Iowa City West’s Robert Avila Jr. attempts to join elite group of 4-time state wrestling champions

This was not the senior season Robert Avila Jr. envisioned.

It was supposed to be much smoother and less interrupted as he approached a chance to achieve his goal of joining the hallowed company of four-time Iowa high school state wrestling champions.

Despite an injury that has forced him to miss part of the regular season and limited his training, Avila has positioned himself to finish the trek started as a freshman.

“This season has been the most frustrating and difficult years I’ve had,” said Avila, who won three Class 1A titles at Lisbon before transferring to Iowa City West for his final year. “Dealing with that kind of stuff has been really tough. I’m just focusing on what I can control right now and that’s making sure I’m doing everything right until I wrestle in that 1:30 (p.m.) session.”

Avila will take the mat Thursday afternoon, attempting to claim a fourth title at the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 3A traditional state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Avila, Crestwood’s Carter Fousek (138) in 2A and New London’s Marcel Lopez (126) in 1A, each could join the previous 29 four-timers.

“I’m just looking forward to keep doing what I’m doing best,” Avila said. “I’m just pushing forward and take advantage of the opportunities. Make sure I don’t have any regrets when it’s all done.”

Adversity has never been able to derail Avila, but it came close this season. The second-ranked 145-pounder has an unspecified knee injury suffered in December. The rest of the season was in jeopardy.

“The first couple days, and that week, I just watched practice,” Avila said. “I didn’t know what to do. They told me to stay off it. This is the first time I’ve ever dealt with a serious injury that kept me out of something.”

West Coach Nate Moore, who was a four-time state finalist for the Trojans, said the injury occurred during a holiday break practice. Avila has shown perseverance to get to this point.

“He’s dealing with it a lot better than a lot of people,” Moore said. “It’s not over for him, yet.”

The strange scenario tested his patience. Avila was not content with being idle. He stayed connected to his team to manage the down time.

Avila stayed with the Trojans during competition and other activities. They continued to bond and he did his best to support them.

He even started to share his knowledge and offer advice, giving him a small taste of coaching. He gained a different perspective and a better understanding of things, helping teammates with technique, occasionally.

“In a way, I’m kind of grateful,” Avila said. “Obviously, it sucked and everything wasn’t going the right way. I was able to get my head straight.

“It definitely hasn’t been easy. Sometimes I have to slap myself in the face and remember what it is all for and all the opportunities that I have.”

Another major pillar Avila has leaned on is his freshman brother, Justin, who qualified for state at 170.

The younger Avila couldn’t break through the solid middle weights of his older sibling, two-time state champion and three-time finalist Hunter Garvin (152) and 10th-ranked Kael Scranton at 160. He climbed multiple weight classes just to crack the lineup and unknowingly provided some motivation.

“I don’t think he realizes it,” Avila said of his brother’s impact. “He’s probably one of the only reasons why I’m wrestling this season. I probably would have called it if he decided he wasn’t going to go out for wrestling. I may have said ‘screw it’ and got ready for college.

“He toughed it out and went up a couple weight classes. You know what? If he’s going to tough it out and go up a couple weight classes then I can do it.”

A little less than two weeks and he was back on the aerodyne bike, cranking 10 miles as quickly as possible and weight training with his upper body.

Avila did that for about a month and then he began drilling moves about two weeks before districts. The week leading up to the postseason he began to wrestle live with coaches and teammates.

“Slow and steady,” Avila said. “I’ve been feeling a lot better. I’ve been able to run the last few days. The first day I ran was the Wednesday (before district).”

Normality finally set in at the district meet Feb. 12. Avila only needed 23 seconds to record a quarterfinal win — his first match since Dec. 22. He won by injury default and then beat Linn-Mar’s sixth-ranked Grant Kress, 14-5.

“I felt like me again, for once in months,” said Avila, who is 11-1 with seven pins, technical fall and major decision. “As soon as that first whistle blew and I got off the mat with a 20-some second pin I ran into the hallway, did my sprints and was like ‘I’m back. This is the feeling.’”

He showed no ill-effects.

“I don’t think he’s hampered at all,” Moore said. “I think we did the right things and there’s no setbacks, right now. We just have to be smart and have a good week of practice to keep building. He’s got to go out and perform.”

Avila enters the state tournament as the No. 3 seed. His lone loss is to Southeast Polk’s Joel Jesuroga, who won 6-2 on Dec. 18.

They are part of a loaded weight that includes four state champions — Avila, Jesuroga, Bettendorf’s second-seeded Dustin Bohren and Waverly-Shell Rock’s Bas Diaz, who won titles out-of-state before transferring to Iowa.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Avila said. “I wish it was 16 state champions.

“It doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, you still have to win four matches, no matter who it’s against. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be tough.”

Moore echoed the strength of the bracket. Each round will be a challenge. He also said that Avila thrives on the biggest stages.

“When it’s time to compete, he loves the spotlight,” Moore said. “It’s loaded.”

Avila recalled his initial goal was being an undefeated four-time champion but a loss to a nationally-ranked foe early his first season prevented that from happening. He went on to win his first state crown later that year. With the past loss to Jesuroga, he hopes to have a similar finish.

One that would put him among the best in state history.

“They say history kind of repeats itself,” Avila said. “I came back from a loss and won a state title pretty dominantly as a freshman, then why not do it my senior season and finish it off the way I started?”