| Hello, I am Andrew Herrera. I was born and raised in South Lake Tahoe. I started to try many sports at a young age to find out what I enjoyed the most. When I was 9 years old my football coach said it would be a good idea to try wrestling in order to improve our performance on the field. I started wrestling and loved it right from the start. |
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| I wrestled in a club coached by my father Ernie Herrera, along with Sean Griffiths. Being from Lake Tahoe it was hard to find good practice partners, so I wrestled in as many tournaments as I could find. Once I was older I attended wrestling camps outside of Tahoe. |
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| In high school I took the sport very seriously. I joined the California National Team, my freshman and sophomore years, where I had the chance to travel even more. My junior and senior years I decided to join the Nevada National Team. I placed all four years of high school at the State Tournament taking 1st my last two years. I also played football and swam all four years in high school, graduating in 2017 with 11 varsity letters. |
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| From Andrew’s High School Coach Ryan Wallace: “Andrew was a two time State Champion, the only one to accomplish that feat in school history. Physically explosive, and powerful, combined with mental fortitude and extraordinary willpower. Late in close matches Andrew has an unrivaled ability to dig deep and draw from an energy source that is just unavailable to most guys. He is never out of a match, and he is almost indignant if an opponent makes a late push to erase one of his leads. No one ever wants it more than he does. The entire practice room has a different energy to it when he is locked in and working toward a goal. |
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| I had to get much better as a coach, and a wrestler, to provide the level of teaching and sparring that he required; all of the kids who have and will come through the wrestling program are direct beneficiaries. One of the most important things the sport lets you discover, and teach, is how to handle both failure and success. In the rare case he lost a match, after a brief period of pouting, he would come back seemingly imbued with superhuman strength. Equally, impressive was his ability to handle victories. His dream from 5th or 6th grade was to win a State Championship. After he accomplished that his junior year, he wasn’t satisfied. He chose to push his limits and worked diligently to make himself better. |
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| The best kids to have around are those who wear a smile on their face and bring a desire to end the practice with nothing left in the tank. Andrew is always that guy, no matter how a tournament goes on Saturday, Andrew is ready to crush practice on Monday. Andrew is also successful because almost everybody who ever competed against or alongside him ends up rooting for him. In high school if he dominated an opponent, he would find the time to talk to the kid later and encourage them to stick with it. |
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Andrew has simply always made himself easy to root for, he has a great personality, an exceptional work ethic and makes the most out of every opportunity he earns. I could not possible be prouder of him, more grateful for his contributions to our program or possess more love for him. I especially love when he goes out and accomplishes great things, so when he comes back and I beat him, I can feel awesome, but my victories against him are becoming much rarer each time.”
–Coach Ryan Wallace |
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| After high school, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go into college or not, and I was leaning more towards the military. I decided to take a year off to make my decision. This is when I was reached out to by Jason Welch, who was the new Head Coach at San Francisco State. |
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| I never thought of myself as a big city kind of person but decided to take on the challenge and try it out. I wrestled for 2 and a half years at San Francisco State and studied Criminal Justice. My first season I was a red shirt. During my second season I was the RMAC Wrestler of the week, Gator of the week and 197 Champion at the Menlo Open. I wrestled for SF State until Covid in 2020. During Covid I wasn’t sure if I wanted to wrestle again, but yet another opportunity to grow was offered to me. |
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| A good friend of mine (Kurtis Clem) who I had wrestled with at San Francisco State was now coaching at Southern Oregon University. I joined the team and so far I feel blessed for the opportunity. So far it has been going well. I am the starting 197 pounder. I have two tough matches this weekend against Eastern Oregon University and Corban University. |
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