| Hi, my name is AJ Mendez; I am 12 years old from Fernley, NV and have been wrestling since I was 6 years old. When my dad first asked me if I wanted to wrestle, I thought he meant like John Cena. He showed me a video of a match after football practice, and I wasn’t too sure if it was something I would like and told my dad no. My dad told me too late; I was already signed up. |
| |
| I started wrestling with the Fernley wrestling club in 2016, and I stayed with them for 3 years. Fernley is where the love of the sport began for me. My first two seasons I wrestled under coach Sam Blyveis. My third season I wrestled under coach Steven Gutierrez. My first couple of years I had a lot of ups and downs as I was still learning. I was able to place 4th at State in 2017 and 2nd in 2018. In 2019, my third season, everything started coming together and I won my first Freestyle State Title. |
| |
| After the 2019 SWA season, I wanted to continue practicing so I started at Nevada Elite. I joined their Fundamental Class and their National Team under Coaches Sorgani, Mumm and Sullivan. The plan was to just practice with Nevada Elite during the off season. With all the great partners in the room, and great coaching, I decided to stay with Elite for the upcoming season. The 2020 SWA season with Elite was great; I got to travel and wrestle in Fresno and Modesto, CA. I finished the season with my first Triple Crown at SWA/ENWA Regional Tournament. Due to Covid, Nevada State was canceled. But I was able to wrestle at my first USA Western States Tournament in Utah where I placed 4th in Greco and Freestyle. |
| |
| In 2021 with Covid still shutting the season down in Nevada, I was able to travel to different states and wrestle at some tough tournaments (Idaho, Utah and Arizona). I gained a ton of experience wrestling tough kids from outside of Nevada. At first wrestling at these bigger tournaments was hard on me because there was very little success. But with Elite’s coaching staff guidance, motivation and hard work, that success soon followed with placing at Tour of Idaho tournaments and USA wrestling tournaments, and at Freakshow placing 3rd in both brackets. I also was able to be a part of Team Nevada 12u team for Turf wars in Utah where we finish 2nd as a team in both Freestyle and Greco. |
| |
| In 2022 my season was great–after traveling and gaining all that experience. I finished my year with a 65-10 record. I placed 4th and 5th at the Rumble in Reno, Triple crowned for the second time at the SWA/ENWA regional tournament, won my second Freestyle State Title and my first Greco State Title, Washoe Middle School Champion, Tah Neva Champion, part of Team Nevada 12u team for a second time and won my first USA Western States Triple Crown. |
| |
| I love the toughness wrestling has taught me. I plan to still travel and gain that great experience. When the chance comes, I would love to be part of Team Nevada and compete in Fargo. My goals in the future are to go to college and continue my wrestling career as I earn a degree in engineering. |
| |
