Berreyesa rocketing up the wrestling world; makes second U23 Greco-Roman world team
Andrew Berreyesa, 20, from Reno, made his second consecutive Under-23 World Team
Berreyesa rocketing up the wrestling world; makes second U23 Greco-Roman world team Andrew Berreyesa, 20, from Reno, made his second consecutive Under-23 World Team Check out this story on rgj.com: https://www.rgj.com/story/sports/2019/06/24/berreyesa-rocketing-up-wrestling-world-makes-u-23-greco-roman-team/1552835001/
Jim Krajewski, Reno Gazette Journal Published 5:33 p.m. PT June 24, 2019 | Updated 10:40 a.m. PT June 25, 2019
Reno High graduate Andrew Berreyesa is rocketing up the wrestling world Jim Krajewski, jkrajewski@rgj.com
He didn't set out to be a role model, but Andrew Berreyesa is increasingly becoming one as his stature continues to grow in in the world of wrestling.
Berreyesa, 20, from Reno, made his second consecutive Under-23 World Team after capturing the title at 82kg (180 pounds) in early June at the 2019 UWW Cadet and U23 Nationals. Berreyesa beat two-time NCAA All-American Chandler Rogers in the finals.
Berreyesa was the No. 4 seed, but he ran through the field unbeaten.
He recently completed his freshman year competing for Cornell where he went 16-11 overall, starting the year at 174 pounds, before dropping to 165 in late January.
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Andrew Berreyesa takes a break in the Reno High wrestling room last Friday. (Photo: Jim Krajewski)
Last year, Berreyesa earned the silver medal at the Junior World Championships, his first world team at any level. Also in 2018, he was the runner-up to Carter Nielsen at U24 Nationals.
Berreyesa was back in Reno this month, training at the Reno High wrestling room.
Berreyesa said he looked up to the wrestlers who were dominating in Nevada when he was young, including former Reno High wrestlers, Bo Bettinson, Joey Lavallee and Terry Mason.
Now, Berreyesa is in that role.
"Growing up, guys like Bo Bettinson and Joey Lavallee, I wanted to be those guys so bad," Berreyesa said. "I haven't put too much thought into myself being a role model."
Andrew Berreyesa trains with Steve Howe in the Reno High wrestling room last Friday. (Photo: Jim Krajewski)
There are four levels to the U.S. National team, Cadet, Junior U23 and Senior. Since Berreyesa is in position to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, he is considering taking an Olympic Redshirt Year. That means he can train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he will be heading in July. He can retain a year of college eligibility while training there.
Why is he so good?
Berreyesa said he is obsessed with wrestling, watching film constantly and trying to learn as much as he can about the sport.
"I'm going to figure out the best way to do things," he said. "I'll take everything I can and try to use it."
He will travel to Germany in August to compete in the German Grand Prix. He has been all over the world to compete, which helped lead to his success in the sport.
Berreyesa started wrestling at age 4, and admitted he did not like the sport at first. But when he won his first state tournament at age 7, it clicked in his head that he pretty good at it.
"Breaking through and finally doing it, it lit some weird fire in me," he said.
He won two high school state championships at Reno, and missed on a third by a controversial finish.
Andrew Berreyesa trains with Aiden Layfield in the Reno High wrestling room last Friday. (Photo: Jim Krajewski)
Steve Howe, his coach at Reno, said Berreyesa's hand-fighting skills are elite, meaning he can more easily move his opponent out of position.
Howe said Berreyesa got so good at wrestling by training in several different gyms and seeking knowledge there, not by trying to assert his dominance or showing off his skill.
He also competed in other sports when he was younger so he did not get burned out on wrestling.
"We call him 'The Encyclopedia,' because he knows the sport better than anybody I've ever met," Howe said.
Howe added that Berreyesa's intelligence aids his wrestling skills.
Howe said Berreyesa learns something new every time he loses, then adapts so opponents cannot use those same techniques on him again.
"Eventually, because he's such a student, he's going to get the upper hand," Howe said.
Similar to learning a new language, Berreyesa has improved by traveling and learning from wrestlers around the world.
Howe said it is like learning the dialect of a language, as opposed to sitting and learning it in a classroom.
While he had success in all three styles of wrestling, (Folkstyle, Freestyle, and Greco-Roman), Berreyesa's best results came in Greco, which included a Junior National title at Fargo in 2017.
Howe said the Reno High coaches saw Berreyesa's potential when he was a freshman.
He said that after Berreyesa lost at state as a junior, he immediately set about trying to learn from what had just happened, determined to not let it happen again. His senior year, he beat the same wrestler at state, 20-4.
Reese Larramendy, 15, (Left) won a silver medal at the U15 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in May. She attended middle school at Billingurst. (Photo: Provided to the RGJ)
Another wrestler from Reno is also performing well on the national stage.
Reese Larramendy, 15, won a silver medal at the U15 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in May.
She attended middle school at Billingurst in northwest Reno and now goes to Wyoming Seminary College Prep high school in Kingston, Penn.
Wyoming Seminary started a female wrestling team two years ago and the program is supported by USA Wrestling as an accelerated elite girl's developmental program.
Larramendy will be representing Team Nevada in July at Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
She started wrestling at age 6 and grew up wrestling boys in Reno. She traveled to nationals every year in Oklahoma and Dallas to be able to compete against girls and is a four-time national champion.
She hopes to compete at the international level, which is why she chose to attend Wyoming Seminary College Prep.
Jim Krajewski covers high school and youth sports for the Reno Gazette Journal. Follow him on Twitter @RGJPreps. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com right here.
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