In the heart of West Chicago, an ambitious wrestler trains relentlessly. With each drop of sweat and every bruise, he takes one more step toward his goals – driven purely by determination and the pursuit of victory.
Ryan Alvarado, now a senior at West Chicago Community High School, has spent years building his skill set brick by brick in order to become the best wrestler the school has ever seen.
“I’m gonna go for D3, try to win some NCAA titles,” Alvarado said.
His wrestling journey began when he was very young – just about five years old – but was cut short when his coach was fired, leaving Ryan without a mentor for six years. In sixth grade, he gave wrestling another shot. Unfortunately, his progress was again interrupted—this time by COVID-19. Ryan found himself a bit aimless, waiting until practices resumed in eighth grade. This time, he stayed on the team for good.
“My proudest achievement might be how far I’ve progressed from freshman year to this year. Like, I can really see it… everything just improved drastically because of how much effort I’ve put in, and I’m pretty proud of that,” Alvarado said.
From the start, his family members have been his biggest supporters. His parents have accepted his endeavors no matter if he won or lost. As long as he tried his best, they were there for him – and his siblings truly admire him.
“I think my siblings think it’s cool. My little brother looks up to it… My parents are really supportive of it… even when I lose, they kind of just tell me I did great. As long as I tried my best, it’s okay. Maybe next time.”
As a very self-driven person, Ryan’s biggest source of motivation is himself. At the heart of all his effort is an unrelenting desire to improve.
“I think the biggest motivation I have is from myself and from my mentality of wanting to be better and not wanting to get passed up by other people,” Alvarado said. “Something that boosted my progress was being able to beat people at practice that I wouldn’t normally be able to beat. Like, you go in your first time… you get beat by them… but as time goes on, you just start getting better and better. Once you start overcoming, being better than them, it really gives a sense of accomplishment.”
Truth be told, such an ambitious dream comes with serious dedication. Alvarado has spent years training relentlessly to become a better version of himself every day – but not without sacrifice.
“I wrestle all year round, I train all year round, and I go to a club where the coach gives us wrestling-based workouts. So I don’t lift for bodybuilding – I lift for wrestling.”
“But I don’t have time for a job during the school year because of my sport, and if I needed to work a job, then I would probably have to drop some wrestling… which kind of sucks,” Alvarado said.
Reflecting on how wrestling has shaped his mindset, Alvarado says the sport not only honed his physical abilities but also deeply impacted his mentality and taught him a valuable lesson: success is earned through dedication and perseverance.
“Mentally, I feel like wrestling really put me at a mindset where I know that you have to work for what you want, you know? You have to work for everything… what you put in is what you get out,” Alvarado said.
