Wrestling

Last weekend marked an end to a journey for me. It was long and it was hard. Unfortunately, it was not long enough but it was fulfilling. Last weekend, my Aztec wrestling career ended in Bakersfield at the CIF State Championships. It was my third time qualifying and my third time coming up short. This last time I went the furthest I had ever been; top 16 of all wrestlers in the state of California. It was extra disappointing for me because I beat the eventual 3rd place winner in the first round. His only loss was to me. I’ve had a great time here as a student and as a member (and leader) of the wrestling team. I had many fun memories and learned so much about myself during my time as an Aztec wrestler. My Freshman year was a brand new era for me. I didn’t know I wanted to be serious about wrestling, it was just something I did. I instantly fell in love with it. I wrestled before but never had so much fun doing it. I met so many great people: Sam Barnhart, Coach Daddy, Jose, Adam, Ty, Ivan, Juaquari,Ely, and so many more. I went to tournaments not expecting to do well but did surprisingly better than I thought I was going to do. I was starting to pick up steam and I was beating good guys. Side note, I remember the Fontana tournament when Adam and Sam fought in the hotel room after the first day of the tournament and Big E throwing up all over the mat. Ahhhh, good times. Anyways, at the time of CIF, everything was new to me. I wasn’t expected to place, but I was ranked quite high. I ended up winning the blood round match and made it Masters. I was ecstatic! I didn’t know I could do that as an extra young freshman. At Masters I went a quick 0-2 and thus my season ended, but I was left excited to get on the mat and do even better my sophomore season. My Sophomore year I saw the departure of all the seniors from my freshman year,most noticeably my lifelong friend Adam. The year went the same as my freshman year but towards the middle I started doing worse than I did the year before. I was getting put out when I shouldn’t have and had some real doubts about myself. I didn’t know what to do. I was working hard enough. What was wrong? Was this just a sophomore slump? It was. I took 3rd at CIF and was ready for Masters. I made it to the second day and was so hyped! The weight cut after that first day was nothing because I was feeling myself that i could make it to state as a sophomore. We played Super Smash Bros. late into the night and I won so many matches with Ice Climbers. This Masters was also the birth of Frot Bob, the Labby Bat, and the Book of Cuck. These are jokes still around today, truly legendary. I made it to the blood round and got the last qualifying spot for state. I was so hyped when I got home! Everyone was super proud of me. I went to state with Jose and I went 0-2 barbecue but he took top 12 in the state! That is amazing! He was winning his placing match by a big margin but got cradled and pinned. If he would’ve just held on he would’ve been a state placer. That shows how good he was. During this summer I got a text from Sam and he let me know that he is moving to Las Vegas and is getting married but he had an awesome time coaching me. I was sad and didn’t know what the situation was going to be for the next two years. That is when Chico stepped in as coach. Chico Chavez was our new coach and along came new faces. This season went by supremely fast and a lot of things I had to adjust to. Coaches and members of other teams would come and talk to me just because I was one of the top guys in the state. It felt good being a semi-celebrity. I did my duties and had lots of fun. This was also my first year as captain and golly was it a lot of work, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I love my team. My teammate Ivan and I were the only Barstow representatives at Masters, and I was the only one that qualified for state. At Masters, I beat my rival Sunny Luna from Victor Valley and ended his season! I took this momentum and went 2-2 at state my junior year. Fun fun fun. But I got hungry….. So hungry in fact, my senior year rolled around and I was having a hard time cutting to 134. I can do it, but it didn’t feel right. There were some controversies at the beginning of the season that involved two of our wrestlers leaving for Hesperia. Sucks for them, they won’t be on this dub-train. I went into the season ranked #15 in the state, so I was pretty fired up for the season. I met some of my current best friends who are freshmen now, Carson and Damian. Very rad lads indeed. I got more leadership responsibilities and really felt a connection with what we were doing. I remember my favorite trip was the Bulldog Invitational in Las Vegas. My goodness was that fun. After the first day competition, we went to grub down. Damian was too tired and slept the rest of the day though ,wamp wamp. After eating, we explored the hotel and went to the arcade. We got squishy balls that looked and felt real nasty. We then went bowling and I got embarrassed, taking second to last place. Jacob won and earned everyone’s respect. We ate some more and headed up to the rooms to play some Super Smash Bros. in our underwear. It was awesome and of course I won with my new main: King Dedede. Oh yeah, and I took first the next day. I ended up moving up a weight class at the end. It felt right and good to not be worried about my weight. I wrestled well but was outmuscled. This didn’t stop me from easily qualifying for state with no losses. At state, Damian and I were making big moves. Inside joke: “Are you gangster?” Inside joke 2: “Wrestling for jesus”. Ahhhhh, good times. Abruptly, it all comes to an end. No more next year. No more next tournament. This is it. My journey is done. What do I do now? I’ve learned quite a bit about myself and about life in general from my time here. There’s nothing I’d replace with all those 11 years spent wrestling. It is my one true love. The only thing that has never been unfair to me. So what do I do now? College wrestling. Maybe my journey is just beginning.