By Julia Nguyen and Jessie Le
Steele Escobedo (’13) has spent his high school career wrestling for FVHS; two weeks ago, his accomplishments paid off when he won 1st place in his weight division at the Five Counties tournament and became the first Baron wrestler in 25 years to make it to the final round.
After Escobedo won the Five Counties winning belt, he “walked around with it for a good 20 or 25 minutes and I could feel my legs die out because it was so heavy.”
Inspired by his family, Escobedo has been wrestling for 11 years.
“It’s kind of like a family tradition to wrestle,” he said. “My favorite wrestling coach has to be my dad…[he] started my brother and I when we were really little at a kids club in Los Alamitos. He pushed me and pretty much got me through all this.”
When asked why he enjoys wrestling, Escobedo said, “I have the determination. I feel as if people quit after freshman year because they think it’s so hard, but that’s what I love about it…it’s just something I enjoy.”
“The only thing that I don’t like about wrestling is losing. But I guess anyone can say that about their sport,” he stated.
As a senior, Escobedo plans to continue wrestling in college. “My goal is to get a scholarship for a Division 1 or Division 2,” he said. “The divisions are different; it’s just a caliber of wrestling. Division 1 is harder, a higher end caliber, and Division 2 is a little bit under that.”
“It’s a pretty amazing feeling,” he said. “I’m still in shock about it…it’s pretty crazy to be in Fountain Valley history.”
