Damien santiago back in wrestling room and ready to take his (long) shot at East Chicago central semi-state saturday

Tom Keegan
onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton senior Damien Santiago is a young man with a plan.
Taking advantage of one of the high school’s many vocational education options, Santiago is working toward becoming a certified emergency medical technician.
“I assist paramedics in ambulances,” Santiago said. “I’ve been on a few calls but nothing really dramatic, lift assists, stuff like that. That’s about it.”
He intends to graduate with that certificate in hand and work in that field while he pursues a degree in nursing.
He has plans, all right, wrestling just wasn’t in them anymore. He thought his final match came in the first round of the Crown Point regional, where he was eliminated by Landon Hawkins of the the host school on a technical fall, 15-0 in 1:43.
That all changed when his phone pinged when he was at his EMT vocational class and he read a text from his wrestling coach, Andrew Trevino. It informed that a 132-pound wrestler from the East Chicago semi-state bracket had to scratch because of an injury and he was chosen to replace him.
“I was shocked. I thought my career was over,” Santiago said. “This is only my second year, so I wasn’t really expecting much, so to make it all the way to semi-state really excited me.”
Not many already are wrestling varsity just two years into taking up the sport, fewer still advance to semi-state. But Santiago is the first to say that he received a couple of breaks that paved the way for his unconventional path to a semi-state match. In fact, his path to wrestling in the first place wasn’t typical. He took it up because his younger brother, Tyler, wrestles in middle school and convinced him to try it.
“He’s good and he made me want to do it,” Damien said. “He’s going to be really good.”
Santiago’s first break of the season came when the classmate who beat him in a wrestle-off for the 132-pound varsity spot quit the team.
“I’m so glad he quit because then I got the varsity spot,” Santiago said.
He has a 10-26 record heading into the semi-state at East Chicago Central on Saturday. That’s 10 more varsity wins that Santiago would have gotten had he been wrestling JV.
He won two matches at the LaPorte sectional and placed fourth, earning the final spot to the Crown Point regional. The call-back gave him one more shot.
“I’ve had so much luck this year,” Santiago said. “I’m glad I’ve had so much luck.”
Funny how those who keep plugging away are the ones who tend to experience “so much luck.”
Wrestlers need to win their first two matches in the semi-state round to advance to the state tournament in Indianapolis, which is why second-round matches are known as the ticket round.
Santiago faces Sol Sibucrist (40-1) of North White in the first round Saturday. An upset very likely would leave Santiago facing Griffith’s Landon Westenfeld (41-1) in the ticket round. Regardless, Santiago is a semi-state qualifier, a nice line on a resume.
The addition of Santiago to the field gives Chesterton seven wrestlers competing Saturday. Joining him: 120 pounds: freshman Emeric Ritter (12-5). Highest ranked in the quadrant: Joseph Mendoza (23-1) Benton Central; 126 pounds: sophomore Max Quiroz (41-7). Highest-ranked in quadrant: Matthew Maldonado (33-3), Merrillville; 157: sophomore Charlie Shaffer (32-12). Highest-ranked in quadrant: Carter Heriges (30-5), Lafayette Harrison; 165: senior Andrew Shaffer (25-12). Highest-ranked in quadrant: Leonardo Santiago (34-7), Penn; 175: junior Lucas Anderson (35-9). Highest-ranked in quadrant: Vinny Freeman (30-2) Penn; 190: Greyson Strickland (9-7). Highest-ranked in quadrant: Weston Maddox (36-4), Lafayette Harrison.