LOPEZ TWINS ADD MORE FIREPOWER
Transfers a big boost for Loveland team with state title hopes
Twin sisters Lindsey and Lexie Lopez moved to Loveland from California with their family for a fresh start.
In the process, the two juniors have provided even more firepower for a girls wrestling team looking for an elusive state championship after finishing second last year.
Both undefeated so far this season and ranked at the top of their weight classes, their addition to the team could make this the year the Red Wolves reach their ultimate goal. The team went into this season boasting three-time state champion Morgan Johnson and third-place finisher Sierra Moskalski already.
The addition of the two, who head coach Naomi Chavez didn’t even know about until they showed up at practice, make the Loveland team even better. Chavez said she was intrigued by the two at first and was eager to see what they could do.
“I didn’t know anything about it until right when the season started,” Chavez said. “I was intrigued. I wanted to know what they had to offer, what kind of things they do differently from California to here. I wanted to see what they had.”
The two quickly rose up Tim Yount’s On the Mat rankings, with both reaching the No. 1 spot for their weights. In the latest edition, Lindsey is still at the top of hers while Lexie has dropped to No. 2.
But before they climbed those rankings and punched their tickets to this weekend’s CHSAA State Wrestling Championships with victories at their regional a week ago, there was some adjusting to do after their move from San Diego to Loveland.
“There’s a lot of reasons, but the one of the main reasons was we needed a new environment, a new perspective, that kind of thing,” Lexie Lopez said of why they moved to Loveland. “We just wanted to try something new and grow as a family by
leaving what we knew and moving out of our comfort zone. We figured this would be the place to come. Our dad lived here when he was 16 to 18. He did a couple of years of high school down here.”
The two had vacationed in Vail before, but moving permanently to Loveland was a new experience and took a little getting used to, specifically to the weather and the altitude. Moving in the summer and beginning to train for the season gave them time to acclimate to both and now they say neither is an issue.
There was also no problem adjusting to a new school and a new wrestling team. For Lindsey Lopez, the team aspect the two have experienced at Loveland has been a welcome concept.
“Where we were last year, the dynamic wasn’t the same,” Lindsey Lopez said. “The coaches didn’t push us as hard as they do here. Here, I feel like we are part of a team. Our team is always there for us, even if we have a bad day or if we aren’t motivated to go practice, they are always there for us, so it is a lot different.”
The two began wrestling together when they were nine. They started with martial arts a couple of years prior to that. They come from a family of wrestlers. Their father wrestled and watching their brother wrestle helped them decide to try it themselves and they haven’t stopped.
One of the biggest differences between California wrestling and the sport in Colorado the two have encountered has been the competitiveness. Girls wrestling has been sanctioned longer there so there are more competitors. In several tournament this season, the twins have received byes and made it to their championship matches with ease.
“It’s been going good,” Lexie Lopez said. “We’ve been working with coaches and doing all that and training a lot. I go to tournaments, and I don’t expect myself to lose, because I haven’t taken a loss. With that comes a lot of pressure, like, ‘If I lose today, I’m not going to be undefeated anymore.’ So, it is kind of like you are working, as well, toward not losing or not wanting to take a loss. I don’t want to lose, basically.”
It has been a great season so far for both of them. Neither has lost and both claimed regional championships last weekend. At 120 pounds, Lexie pinned three girls before winning a 12-1 major decision over Canon City’s Kate Doughty. Lindsey, at 115, got two pins before winning a 4-2 decision over Discovery Canyon’s Mia Hargrove.
Both had wrestled their regional final opponents before, and both had better success against them at the regional.
“I’ve beat girls that I’ve kind of felt like it was possible I couldn’t beat them based on their rankings, records, all that,” Lindsey Lopez said. “Going out there being the best wrestler I can be and winning those important matches really boosts my confidence as a wrestler.”
With two veterans of the state tournament on their team who have been mentors to them this season as well, Johnson and Moskalski, along with coaches Chavez and Troy Lussenhop have shown them pictures and tried to describe what the state meet is like — from the atmosphere at Ball Arena to the competition itself.
Both sisters are eager for the experience.
“They have said that semifinals and finals are the matches that are really going to matter and that you don’t have to be so nervous,” Lexie Lopez said. “There’s going to be a lot of people screaming and people wanting to take your head off because you are undefeated and No. 1 in the state. They were just saying it’s a lot of pressure, but you can’t let it get to you because this whole entire chapter of your life is what matters. You can’t let the pressure get to you.”
Despite being undefeated, Lindsey at 27-0 and Lexie at 29-0, both are No. 2 seeds this weekend. In Lindsey’s 115 bracket, the top seed is Widefield freshman Amaya Hinojosa, who is also 27-0. In Lexie’s 120 bracket, the top seed is Pomona junior Persaeus Gomez, who is 16-0.
With Johnson seeded first at 110 and Moskalski seeded second at 140, the team knows the opportunity they have this weekend.
“We’re looking for a team championship,” Lindsey Lopez said.