More Top Picks Best Upholstered Dining Chairs
player ready...The bigger wrestling stages used to affect Lowell junior Andres Moreno.
“Before, in those big matches, I’d be hesitant to make my shots,” Moreno said. “Now, I’m not scared. I’m not hesitating. I’m going straightforward and wrestling matches at my pace.”
This newfound confidence has helped Lowell’s 113-pounder have a breakout junior season. He closed the 2017 portion of the schedule with a 22-0 record and a first-place finish at last weekend’s Al Smith Invitational in Mishawaka, one of the premier regular-season meets in Indiana.
“It’s my mentality,” said Moreno, who is ranked 13th at 113 by Indiana Mat. “There were a few other small things besides that, but that was the biggest change. I’ve been getting more and more confident. This season, it doesn’t matter who my opponent is. For six minutes, I’m going to give it my all.”
Moreno said that inner belief was fueled by offseason conversations with coach Bobby Howard and his staff.
“We preach to all of our guys that (confidence) is a difference-maker,” Howard said. “Before you can win, you have to believe that you can win.”
Howard pointed to Moreno’s matches last season with some of the state’s top wrestlers as evidence of Moreno’s development. During the season, he was pinned by Portage’s Brock Peele, who ultimately finished fourth in the state. Peele ended Moreno’s sophomore season at semistate, but that match went the full six minutes.
“When he saw was that close, that’s when he turned the corner,” Howard said.
Facing some state-ranked competition at the Al Smith Invitational, Moreno was unfazed. After two pins and a technical fall placed him in the semifinals, Moreno won a 5-0 decision over Garrett’s Brayden Shearer, the sixth-ranked wrestler in the state according to Indiana Mat. Moreno then beat 11th-ranked Alex Petro of Center Grove 6-3 to clinch the championship.
Moreno improved upon his fourth-place finish at last season’s Al Smith Invitational, but that hasn’t been the only evidence of his improvement. During the offseason, he also beat Wheeler’s Jose Diaz. Ranked third at 113, Diaz defeated Moreno twice during the last postseason.
Wins like the ones in the offseason and those at the Al Smith Invitational are only adding to Moreno’s confidence.
“He beat some good kids during the offseason and came in ready to go for us,” Howard said of Moreno. “He’s in the top two on our team of most mentally tough kids. And that’s been the biggest difference.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Top 5
With last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Portage (1)
2. Chesterton (2)
3. Crown Point (3)
4. Hobart (4)
5. Merrillville (5)
Wrestler of the Week: Merrillville junior Martin Cruz finished first at 106 in the Al Smith Invitational, running his season record to 20-1.
More Top Picks Best Flat Irons