Gonzales goes back-to-back for Bulldawgs

Wrestling success has come quickly for Las Cruces High School sophomore Kolby Gonzales. Though he spent much of his youth practicing jujitsu, Gonzales didn’t step onto a wrestling mat until eighth grade.

One season later, he was a state champion as a freshman. Now a repeat winner, Gonzales is already eyeing the possibility of becoming a four-time gold medalist. Competing at 157 pounds, he entered the state tournament as the top seed and left little doubt, dominating the field without a close match in any of his four bouts on his way to the top of the podium.

Gonzales said jujitsu is more mellow and technique-based, but it was wrestling’s aggressive nature that hooked him. A cousin first introduced him to the sport, and Gonzales has taken full advantage of the opportunity.

“It’s the drive and ambition it requires,” Gonzales said. “I go in every single day ready to work and ready to train. I was really good at riding legs in eighth grade, but I’ve developed my takedowns, and now I rely mostly on those.”

From the outside, wrestling can appear to be a pure test of strength. Gonzales is quick to point out that technique is just as critical.

“It’s definitely a combination of the two,” he said. “I wrestle guys who are insanely strong, but there aren’t many who are both insanely strong and insanely technical — and those are the guys who really excel. With technique, you can beat someone who’s stronger than you.”

That balance gives Gonzales confidence no matter who he faces.

“It’s kind of hard to comprehend,” he said, “but even at Conflict at Cleveland — the biggest tournament in New Mexico — I wrestled a kid in the semifinals who was huge. I had moved up a weight class and he was cutting down. His legs were twice the size of mine. He was ginormous. But the little technical details he wasn’t paying attention to were what made the difference.”

In the state championship, Gonzales faced an opponent he had never wrestled before, but unfamiliarity wasn’t a concern.

“I go out there and wrestle my style every time,” he said. “I impose my style on them. I don’t wrestle their match, I wrestle my match. I know I’m the one to beat, so they have to come after me.”