Ignacio Villaseñor: The Pomona Freshman Making An International Impact

Pomona freshman Ignacio “Nos” Villaseñor was born to be a wrestler.

In the same way a tremendous wingspan or a stout frame can set the table for an athlete to experience success in basketball or football, Villaseñor’s seemingly infinite well of energy, paired with his desire to constantly improve on his craft, created the perfect cocktail for wrestling success.

Nos’ high-energy level motivated his parents to get him involved in sports as a young child, in hopes of finding an outlet for their son’s energy.

At five, they discovered the perfect pairing for Nos – wrestling.

“He had some cousins that were wrestling for Pomona, and they were like, ‘Hey take him there. Let’s see if he likes it,’” Nos’ father, Victor Villaseñor, said. “We went to the first wrestling practice, and he loved it. He didn’t quite know what he was doing. He was five. He was just wrestling and wrestling hard, doing all the conditioning, and he loved it. He just had a smile on the whole time, and one thing his mom and I noticed was that, on the way home, he fell asleep, and that was unusual. So that was a sign.”

Once Nos found wrestling, he was head over heels. There was no looking back. This was the sport for him.

“When he was about nine or 10, it was the summer, and he had just gotten a Facebook page on his phone, he had just gotten a phone recently, and we were on our way to baseball practice,” Victor explained. “He says, ‘Dad! Look! There’s wrestling practice going on,’ and I say, ‘Yeah, there is. There’s wrestling practice all the time,’ and he’s like, ‘Well, why am I not going to practice?’ I go, ‘Because you’re playing baseball now. You wanted to play baseball, so we’re going to baseball practice.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, if I knew I had to miss wrestling to go to baseball, I wouldn’t be going to baseball.’”

Nos finished out that baseball season, but from then on, it was all about wrestling.

“He’s a very talented wrestler, obviously,” Pomona wrestling coach Sam Federico explained. “But, you know, his hard work carries over into everything he does. He works hard at school, and he works hard at whatever he’s doing. If he’s fishing, he’s trying to be the very best at it. So, it’s just who he is.”

That desire to work as hard as he can and to be the best wrestler he could be, impressed Team USA’s wrestling coaches as well.

“I would describe Ignacio as an eager wrestler,” Nos’ Team USA coach, Zack Esposito, said. “He’s super passionate and super eager to learn. The way you should be as a wrestler, let alone a young wrestler. As a person, from what I have been around, I’ve seen a driven young man. He wants to be good and go on to do great things. Being with him person-to-person, he’s very respectful, which is a tribute to his parents.”

His hunger for greatness led him all the way to the Under-17 2023 World Wrestling Championships, in Istanbul, Turkey, this past summer. There, he took home the bronze medal in freestyle wrestling, cementing his place as one of the globe’s young elite wrestling talents.

“It was an incredible experience,” Nos said of getting to visit Turkey and compete in the games. “It was really different out there. Winning [the bronze match] and taking the bronze medal home was really the best moment.”

Nos says it took a long time for him to be able to view that moment – bringing home the bronze medal – favorably.

Of course, it was a tremendous accomplishment, but Nos didn’t board the plane to Istanbul hoping to walk away with third place. His goal was to win the gold.

How does a 15-year-old come to terms with achieving at such a tremendously high level, while still falling short of their ultimate goal?

“It makes me want to go back,” Nos said. “It motivates me more. It motivates me to go back and finish that goal.”

His parents saw firsthand that, while Nos was grateful for the opportunity and his marvelous performance, he was still left hungry for more as the family traveled back home to the Mile High City.

“We finally landed in Denver, and we’re on our way home, and he has his bronze medal with him, and he made a comment to us like, ‘You know what? Everybody’s happy for me, everybody’s telling me what a big deal this was, but I don’t feel happy. I don’t feel satisfied’…He had his mind set on gold, and he was really heartbroken.”

“I think it’s set in now,” Nos’s mother, Nicole Villaseñor added. “He’s happy and now he’s just determined to make [the world championships] again and bring home that goal. I think by having his [bronze] medal displayed in our basement that’s been really cool and has helped.”

For now, though, Nos is focused on the goal in front of him – winning a CHSAA State Championship.

CHSAA’s 2023 Wrestling State Championships will be hosted at Ball Arena, Feb. 15-17. Tickets for the championships are on sale now.