Athlete of the Month
Antonio Quiroz

Pictures and Content courtesy of The Quiroz Family

This past week Antonio was able to make it to Fargo 106 Freestyle Finals. This was a long way from where his high school year started. He was representing Nevada wrestling at the National level. The moment was big.
Here he was, one year removed from a torn ligament in his ankle that ended his Sophomore year. Two years removed from having sustained a broken arm during practice that resulted in his arm needing a metal plate and screws, which ended his Freshman year. Various other injuries that sidelined him the two previous years. As we saw him make his way to the mat we didn’t know what to expect…
When Antonio first started wrestling, he took to it very naturally. He was five years old, and his mother wanted to put him in something to keep him busy through the year. She heard about the local youth wrestling program, North Las Vegas Wrestling Club, and signed him up. In his first year he was able to get within one win of getting Triple Crown for Youth Nevada State. He was hooked.
He would then go on to join TEAM GV and have success in the Nevada Youth Program, travel with out of state teams for duals and get in as many matches as he possibly could. He would pick up multiple National and Regional Championships, US Opens and State Triple Crowns. It became a part of his character. He would never say he wrestled, instead he would say he was a wrestler. That distinction meant something to him.
We all couldn’t wait until high school. Unfortunately things didn’t go the way we hoped. Because of the multiple injuries he sustained, he would not have a full high school season for his first two years. Antonio finally had a healthy start to his season this year. He began chipping away at the rust and started to focus on his fitness. Progress was made on technique. He wrestled JV and was back up for 120 lbs and 113 lbs. He was slowly starting to work his way back. And then he tore muscle tissue in his hamstring. This caused him to miss tournaments that would have given him enough points to qualify for State. He was heart broken.
After recovering from the injury, we discussed what he wanted to do now that the high school season was over. We were ready for him to potentially want to take a break, or even qui,t after all he had been through. He said he wanted to make a run for Fargo. We got to work.
He attended every tournament he could, both with and without his team. He went to as many practice sessions as he could. He wrestled at his target weight for the first time since his youth days and was able to qualify for Fargo at three different tournaments, winning every match, but one, to secure a 7th Seed in the Fargo Freestyle bracket. He was on his way.
We watched as he wrestled through the bracket at Fargo and wondered how he would deal with the pressure. He wrestled more focused than we had ever seen. He was able to make it to the Semi-Finals and wrestle against a tough kid going for Triple Crown, that had beaten everyone 10-0 up until that point. Trailing by six points in the second half, Antonio was able to secure a headlock, and with a pin, punch his ticket to the Finals. He had finally reached his goal.
The match would end up being a closely contested one, with the win being determined by one point. 2nd place. And after all he had been through we expected him to be justifiably upset. Instead, the first thing he said to us was what he thought he did wrong, and how he could do better. We are very proud of what our son has been able to accomplish. He is living proof that you should never give up and that resilience can overcome many other factors. He has already set goals for the coming year, with College wrestling being one of them.
To this day we feel the off the mat victories have been the greatest gift wrestling has given us. The people who we are forever grateful to for helping our son through his challenges include: Gold Rush Wrestling; Coach Pami, Coach Sorgani, Coach Jake, Coach Ben, Coach Hocker, Coach AJ. Slam Wrestling Team, Dynamite 《Josh Steele, Coach Waylon Angelias, Coach Fab Martinez, Kevin Randlemann, Coach Pete Martin, Nate Garcia, Jim Bice, Coach Brian Weber, Coach Matt Lebaron, Coach Bill Sullivan, Coach Chet. All Team Nevada Coaches throughout the years. All of his teammates And all of the wrestling families.
Questions Coach Pami asked him: How well prepared did you feel for the event? I felt good because I had a lot of practice and went to out of state tournaments to catch up on mat time. I also wrestled at different weight classes. What was the one thing you did well in your personal preparation and what is one thing you could have done better? Taking water intake seriously and making it part of my routine. I would have liked to folloow my diet better. I plan on never making this mistake again. What could we/coaches have done to better preprare you for the event? Nothing, just more training. Unfortunately time is limited. What kind of things did you do for your mindset leading into the event? Being calm during matches. I never got nervous and kept wrestling. How did you reinforce those things you did for your mind? By visualizing doing my best every match and trusting my training. I knew that having self-doubt wouldn’t benefit me in any way. What were some things you did during the 10 days in Fargo to help your mindset? Self-reflection. I would make sure I was focused and relaxed before each match and kept my goals in mind. How focused were you on your nutrition leading into the event? Not as much as I should have been. I am now dedicated to putting in as much work off the mat as I do on the mat.
What were some things you did during the 10 days in Fargo to help your mindset? Self-reflection. I would make sure I was focused and relaxed before each match and kept my goals in mind. How focused were you on your nutrition leading into the event? Not as much as I should have been. I am now dedicated to putting in as much work off the mat as I do on the mat. What were some good nutrion choices you made and what were some poor nutrional choices you made leading into Fargo? WATER. It was the biggest change to my diet and it helped me tremendously. My poor nutrional choices were carbs and sodium. What were your goals for Fargo? To perform my best. Sometimes you lose and still win. I feel I made improvements and that was a win for me regardless of my placement. What actions did you take to ensure you were focusing on the process and not the result? Disregard pressure. It never helps. What actions will you continue to use moving forward? Making sure I’m mentally ready before I get on the mat and knowing that sometimes the outcome may not be what I want but obsessing over it does nothing for me. Mental health is the key. What were your highs and lows of the tournament and how did you respond in either situation? High was winning Semis. Being down in the second period and winning the match to head into finals. I didn’t allow myself to quit. Low was losing the finals match. I was proud of my performance but having it end the way it did was tough. But this was also a positive because it showed me how mentally strong I really am. What things that your coaches said to you pre, during or post competition helped you keep your eyes on the process? Coach Sargoni would talk to me about tough moments and pushing through them. I always tried to match his energy What things that your coaches said to your pre, during or post competition did not help you keep your eyes on the process? Nothing, I can’t name one thing. I was always being motivated to do my best. Do you feel you were able to connect with at least one of your coaches on the trip? How did that Coach help you? Coach Sorganni and Coach AJ. They both brought sincere energy to every match. They were huge contributors to keeping me focused. Talking to Coach Pami after my finals match gave me perspective on how far I’ve come along since my injury.
Rate your overall effort during training camp Good Rate your overall nutrition Decent Rate your growth over the last 2 months Good Rate your mindset during the tournament Good Rate our mindset following the tournament Good Rate your love of wrestling Excellent Rate your love for learning Excellent