Before a wrestling match, Oak Park-River Forest senior Jay Renteria paces like a caged lion waiting for release. When the match is set to begin, he races out to the center of the mat and pounces on whoever has the misfortune to line up against him.
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“Ever since I was little I’ve been like that,” Renteria said. “It might sound cocky but when they step out on the mat with me, I find it disrespectful. With all the work I do, I feel like they don’t deserve to be on same mat as me.
“If you don’t wrestle with a fire in your belly, you shouldn’t be out there.”
As a sport, wrestling boils down to a physically and mentally challenging six minutes of controlled hostility. Renteria’s intense nature provides a perfect marriage with the sport he loves.
Particularly now that he has more control over that intensity.
“It’s been great to see his maturity develop over his four years here,” OPRF coach Paul Collins said. “When he was younger sometimes his emotions would overtake his actions, but now he can let his personality come out in a match without allowing that to happen.”
Renteria, a Nebraska commit, is a returning Illinois state champion with a 30-2 record and a top Class 3A ranking at 132 pounds by Illinois Matmen. Renteria is also ranked among the top 10 nationally at 132 by Intermat, FloWrestling and WIN Magazine.
He posted two pins and a technical fall win in winning his fourth OPRF Varsity Invitational title on Saturday. The Huskies also won the team title in the 14-team field.
Renteria pinned a California wrestler in Gilroy’s Alex Felix on the title mat.
“He’s one of the top kids in California, and I feed off of stuff like that,” Renteria said. “If you’re a big name, let’s see what you can do. After the first takedown I knew I could start to break him.”
Renteria’s two losses this year opened his eyes. At arguably the toughest high school tournament in the nation, Ohio’s Ironman, Renteria lost to a pair of fellow nationally-ranked wrestlers and finished in 7th place.
Collins was happy to see Renteria take a senior’s approach to those losses.
“A few years ago, he didn’t respond as well as we thought he should after a loss, but this year it was much different,” Collins said. “On that Monday after the Ironman, he was ready to put in extra work with coaches.”
Renteria placed second in Illinois in his freshman and sophomore years before winning a state title at 120 pounds last year. Junior Tony Madrigal (126) is also top-ranked in the state, and the Huskies are loaded with ranked wrestlers ready to vie for a place on the individual medal stand in Champaign.
The Huskies have won the last three 3A team state titles and are currently ranked second behind Lockport, which displaced OPRF atop the rankings earlier in the season.
Renteria wasn’t the only OPRF wrestler tweaked by the fall to the No. 2 spot.
“Kudos to Lockport. They’re having an excellent year,” Renteria said. “But once we saw those rankings come out, I saw the intensity rise and a lot more hungrier eyes in the room.
“We’re looking forward to the chance to compete for another team title.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
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