Two years ago, Lake Central’s Mario Orueta went to the state meet as a spectator, not as a competitor.
He had quit the sport.
But Orueta decided watching from the crowd wasn’t going to work for him after all.
“I told my dad that I wanted to give wrestling another shot,” he said. “I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to quit.”
Orueta returned to wrestling and hasn’t stopped since, and the senior 113-pounder needs just two more victories to qualify for the state meet after winning his weight class at the Hobart Regional on Saturday.
“He’s put in the work, and now he’s showing the fruits of his labor,” Lake Central coach Luke Triveline said.
Orueta (27-6), who is ranked No. 12 at 113 by IndianaMat, was one of four individual champions for Lake Central, which won its first team regional title since 2002.
In the final match at 113, Orueta recorded a first-period pin against Portage senior Owen Bunton, who beat him twice in December. Orueta had kept an eye on Bunton, knowing a postseason rematch loomed.
“He was my first loss of the season,” Orueta said. “He was a guy who I was looking out for. When I was done with my matches, I’d be watching his.”
That kind of commitment epitomizes Orueta’s growth as a competitor. When he arrived at Lake Central in 2020, he expected to be successful from the get-go.
“A lot of kids who come from middle school into high school are thinking they’re going to be the top guy,” he said. “I was the same way. But it’s a different level. I just couldn’t take it.”
Discouraged after his freshman season, Orueta decided to stop wrestling. He attended the state meet during his sophomore year with his father, Mario Orueta Jr., who was a state qualifier at East Chicago Central in 1990, because it’s a family tradition.
It didn’t take long for Triveline to notice a dramatic change in Orueta’s demeanor.
“In this sport — and most sports — it’s about mental attitude,” Triveline said. “If your mental attitude isn’t there, you’re not going to be successful. When he came back, he knew that, because he’d missed a year, he was going to have to pick up some slack.”
Lake Central senior Guillermo Rivera, a two-time state qualifier who was a regional champion at 132 on Saturday, said Orueta has been more selective about his practice partners since returning to the sport.
“He’s looking for better competition instead of looking for the weaker guys in the room to take it easy at practice,” Rivera said. “He’s looking for someone who’s going to fight him for an entire practice.”
Rivera is one of those teammates. So is senior Mason Jones, who is 32-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state at 106. Orueta’s commitment to challenge himself at every practice is another indication he understands what it takes to be successful.
“He picks good drill partners now,” Triveline said. “It helps having good guys surrounding you, and they’re all making each other better.”
Orueta went 25-9 last season, when he lost in the first round at the East Chicago Central Semistate. He’ll return there this weekend with a chance to punch his ticket to the state meet in Evansville.
With that possibility in mind, Orueta recalled conversations he had with his father about his dreams for the future.
“I was just thinking about this the other night,” he said. “It happened when I was in middle school. I was telling my dad that I was going to wrestle at state. I’m trying to make that come true.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
