Fifth as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore, Chesterton junior wrestler Max Quiroz places third at the Al Smith Classic, where Greyson Strickland took seventh and Luke Johnson eighth

Fifth as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore, Chesterton junior wrestler Max Quiroz places third at the Al Smith Classic, where Greyson Strickland took seventh and Luke Johnson eighth

Once Chesterton junior Max Quiroz took control of his third-place match vs. Garrett’s Caleb Asa, he never let up, winning 13-7

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton has not had a wrestler make it to the state finals since Hayden DeMarco finished as a state runner-up in 2024.
Trojans junior Max Quiroz showed why he is considered the most likely to break that streak. Quroz isn’t the only one with a shot to get to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, but he clearly leads the pack.
Quiroz placed third at 132 pounds at the prestigious Al Smith Classic held at Mishawka High School. He entered the tournament as the fifth seed and came close to making it to the title match, losing to Crown Point’s Gavin Lewis, 5-2, early Saturday morning. Two wins later in the day earned him third place, his best finish at the annual event. Quiroz placed fifth in his weight class as a freshman and fifth again as a sophomore.
Quiroz is aiming higher than a berth to the state meet.
“My goal is to win state, as always,” Quiroz said. “That’s my goal, to win state.”
If he wants to get on track to do so and if he stays at 132 pounds, he likely must figure out a way to get past Lewis, the wrestler who has handed Quiroz two losses this season. Lewis won a 4-0 match at Chesterton. Quiroz was closer this time.
“He’s a guy I think I should be able to beat,” Quiroz said of Lewis. “He’s really experienced and he knows how to slow me down. If I can work that pace on somebody, I can break them and I can get the win.”
He blamed himself for Saturday’s loss to Lewis, who lost in the final 2-1 to Center Grove’s Ryan Malone, ranked No. 3 in the state at 132.
“I need to just cut out simple mistakes,” Quiroz said. “He got a really stupid takedown on my part and that’s the difference between going into overtime, breaking him, and getting the match.”
Trojans head wrestling coach Andrew Trevino told Quiroz he “did all the right things,” at the two-day tournament and “got a step closer to our goal for later on.”
Seeded fourth in a field of 32 wrestlers, Quiroz won his first two matches by pin and then ran into the always tough No. 5 seed Warren Brown II of the Merrillville and defeated him for the second time this season, this time by an 8-1 decision. That brought Quiroz into the semifinal match with Lewis.
Quiroz finished the tournament with a 5-1 record. He defeated No. 7 seed Isaiah Buikema of Hanover Central by major decision, 10-2, to reach the third-place match, where No. 4 seed Caleb Asa of Garrett was waiting for him. Asa took the early lead, 4-0, but once Quiroz gained control of the match he never let go and won 13-7.
“I knew I broke him when I got that second takedown and he just bellied out,” Quiroz said. “I was able to ride him out and get some back points even, too.”
The Al Smith gives wrestlers considering moving to a higher or lower weight division more information to help in making the decision. Even as well as he has fared at 132 pounds this season, Quiroz said he might drop to 126 pounds as soon as Wednesday’s dual meet at Michigan City.
“There are a lot of things going into play and I feel like that might be the best bet,” Quiroz said. “We’ll see. I weigh 132, so I’ve been walking around way lighter than at the beginning of the season. So that’s what makes me think I could go 126 and it might be better. I don’t know we’ll see.”
In order to qualify at that weight, Quiroz would have to weigh in at 126 or lower for at least one match, and after that he would need to be at 128 or lower because of the two-pound wiggle room granted wrestlers.
Wherever he ends up competing, Quiroz will bring ample confidence onto the mat. He said he is in the best shape of his life and wrestling better than at any time in his career.
He threw more than opponents during the weekend. He also threw credit the way of coaches and teammates.
“Improvements with coaching staff. Coach (Anthony) Hawkins has been a huge player in the room. He’s had me drill more intensely than in the past,” Quiroz said. “My drilling partners, like Lukey (Johnson) and Canden (Wiatrowski) and Emeric (Ritter) have really stepped it up as well. Just the environment as a whole this year has been more intense.”
Quiroz lasted the longest and performed the best among the 13 Chesterton wrestlers, followed by Greyson Strickland, seventh at 165, and Luke Johnson, eighth at the 138-pound division. Johnson’s hot streak continued. Seeded 12th, Johnson had victories over two higher seeds, including avenging an early season loss to Merrillville’s Jacian Quezada by winning a 5-0 decision. Johnson went 4-3 for the weekend. Justifying his first appearance in Indianamat.com’s top 30 state rankings, checking in at No. 19, one spot ahead of Xavier Flores of Center Grove. Flores is ranked No. 20 and was seeded No. 10 at Al Smith. Johnson defeated him by major decision 14-4.
As a team, Chesterton placed tied for 18th with host Mishawaka out of the 25 schools invited to the prestigious event. Crown Point won the team title, followed by Center Grove, Lowell, Cathedral and Bloomington North. Portage (11th), Merrillville (13th) and Lake Central (21st) were the only other DAC schools there.