Javier Torres is his own worst critic. In a 25-minute phone interview with the Times, Torres on three occasions used the work “choke” in describing some of his past performances, including a recent second-place showing in the Webber Lawson Memorial Tournament at Fremont High in Sunnyvale.
Perhaps it’s a way for the Live Oak High junior to continually motivate himself in a grueling sport such as wrestling, which can sap even the toughest of athletes.
“I try to be hard on myself,” he said. “My goals for this season is to be a CCS champion along with going to state. One day I want to be a state champion. I want to be the best—period.”
Torres entered the week ranked fifth in the section at 113 pounds. The 5-foot-4 Torres is coming off a season in which he finished third in the Blossom Valley League Championships and sixth in the CCS Championships, both at 106 pounds. Torres will either stay at 113 or drop down to 106 as the season goes along.
Whatever weight class he competes in, Torres knows he’ll have to improve in every phase of the sport. Even though Torres is adept at countering shots, he still feels he can take that part of his skillset to another level. Torres didn’t fare particularly well against some of the section’s elite a year ago, but he’s looking to change that this season.
“Sometimes I don’t feel like I wrestle to my true potential against the best competition,” he said. “I always believe I should do better. … I try to stay aggressive 100 percent of the time and thrive on my opponent’s mistakes. I want to have the best defense and the best offense, the best standing top game and bottom game. I want to be the best all-around wrestler, and in order to do that I have to improve on everything.”
Live Oak coach Eric Jardine, who coached at crosstown rival Sobrato High last year, said he can’t wait to see how Torres develops this season.
“From what I’ve seen, Javier is a talented wrestler who has all the skills to eventually go to the next level,” Jardine said. “It comes down to discipline—that is where he’s at right now. He’s got to get situated with his weight, and I he’ll be set.”
Torres was initially interested in wrestling in the sixth grade and all through middle school, but his inability to make grades prevented him from going full bore into the sport.
“I could never make grades, and I always wanted to see how a full season really was,” he said.
When Torres got cut from the junior varsity football team as a sophomore because of grades, it left an impact that still affects him positively today.
“After being cut from the football team, there was no other pain like that pain,” he said. “And I never wanted to feel that again.”
Torres got his GPA up to compete in wrestling, and he has no plans to let up on the academic side going forward.
“Sports are a great motivation for me to keep my grades up and take them seriously,” he said.
Torres developed a love for the sport in his freshman year, and tried out for the team in part because his parents, Edith and Hector, encouraged him to do so. Perhaps Torres’ parents had an intuition that their son could excel in wrestling, because he’s made a dramatic improvement since his freshman season.
In Torres’ first-ever tournament—coincidentally, it was the Webber Lawson—Torres got pinned rather unceremoniously before reeling off four consecutive wins for a solid sixth-place showing.
“The first match of that tournament I didn’t really know what I was doing,” Torres said. “He hooked my legs and set me up for a banana split. I didn’t know what it was and rolled straight into the move and basically ended that match for myself.”
However, Torres persevered to win four straight, displaying a supreme resolve and determination that is evident today. Torres said his two older half-brothers, Armando and Frank Justo, toughened him up at an early age.
“They had a huge impact on me,” he said. “We used to host little wrestling tournaments in the house, and me being a little kid, I couldn’t really wrestle them since they were a lot older. But I always tried to hop in with the big boys and have fun. They’re definitely one of reasons why I think I’m doing as well as I am.”
