After getting blanked from last year’s state meet, the Española Valley boys wrestling team is looking to rebound this season.
“The boys are very hard workers,” coach Gilbert Sandoval said. “The thing is, they’re not very seasoned. And I don’t have a lot of wrestlers.”
Building numbers in the boys program has been a difficult proposition he said.
“Wrestling is hard,” Sandoval said. “They’ll come out for a couple of practices, see how hard it is and then they stop showing up.”
Sandoval has high hopes for a couple of seniors in Daniel Purdy and Izaac Rivera.
Rivera is returning to wrestling after being away for two seasons since competing as a freshman. And Purdy is trying the sport for the first time.
“What an athlete,” Sandoval said of Purdy. “We’ll see how he does on the mat. But he’s just such a phenomenal athlete, but it takes a lot of time. It’s too early to tell with those guys.”
Juan Maestas is a senior who has put in the time and is looked upon as the team leader, Sandoval said.
“He’s been wrestling for a few years and I’m so proud of where he’s come as an individual,” he said of Maestas. “We’d like to get him to a successful season and contribute to him placing at regionals and get him to state in his senior year.”
Maestas began his wrestling career as a sophomore and since then has been pushing forward with earnest.
“From there, I’ve come a long, long way,” he said. “I’ve really improved and it isn’t just wrestling. I’ve gained a lot of skills, like discipline. Wrestling has really impacted me personally and in more than just the sport. As a person, it’s shaped me and changed me a lot.”
Engaging in sports had been on his mind for a while before turning to wrestling, Maestas said, but traditional team sports just didn’t have much appeal for him.
“In the past, the biggest thing that kept me away from joining sports was the way people treated each other, how competitive the fans are in basketball and football,” Maestas said. “There’s a lot of rivalries and it’s very negative in those sports. Even in elementary school and it left a bad taste in my mouth and kept me away from doing that kind of stuff.”
But wrestling seems to generate a deeper respect and camaraderie among the competitors, Maestas said.
“It was lot a more positive,” he said. “I really like that because it’s a sport that takes a lot of self discipline so I think the type of person who would leave a lot of negativity would not be in the sport anyways.”
Wrestling has brought out the best in him, Maestas said.
“I saw it as a good challenge compared to most sports. It’s an individual sport and I like the idea of what you put in is what you get out. If you don’t apply yourself correctly or push yourself to the limit, you’re not going to succeed.”
And that is exactly what he’s been doing to help himself and the Sundevils.
“This year, I’ve pushed myself as hard as I can,” Maestas said. “My goal is to make it to state and be a district placer and make it as far as I can in regionals.”