When school was cancelled due to cold weather, junior Brandon Lopez spent his morning like he does almost every other morning: running.
Head Coach Jason Erwinski said he first met Lopez at a summer wrestling camp offered at Glenbrook North. Erwinski said he thought Lopez was a very quiet kid.
“[My] initial impression was that [Lopez’s] work ethic was pretty strong,” said Erwinski. “[He] works hard when he’s [in the gym] and you can tell that [wrestling] is kind of a sanctuary for him. …He hates to lose. Whether it’s limited to wrestling or life, I think that’s going to be an attitude that’s going to help him succeed in whatever he does.”
At the Glenbard West Invite on Jan. 10, Lopez had his highest finish of the season thus far, where he took second place. He said he has been wrestling for four years, but this is his first season wrestling at GBN after transferring from Maine East.
“My mom has always wanted [a] better education for my family,” said Lopez. “I didn’t really like the idea [of moving to Northbrook at first]. It’s a lot of change and I didn’t want to change anything in my life.”
Lopez said he walked into the first day of the GBN wrestling camp and knew nobody.
“I didn’t know how I felt about coming to a new team,” said Lopez. “I didn’t know if I was [going to] fit in or be any good. I just stayed quiet pretty much the entire [first day of camp]. This happened for the first week or so.
“My first day at school was 10 times more awkward,” said Lopez. “For 90 minutes, I [sat] in a class not knowing anyone, just [kind of] staring at the desk awkwardly. A few wrestlers came up and talked to me. They really helped.”
Lopez’s former coach, Emiliano Hernandez, said Lopez was a really great part of the Maine East wrestling program.
“I think the one thing that really stands out about him is he’s a really goal-oriented kid,” said Hernandez. “Once he sets his sights on something, he pushes to meet that goal.”
At Maine East, Lopez had over 25 wins and was a sectional qualifier. He was the team’s highest finisher at the Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Wisconsin. Lopez took fourth place.
Lopez said with the help of his teammates, he feels he has become part of the GBN community. One of the first friends he made through wrestling was junior Jonathan Lebron-Martinez.
“[Lopez is] a good wrestler,” said Lebron-Martinez. “As soon as he joined the team, he was a part of our [wrestling] family.”
Erwinski said he believes wrestling has been a tremendous help in getting Lopez acclimated to GBN.
“Anytime you’re involved in a sport or an activity knowing other kids besides the kids you meet in the classroom definitely helps,” said Erwinski. “I think the guys have really welcomed him with open arms.”
Lopez said he refers to his teammates as his second family and that he would not be where he is now without them.
“I find myself now looking forward to the end of the day to go to wrestling and finally be able to let loose and do the sport that I love,” said Lopez. “If I had never found [my team], the sport wouldn’t have been the same for me.”