Custastis will be joining Hamza Merrick (last year) as the only two Wilson individual champions in program history.
“I need to come out on top of the rest of my matches this season,” Cusastis said. “(I) have to take advantage of what I have in front of me and accomplish it.”