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From a young age, I can remember what my life was like. I did not have the typical “wrestler” experience of wrestling for as long I could remember. Instead much of my elementary school years consisted of playing video games and not really being interested in the outdoors, or physical activities. In a sense I was the black sheep of my family, as I didn’t enjoy going outside and much preferred to spend time by myself. But the magical thing that came out of spending that time alone, was the discovery of my passion for school and education. I was fortunate enough from a young age to become very self-motivated and prioritize school as the main focus in my life. School was the one aspect I excelled at and this gave me a sense of purpose and identity. But as I continued to grow-up, my family noticed I that I was gaining weight and indulging in unhealthy eating habits. I remember one particular night my brother Jake, who wrestled at the time for Liberty High School, sat me down and had a serious conversation with me regarding my weight and unhealthy habits. |
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| Something about this specific conversation held so much significance though. I could not tell exactly what it was that awoke something in me and inspired me to change, but something did. That night I was rife with so many emotions: rage, sadness, and worst of all disappointment within myself. I decided to make a change and join mixed-martial arts like my brother, not for the sake of learning mixed-martial arts, but rather to lose weight and finally be accepted by my family, especially my brother. As soon as I joined Wand Fight Team, I instantly fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu, Muay-Thai, and Wrestling. Everyday I went to practice my passion for these martial-arts increased, and I met one of my most dear mentors and wrestling coaches, Pete Martin. As I continued to practice for the sake of weight loss, Coach Pete convinced my dad to let me start competing in tournaments. |
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From beginning the summer at 120 pounds to starting the youth wrestling season at 80 pounds, I felt confident and my family was so proud of me, and the journey I commenced. From here I began to focus more and more on wrestling and labeled myself finally as a wrestler. Competing in the SNWA tournaments did not start easily for me. My first year wrestling I went up against popular names such as Dominic Hargrove and Gavin Thammavongsa. But in retrospect, losing to these opponents not only sparked a friendship between us, but pushed me to study wrestling and follow the rabbit hole even deeper. As the years continued I met amazing coaches such as coaches: Bob, Nate, and Anselmo. All of these coaches played a critical role in my development. Not only this, but the parents I met such as Carlo and Giovanna Esoldo exposed me to the true kindness of others, as they drove me to and from practice, to tournaments, and they continue to support me to this day. |
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| As the years progressed I decided, with the help of Coach Bob Gallardo to attend Shadow Ridge High School to continue wrestling and my education. My Freshman year of high school I maintained my straight A’s and wrestled on JV due to my zone variance. That year I attained a record of 37-0 and won the JV Zones tournament. Following this, I had knee surgery to repair my meniscus as a result of an injury I experienced my 8th grade year. Sophomore year came sooner than expected, and just like my first year of wrestling, had a rough beginning. I remember after a particular match in Peoria, Arizona running out of the gym and sprinting into the parking lot breaking down because of how poorly I thought I performed. But I maintained my trust in my High School coaches: Johnson, Gledhill, Spendlove, Mckee, and Scott. They stuck with me through the tough times, even when I thought I wasted their time by attending Shadow Ridge. As the season progressed I saw a rapid increase in my abilities, as I began to place at higher level tournaments such as Rockwell Rumble, Battle for the Belt, and Holiday Classic. |
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When Regionals came, everybody on my team assumed I would be the next Three-Time Regional Champion of Shadow Ridge, but nobody had any idea how wrong they would be. I recall being pinned in my Semi-Finals match and remember how the crowd erupted in cheers, gasps, and shouts. My confidence was shattered and I ran into the wrestling room and cried, I felt like that little boy again, who had nobody on his side and was a disappointment to himself. I did end up qualifying for the State Tournament and beat the same opponent who beat me a week prior, and I placed 3rd in the 132lb bracket. Suddenly, my Sophomore year was cut short and Covid-19 took over–there was no more wrestling, no more school, and life took a pause. I kept hope that there would still be a season for my Junior year. In order to keep my shape, I lifted weights everyday and surprisingly jumped from 132lbs to 160lbs. But a problem began to arise, as quarantine continued and a moratorium was placed on my wrestling career, I slowly fell out of love with the sport. I asked myself questions such as: is this sport even for me anymore? |
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| This was a darker part of my life as wrestling wasn’t the only thing in my life causing me stress. There were so many external factors and personal issues, that wrestling was no longer on my mind. One day it was made known that my Senior year would commence to normal again. With this, I decided to give wrestling a try again, and if it did not work out I may as well get a job. I attended Gold Rush Wrestling Academy for a practice and hated it at first. The coaches in this story aren’t the scapegoat however, the practicing was grueling, I was out of shape from not doing any cardio, and I was the new kid in a place where everybody was already friends. But the more I kept coming, the closer I became to people such as Gabe Delgado and Coach Max. I finally began to enjoy the sport I used to once consider quitting. Several months passed by and Coach Chase Pami recommended I wrestle at Freakshow, and luckily I placed 5th in the 18U Elite division at 160LBS (trust me I was severely outsized). From this tournament, it was revealed I had a fracture in my foot, and I would miss half of my final season of high school wrestling. |
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I attended my high school practices and sat merely on the side, missing how much wrestling I wasn’t doing. After roughly a month and a half, I attended my first practice back and first tournament back, the Spartan Invitational, which I took 2nd at 152lbs. After this loss in the finals, I never lost again during the season. As Regionals approached I remember laying down after practice and telling Coach Johnson how bad I wanted to win, and how much I thought about winning Regionals and State. I suffered another injury, however shortly after this, to my shoulder. After receiving an MRI, it was found I had inflammation around my rotator-cuff, and it caused me so much pain when taking shots, and any shoulder motion. I remember Coach Chase Pami calling me and telling me I had two options due to my shoulder; call it quits or wrestle my hardest and finish my Senior year knowing I tried and gave my maximum effort. |
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Regionals came about and I had to wrestle my club teammate mentioned earlier, Gabe. This was one of the toughest moments in my wrestling career because I felt as though Gabe and I were close, and us having to wrestle one another separated us. I won Regionals and finally won the State tournament. I was so happy winning the State tournament, not for me, but for my coaches, parents, teammates, and especially Coach Pete. I am not sure what is in store for me in the future, when it comes to wrestling. But what I do know, is that I have had the greatest memories, met the greatest people, and feel as though I have had a positive change on the future generation of wrestlers. Though I prefer to be humble, I am a candidate to graduate this year as the Valedictorian – not too shabby of a way to end Senior year as a State champion and Valedictorian! |
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