Senior Dominic Marquez approaches his car and grabs his bag. He enters the locker room and suits up for another day of wrestling practice, continuing to prepare for another upcoming weekly tournament.
“If I’m trying to lose weight, I’ll make sure to put on more clothes for practice so that I sweat more,” Marquez said. “Sometimes after practice, if I need to cut I’ll go to the gym and stay in the sauna for a while then run a lot.”
Wrestling has been a major part of Marquez’s life since he was 6 years old when he lived up North in Susanville, CA. He gained a passion for the sport through encouragement from his father and inspiration from Austin DeSanto, a three-time all-state wrestler in Pennsylvania for Exeter High School. While Marquez is unsure whether he wants to continue to pursue his career in wrestling past high school, he aspires to become the best wrestler of his abilities.
Marquez’s effort has worked in his favor as he has placed and won many various tournaments. In high school, Marquez has placed in at least twenty-four different tournaments. “I’ve placed at every tournament besides state and one other one,those are the only two tourn aments I haven’t placed in.”Even since middle school, PRHS Wrestling Coach Nathaniel Ybarra also noticed Marquez’s extraordinary commitment and skill in the sport.
“ I could tell that he had a bright future ahead of him from the start, and he knew a good amount of moves and what it takes to be a champion.” Ybarra stated, “ He had a really good fireman’s carry that he would get kids in, he just had talent.”
When Marquezstarted his high school wrestling career his freshman year, he had made the Varsity team during COVID. Although COVID limited his ability to practice and meet with the team, Dom would still attend every team meet at Centennial Park
because the wrestling room at the school was inaccessible. On top of that, he would condition at the gym to make sure to get down to the correct weight he needs to be. In Marquez’s first freshman tournament debut, he placed second.
Sophomore year, the wrestling team entered back into CIF and Marquez was ranked as a top 10 highschooler in the 115 lbs weight class. “We ended up winning CIF my sophomore year,” Marquez said, “So I took second place in the tournament.” During his sophomore year, Marqez began to become close friends with many of the senior wrestlers on the team.
“I became friends with a lot of the seniors on the team such as Peyton Kilbert, Treyvon Bridewell, and Ian Rodriguez.”
His junior year, his success in the sport continued as he qualified for the CIF state tournament. He continued to persevere and train throughout the school year and during the offseason to prepare for the tournament. However, Marquez placed in the top 24, which was lower than he was hoping for. Although he was semi-disappointed with his placement, he was able to beat the wrestler that was ranked 9th, which he claimed is his biggest accomplishment during that season.
Senior year, Marquez was able to place for State again, being ranked 20. He persevered to place better than last year, and he succeeded. As he made his way through the tournament he ended up placing as the twelfth best California high school wrestler. “The state tournament for wrestling, it’s just one division. There’s not all these other divisions, so when you are in the top 12 of the state, you are out of all the schools in California and there’s only 11 people above you. So that’s the differe
nce with wrestling and a lot of other sports.” Ybarra explained.
One nod to Dominic’s success is that he is a very slick and quick wrestler. Although he may not be the biggest on the mat, he is the slickest and that gives him a major advantage.
“Those moves, they work for Dominic because he’s slick.” Ybarra stated, “So it takes a certain individual to hit the moves, which is good because I think everybody should try to aspire to be like a slick wrestler.”Currently, Marquez has begun to take a leadership role in the wrestling room during practices. Ybarra claims, “During practice, Dominic would definitely show the kids a higher caliber of wrestling, he would hit those more complex on the newer wrestlers.” On top of that Marquez has been a model figure of what someone can accomplish with dedication and commitment. As he prepares to graduate in June, he is incredibly grateful for the program and the friends and memories he made through it.
