Fancy your basic high school wrestler: staggering off the mat, huffing, puffing, perspiring and perhaps with tissue shoved up his schnoz to stop the bleeding.

Seems most atypical features for someone who would one day pay the bills touting the full-bodied flavors of blueberry, chocolate, plums and black pepper in the fabulous Petite Sirah he had last night.

But then, Emanuel Diaz is no ordinary guy. Diaz, who wrestled at Montville High and recently graduated from Central Florida, is an aspiring sommelier — or wine steward, a professional who specializes in wine and food pairings and other aspects of wine service.

"Sommelier isn't the end goal," Diaz was saying the other day from Alexandria, Va., where he manages Ada's On The River, a 5-star eatery on the Potomac. "It's something I can use as leverage, especially in the market we're in, which is very volatile. The turnover rate in restaurant management is quick."

Diaz, the son of Desiree and Ruben, hails from a big, proud family here in our corner of the world. And they know their food. Hence, this quite literal wine and dine story.

"I'm very lucky to have the cultural and ethnic background that I have," Diaz said. "Growing up was mostly focused in the kitchen. My mom, dad, aunts and uncles. I always saw all different food and wine. We traveled throughout the Caribbean, Portugal, Italy and got exposed to a lot of different people. It made me want to be a sponge.

"Both my parents can cook well. They're good at different things. My mom and Aunt Lisa (Potter) would make johnnycakes (a Caribbean-inspired fried dough). My grandfather made chicken and dumplings. Those are my soul foods. My dad made Arroz Con Pollo (so much more than the 'rice with chicken' translation suggests) and his Habichuelas (rice and beans) are all staples I make today."

Diaz took wine classes at UCF with a professor who owned some vineyards in South Africa. Suddenly, his passions married better than the stars do to the stripes: good food and good wine equals aspiring sommelier.

"A sommelier manages wine selling and inventory, but the biggest role service wise in the restaurant is to elevate an experience for the diner," Diaz said. "Food and wine go perfectly together. There are perfect pairings in the world that will always make a steak taste better. Being able to know how to do that is what a Level 2 sommelier does. I'm a Level 1 right now My goal is to be Level 2 next year."

Loosely interpreted, here is what most of us really know about wine: The world has fewer problems by glass No. 2. White in summer, red in winter. Orson Welles advised to sell no wine before it's time. And while eight glasses of water per day feels like a chore, eight glasses of wine is a sign of a good meal.

And yet true wine people seem to speak a different language. Many of us see a simple glass of Cabernet — and a bartender who doesn't fill it high enough. But the sommelier sees a "garnet-hued color with lovely acidity and subtle grippy tannins" or "ripe black fruit and compote on the nose with a velvety palate and a long finish with new oak flavors."

Um. What?

Happily, we have our aspiring sommelier to explain.

"There are thousands of different grapes and varietals in the world," Diaz said. "The best way I can say it is that filet mignon doesn't taste like a ribeye, but they both come from the same cow."

So next time you hoist your next glass, think a happy thought for Emanuel Diaz, who has taken the tastes of his childhood and turned his adulthood into nirvana.

"Lebron (James) talks about red wine. Dwayne Wade has a wine company. I think wine is something everyone can like," Diaz said. "There's a wine for everyone. I grew up around entertaining in the kitchen. There were no cell phones at dinner. We talked about our days. It was meaningful conversation with food being the center. Making time to be a family. In today's society that's really hard. I want to bring that back."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro