LOS ANGELES, CA. – After a regular season that saw him compile a 12-8 record, true freshman 141-pounder Gabriel Cortez was disappointed in his performance at the NAIA Cascade Collegiate Conference where he placed sixth and did not make him eligible to continue wrestling in the postseason.
Before that, Cortez was having a successful season. Wrestling at the Pit (Vanguard Gym), Cortez finished with a 4-1 record in dual-meet competitions while finishing fourth at the Menlo Open. An injury during the early rounds made Cortez forfeit his third-place bout.
One of Cortez’s biggest wins during the regular season was when he faced Chris Kimball of Concordia University, a wrestler that would go on to compete at the NAIA National tournament. With the match being close in points, Cortez was able to put Kimball on his back an obtain the fall in the second period.
Cortez recalls important lessons learned and experiences gained from his first year on the Vanguard University wrestling team.
Di Maria – Gabe how was your experience competing in college? It has been a great experience wresting in college It was way more fun than I thought it was going, to be honest. It brought that competitive spirit in me back at full strength I can’t wait to get back in it next season.
Di Maria – Did you thought you were going to have the same success as you did in high school? I was not sure how I was going to do in college, but I was aiming to have similar success as I did in high school.
Di Maria – What was the significance for you to stay home instead of wrestling out-of-state? The significance of staying home was that I was around my family which is especially important to me, also I could come by and rest when college life gets too much for me.
Di Maria – Did any of your older teammates ever give you advice about starting your collegiate career? Starting in Vanguard we were mostly freshmen who were new to college and collegiate wrestling but thanks to our upper-class man such as Andrew Gomez, Armon Fiyazzi, Josh Sapien, Zach Cunningham, Nate Yanez, Mario Barrios, and Adam Valdez. They showed us how to be great in the wrestling room as well as in the classroom.
Di Maria – Is there a specific moment when you realized how different the stage is between high school and NAIA (collegiate) wrestling? The first tournament would probably be when I finally went “Oh this is what college wrestling is”. It was intense felt like I was thrown in with a pack of lions. Every match is close and feels as if you are competing at the state tournament.
Di Maria – Do you have any specific goals set up for next season? Yeah, I do, and it is the same one as last season, to be an NAIA national champ, and it will be the same for every season after that. Hopefully, with the training from Vanguard and Threshold a Club run by Coach Bobby Sanchez that I go to get more work in will get me where I need to be.
Di Maria – How did it feel to wrestle under Division I wrestler Caleb Flores? It feels like I am home. Caleb Flores was my coach in high school and still having him as my coach in college was a huge plus for me. But besides my biases, Coach Caleb Flores is a wonderful coach who I believe will get Vanguard university to be the top school in NAIA. He pushes us to be the best and more. He reminds us about our goals and cares about us past just wrestling. He cares for how we do academically and is just all-around a great person.
Di Maria – Why would you recommend wrestlers to stay home and wrestle for Vanguard? I recommend wrestlers who are in California and love the place should stay home and go to vanguard university. It is a great place that has amazing teachers and classes that will go one on one with you if needed. The wrestling team is just like a family and we treat each other as if we were brothers.
Di Maria – What was your most memorable match this past season? My most memorable match would have to be at the conference when I went quadruple overtime with Erick Reyes from Menlo. He was the number one seed and rightfully so. I and he battled for more than 10 minutes. In the end, I won by riding time in the last round. I was exhausted but was happy I won.
Di Maria – Match you’d like to forget? I would not want to forget any match even if I lost embarrassingly. I take those losses and build from them. I can never get better if I ignore my mistakes.
Di Maria – Are your college plans figured out yet? Yeah, for the most part, I want to finish with a psychology degree and hopefully go for my masters after, also thanks to the psychology staff at vanguard I know I am taking the appropriate classes.
Di Maria – And now, the most important question: what does it mean for you to be part of the O3T program? Being a member of O3T does not mean that you are a monster wrestler that can beat anybody. To be a part of this program means you are a part of a family. A family of people who excel in athletics and academics. People who are constantly evolving to be better, off and on the mat. That is what it means to be a part of O3T to me.
