By Rob Sherrill

If he wins the 130-pound championship in the New Mexico Class 5A state tournament Feb. 20, Louis Trujillo, Jr. will become the fourth wrestler from Rio Rancho High to become a four-time state champion in the past four seasons.

            And there’s nothing to suggest that Trujillo, who won titles at 119, 125 and 130 the past three seasons, won’t seal the deal in his second straight year at 130. He took the title in the prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions last month, a meet in which the Rams finished fifth. They’ve won everything else they’ve entered this season and Rio Rancho, which hosts the state tournament, is favored to win a fourth straight team title, which would also be their ninth in 10 seasons.

            Trujillo would join a prestigious group that includes brothers Matt and Max Ortega, who combined for nine state titles in their careers, and Vicente Varela, with whom he’ll be reunited as a teammate at Arizona State University next fall. Matt Ortega and Varela both became four-time state champions as seniors in 2007, and Max Ortega graduated in 2009 as a five-time state champion.

            But New Mexico isn’t the only place Trujillo has excelled. He’s excelled in NHSCA and USA Wrestling competition as well. At Fargo, Trujillo was a Cadet National freestyle champion in 2008 and was a Junior National freestyle All-American last summer, finishing seventh.

            But it’s at the NHSCA Senior Nationals at Virginia Beach, Va. where Trujillo could make history in March. He’s the first wrestler to win National Freshman, Sophomores and Juniors championships … and a Senior championship would make him the first to become a champion at all four grade levels.

            The presence of Varela, now Arizona State’s 149-pounder, as well as a dynamic coaching staff led by first-year head coach Shawn Charles, was a major influence for Trujillo as he signed a national letter of intent with the Sun Devils in November.                         Along with a wrestler who has already secured a fourth state title, Nathan Hoffer (141) of Anchorage (Alaska) East High, two-time Arizona champion Shane McGough (125-133) of nearby Scottsdale Desert Mountain High and Georgia champion Joel Smith (141-149) of powerful Suwanee Collins Hill High, ASU inked WIN’s No. 15 early signing class.

            Trujillo has plenty more to say, as he reveals in this candid interview.

            WIN: You’ve had a very successful high school career and you’re about a month away from your final state tournament. Is it hard to believe it’s coming to an end pretty soon?

            Trujillo: I was just thinking about it the other day, being an eighth-grader and starting on the varsity, winning it as a freshman. It’s just gone by in the blink of an eye.

            WIN: This is the first year in quite a while that one of the Ortega brothers (Matt and Max) haven’t been in a Rio Rancho line-up. What did having those guys mean to guys like you, who came up looking up to guys like those?

            Trujillo: They were good friends, great wrestlers; always willing to help out and make everybody else better.

            WIN: What’s one thing or one move that either of them showed you that you use a lot now?

            Trujillo: It wasn’t so much what they showed me as much as they just made me a better wrestler. I wrestled a lot with both of them, especially Max. He was just a scrappy wrestler and never stopped moving. He showed me a lot about chain wrestling…never giving up and staying in control.

            WIN: You’re back at 130 pounds, the same weight class you wrestled last year. Is that a tough cut for you?

            Trujillo: It was about 12 or 13 pounds at first. But now that we’re (in season), I’m around nine or 10 over, so it’s not too bad. I thought 130 was a better fit for me and that I’d perform better there.

            WIN: You had a couple of matches at Reno, something that’s not always the case with you. In the finals, you beat Mitchell Minotti of Easton (Pa.), 5-4. The Eastern kids keep it close and grind it out, don’t they?

            Trujillo: Yeah, he was go-go-go all the time and wouldn’t stop until he had control. So I had to stay in control as much as I could, knowing the last points would be critical.

            WIN: Talk a little bit about how the match went.

            Trujillo: I got the first takedown and I managed to ride him for a while before he escaped. In the second period, I got another takedown. In the third period, he took me down with a low single.

            WIN: Did that kind of surprise you a little? All the times I’ve seen you wrestle, it’s hard to imagine that happening.

            Trujillo: Yeah, I wasn’t ready for it. He got me on that one.

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