Sunlake Wrestler Earns All-American Status

The USA Wrestling Nationals may be one of the most grueling tournaments of its kind. Wrestling for the better part of 10 days against the country's best is tough enough.

John Ortiz not only did it, and did it with plenty of success — he did it without a phone.

"I lost my phone," said Ortiz, a junior. "I think it helped me focus on wrestling but for 12 days. ... It was pretty bad. I had to rely on borrowing friends' phones, and that never lasted for long because, you know, they wanted their phones back."

Fortunately there was no communicating with the outside world necessary once Ortiz hit the mat, where he excels. Competing as part of Team Florida, Ortiz had a stellar showing as he finished seventh out of 78 wrestlers in the 119-pound Greco-Roman category.

The massive tournament was staged in mid-July on the campus of North Dakota State University. The action was conducted inside a football stadium, the Fargo Dome.

"This place was huge," Ortiz said. "There was room for 23 mats. It was definitely the biggest tournament I've been a part of."

For instance: The 78 wrestlers in his weight class? A normal big tournament has 16 competitors per class, some 32, but never more than that.

On the first of his three days participating in the Greco-Roman style, Ortiz wrestled seven opponents. Generally during a high school season, one would never go up against more than five ("and that's pushing it" he said).

For three days, Ortiz competed in the Greco tournament, in which wrestlers only use their upper body for maneuvers — a style that suits Ortiz's strengths.

"I'm much better at Greco," he said.

Ortiz also competed for five days in a freestyle tournament but did not place. However his performance in the Greco event earned him All-American status, and he is ranked 11th by USA Wrestling in its Future Olympian listing.

As a sophomore at Sunlake, Ortiz went through the regular season with a 42-5 mark and turned in a sixth-place showing at the state tournament.

In Fargo he was coached by several luminaries in the wrestling world, including Russ Cozart of Florida's top wrestling program, Brandon High.

"The coaches were great," Ortiz said. "There were so many kids there, just a great experience. The only bad part was the phone."