Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/279748
Unlike some Latino wrestlers who learned their basic skills and techniques in rural high school wrestling programs with no wrestling tradition, Scott Reyna attended Oklahoma powerhouse Midwest City High School in the early 1990s. At MCHS Reyna benefited from a wrestling tradition harkening back to the 1960s. Even so, he stood out his junior and senior years by not only winning two state championships, but also being named a High School All- American. Arriving at Oklahoma State when Dan Gable was in the midst of building the University of Iowa into the No. 1 wrestling program in the country, Reyna found out that even if you come from a great high school team, wrestling at the next level still requires hours and hours of training on the mat. His time on the mat paid off during his career at OSU and this wrestler did nothing but get better and better each year. As a sophomore in 1995, he earned a seventh place at 142 pounds at the NCAA tournament, followed by a sixth-place finish as a junior. Naturally Scott Reyna had nothing but high hopes for the NCAA in 1997, his senior year with the Cowboys in which he accumulated a record of 25-2 against the best wrestlers in the country. Reyna sailed through his bracket undefeated until the finals when he was knocked off by another force in wrestling at that time, Cary Kolat from Lock Haven University. Kolat in fact went undefeated throughout all of the season. In spite of finishing second in his weight division, no small feat in itself, this Latino wrestler ended his career at OSU with a performance that helped his team earn enough points to finish as runners-up behind the Iowa Hawkeyes' burgeoning mat dynasty. So even though Reyna fell short of his dream at nationals, he never the less ended his career at OSU as a three-time All-American. As such Scott Reyna is an excellent example of a wrestler who never relied on last year's accomplishments, but always worked to get better. His mat record proves he did just that. Wrestled 1990-1997 Oklahoma State University 142lbs SCOTT REYNA SCOTT REYNA'S TIME ON THE MAT PAID OFF DURING HIS CAREER AT OSU AND THIS WRESTLER DID NOTHING BUT GET BETTER AND BETTER EACH YEAR. HIS SOPHOMORE YEAR IN 1995 SCOTT EARNED A SEVENTH PLACE AT 142 LBS AT THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, FOLLOWED BY A SIXTH PLACE FINISH AS A JUNIOR. 40 | NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM LATINO WRESTLING EXPERIENCE