| When compared to some other wrestlers I began my focus on wrestling a little later in life. Growing up I played a bunch of different sports, some I really enjoyed and some only lasting one or two seasons. I played soccer, track, football, cross country, baseball, and of course wrestling. The beginning of my wrestling career was tough to say the least, going 0-2 at nearly every tournament from 5th grade to 7th grade. By 8th grade I was placing in tournaments but still didn’t do great. Going into my Freshman year of wrestling, every week before tournaments we would have challenge matches for starting spots; I had returning upperclassmen in my weight class, and I didn’t even have a match scheduled to make the lineup. |
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I asked my coach if I could try, and I ended up beating both of them–earning the Varsity Spot at 138. I made improvements throughout that year, in just being tougher–mentally and physically. The last 3 tournaments of the year I met up with the same kid 3 times, going from being beaten 15-0, to losing by 6 points, to winning in overtime in my final match of the year. Over the summer I attended my first “big” JROB wrestling camp where I saw some college wrestlers and got an idea of what it took to be one. I was far from that point to say the least. My Sophomore year I was introduced to a more technical side of wrestling by my new coach Ernesto Garcia; his coaching style was exactly what I needed. I ended up looking forward to practices and wanting to get better every day. |
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| I was winning more and more matches, beating State Placers, and winning my first tournament. Having a coach take the time to talk to me about how to improve and provide the technical feedback necessary, was a gamechanger for me. From then on, I was pretty hooked; there really isn’t any other feeling like it. I ended up qualifying for the State Tournament at the end of the year; sadly I fell short of placing, but I kept wanting to get better. During summer of my Junior year I started going to practices at Nevada Elite in Reno, and I attended a 14-day Intensive Camp in California. Easily the hardest 14 days of my life with 8+ hours of wrestling a day, but I learned more from that camp than any other I had done in all aspects of the sport. My Junior year I decided to take the sport more seriously–I didn’t play football so I could wrestle full time. |
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| But honestly I have no idea where I would be in my career if we didn’t find Josh Nolan, Coach of Silver State Wrestling Academy, who had conveniently just moved to Reno. We set up my first of many private lessons with him, and I felt major improvements every time. Josh taught me that it is all of the little things that matter the most. And if you want to get better, you need to be as consistent as possible with everything, from being on time to practice, to drilling everything like you would wrestle in a match. I won multiple tournaments my Junior year and even got 2nd at State. I had major goals my Senior year, aiming to place at TOC and SNC and be the next State Champ in my family, my dad being the last. |
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| Although I’ll never be able to meet those goals due to Covid, it gave me the opportunity to get countless practices in with Coach Josh and Coach Joey over the last year. I would never have been able to do them otherwise, and this led me to committing to Morningside University for wrestling, and it opened doors for much bigger goals than I could have imagined. Although we didn’t have a Senior Season, I’m happy with how things turned out. I’m super lucky to have parents that pay for practices and my gas to make the commute to Reno nearly every day. I couldn’t have done anything without my parents and coaches who support me through everything. I’m looking forward to my future in this sport. |
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