Austin Bautista’s third place finish at nationals wasn’t bad last year, but for him it wasn’t good enough.
And it has motivated him the entire season.
“It’s always in the back of my mind,” Bautista said. “Whenever I need extra motivation to get through a hard situation, I reminisce to that moment to give me an extra push.”
He will have his chance to improve on that finish this weekend at the Division III tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Bautista, who is 33-2 at 141 pounds, said he is feeling good heading into his final collegiate tournament.
“Everything is going great,” Bautista said. “We’re beginning to taper down the workouts and get down to weight for this weekend.”
Bautista is also one win away from becoming UW-Whitewater’s career wins leader. Moreover, he has not lost since Dec. 5 – a string of 22 consecutive matches.
Joining Bautista this weekend at nationals is senior John Schmidt at heavyweight and Adam Latella at the 197-pound weight class.
Despite splitting time at heavyweight this year with junior James Zarate, and freshman Nick Gibson, Schmidt was confident he would have a chance to end his career at the NCAA tournament.
“I hoped to make nationals last year and didn’t,” Schmidt said. “This year, I made it happen, and I knew it would happen.”
Schmidt qualified for nationals as a wild card after placing second at the conference championships Feb. 21. With a 12-5 record, Schmidt is happy with the way his preparation has gone this week.
“Training has been great,” Schmidt said. “At this time of the season you have to trust your training, and make sure you are healthy and ready for battle.”
Latella also earned a wild card berth into nationals after finishing second at the WIAC tournament.
Despite only being a sophomore, Latella anticipated a stellar individual season.
“I saw myself wrestling at nationals at the start of the year,” Latella said. “That’s the goal of pretty much everybody that wrestles. It keeps you motivated throughout the year.”
With a 21-11 record, Latella wants to put the finish touches on a stellar season.
“My goal going into nationals is to become an All-American,” Latella said.
