Metea Valley's Rojas perseveres to win in 4th OT
Metea Valley's 195-pounder David Rojas was tired, and who wouldn't be while battling extra periods of a tight wrestling match. Heck, the long bout was exhausting on the fans and the coaches.
But the Mustangs junior somehow mustered enough energy to pull off an escape in the fourth overtime, and his 6-5 win over Glenbard East's Bryan Andrews clinched what turned out to be a 36-32 triumph that moves the Mustangs (14-2, 4-0) one very big step closer to their first Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division championship.
Rojas, now 19-9 on the year, had taken a 4-2 lead late in the third period only to have Andrews record a reversal with four seconds left to send the match to overtime. After a scoreless one-minute first overtime, each wrestler recorded an escape over the next two extra sessions leaving the score even at 5-5 heading in a fourth, sudden-death period.
When Rojas worked himself free from the grasps of Andrews early in the fourth OT, his emotional win gave the Mustangs a 36-26 lead heading into the night's final match at 220 pounds. Even with a pin by the Rams Quantrelle Turner at 220, Metea Valley won the match and knocked off a Glenbard East team that opened the year as the conference favorite.
“It was just back and forth. Back and forth,” Rojas said. “It took heart to keep going. Even though my mind and my body was like you're done, my heart said keep going. Keep going for the team.”
That same never-say-die attitude also paid off for Rojas' teammate Uri Ariza, a junior who fell behind Glenbard East star 120-pounder Nolan Vincent before turning the match — and the dual meet — around with a pin in the third period of the night's fourth bout.
The meet started at heavyweight and the Rams' state-title contender, D'Andre Johnson, picked up a pin for a quick 6-0 lead that grew to 9-0 when Nick Donovan won at 106 to improve to 24-3 on the year.
But the Mustangs picked up some momentum when Axl Ariza recorded a pin at 113 and then gained a ton of momentum after Uri Ariza's comeback pin at 120.
“That was probably one of the happiest points of my wrestling career. Knowing that I can actually contribute to the team makes me really happy,” said Uri Ariza, who trailed at one point 13-2 before using a cradle move to eventually take down Vincent and record the pin.
“The two kids that stick out the most in my mind are Rojas and Uri,” Mustangs coach Claudio Torres said. “For Uri, just to stay focused … to be losing like that to a top wrestler, and for him to be in that type of situation and come back and get the W, and more than just the win for the team … it's a confidence builder for him for the next two years since he's only a junior.”
Torres was just as thrilled with the effort Rojas delivered in his long, grueling match at 195.
“For David to pull out that fourth-overtime win, there's nothing to say except you've got to dig deep,” said the only coach in Metea's history. “There's no coaching involved at that point. Both the kids are exhausted and drained, barely walking, but you've got to be able to stay focused. To stay focused shows just how much David has come along in the last two years … he dug deep and I'm so proud of him.”
Rams coach Kevin Carlson had felt his team could win at the two critical matches that got away Friday — 120 and 195 — yet he had no complaints with the way everyone wrestled.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” he said after his team dropped to 15-5 overall and 4-2 in the UEC, with little chance to catch the Mustangs. “My thought process about this match is whoever paid to get in here got their money's worth. It was a fun, exciting match.”