A while back, Niko Chavez was a youth soccer player. Hanging around at his dad’s gym after practice, he discovered a new sport that was his true passion.
Those soccer cleats were soon traded in for wrestling singlets.
After three all-state seasons, including a state championship last February, it’s safe to say that Chavez made the right decision with his early career change.
VOTE FOR CHAVEZ IN THE 1 AWARDS
The Willard junior captured the Class 3 138-pound title earlier this year, defeating Belton’s Robert Weber 3-2 in a tiebreaker.
The victory gave the Willard wrestling program its second straight state champ after Hunter Yeargan claimed gold in 2015.
Growing up, Chavez lived in the Glendale school district and was set to play soccer for the Falcons once he reached high school.
“We ended up moving to Willard because my dad got a pastor job, but it ended up fitting me perfectly because (Willard) has such good wrestling,” Chavez said.
After starting his career at 106, Chavez wrestled at 126 as a sophomore and – although he made the cut for 132 – competed at 138 this year. Chavez said he plans to wrestle at 152 his senior year.
It’s the same weight-division career path as two-time state champ Kyler Rea of Neosho, who’s a close friend of Chavez.
“It was kind of something we were joking about, then it ended up being serious because I wouldn’t mind wrestling at 152,” Chavez said. “I’d probably see more wrestling and not worry about cutting weight.”
Chavez plans to wrestle in college and said he’s already receiving interest from several Division I programs, including: Northwestern, Edinboro, Michigan State and West Virginia, which is where Rea is headed next school year.
The path to a state championship this year was anything but easy for Chavez. He clawed out a 2-1 decision victory in his opening match, then after recording a pin-fall victory in the quarterfinals, beat Grain Valley’s Wolfgang Clapper 3-2 in the semifinals.
Against Weber, a freshman, Chavez needed a reversal in the final seconds to score two decisive points and swing the title match in his favor.
“I need to get 15 points better than him next time,” Chavez said. “It was a lot closer (match) than I would’ve liked. My whole state tournament was a lot closer than I would have liked. I like to make sure I don’t leave anything in the ref’s hands, and I kind of did, but I won.”
Chavez has spent the spring and early part of the summer competing in national and regional tournaments.
“I haven’t stopped wrestling since (state),” Chavez said. “I love it, so I don’t really get burned out. I enjoy doing it all the time.”
It didn’t take long for the realization of being a state champ to sink in for Chavez. A gold medal wasn’t the only item he received that weekend.
“I went to Cold Stone (Creamery) the next day and someone saw me on the O-Zone, so they gave me free ice cream,” Chavez said. “That was probably the highlight of it all.”
