Miyamura wrestler exacts revenge for 114-pound state crown
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Miyamura’s Austin Lopez gets his hand raised after winning the 114-pound Class 4A state championship on Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Austin Lopez beat West Las Vegas wrestler Andres Rambo Lopez with a 15-10 decision.
RIO RANCHO, N.M. – What a difference a week makes.
Miyamura junior Austin Lopez had quite the turnaround when he faced West Las Vegas Andres Rambo Lopez for the 114-pound Class 4A state title on Saturday night.
The West Las Vegas wrestler had teched Austin during the regional meet two weeks ago by a 16-0 decision. But in the state finale, the Miyamura wrestler exacted some revenge by outlasting Andres with a 15-10 decision at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
“This feels great,” Austin said. “As a junior I never thought that I would get a state championship. It’s crazy to think about it. I mean, I beat every 114-pounder in the state.”
The Miyamura wrestler acknowledged that things didn’t go as planned when he faced Andres two weeks ago.
“When I lost to him at regionals, I worked my ass off this week,” Austin said. “I did extra work before practice and after practice. I just had to work super hard for this.”
As for the difference, Austin says he came up with a rather effective game plan.
“I kind of knew what he was going to do, so I prepared for that,” the Miyamura grappler said. “He wrestles different from a lot of people, and I made sure I got into certain positions to win the match.
“The game plan that I had just worked out in my favor,” he added.
As the second seed, Austin earned falls over Taos wrestler Max Maes and Silver’s Luis Alvarado in the first two rounds. In the semifinal, he decisioned over Deming’s Vito Farano 6-0 with a pair of takedowns.
“I had to wrestle hard and get to my offense,” Lopez said of his match with Farano. “I had to keep shooting, keep wrestling and do what I do best.”
In addition to Austin, the Patriots also had two other wrestlers make the championship bout on Saturday with junior Gage Sellers and senior Adam Abdeljawad losing their respective finals.
Sellers (40-8) lost the 127-pound title to Aztec’s Ian Vigil with a 14-4 major decision. Abdeljawad lost a 4-1 decision to Bloomfield’s Hunter Samora at 133 pounds.
The two Miyamura grapplers were Austin’s wrestling partners in the practice room.
“They helped me out a lot,” Austin said of teammates. “They had me wrestle as hard as I could and they were the ones they hyped me up for my match.”
With his state crown, Austin finished the season at 42-5 overall. The Miyamura wrestler had two losses each to Aztec’s James Moore and Andres Rambo Lopez of West Las Vegas. He also came up short to a Colorado state champion.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow