Record's Fan Fav Boys Wrestler of the Year: Maddox Lo of Weston Ranch

Once word got around about the RecordNet Fan Fav Boy Wrestler of the Year poll the Weston Ranch community banned together to vote for Maddox Lo.

“When my dad found out he sent the poll out everywhere, he copied and pasted the link and sent it to my family and friends,” Lo said. “Then I posted it on my Instagram and it was just going all around the school. So it feels very good to be the fan favorite.”

The sophomore wrestler received a total of 31,331 votes in an online poll that closed on Feb. 24, earning him the title of the first RecordNet Fan Fav Boy Wrestler of the Year.

Climbing the ladder

Lo was no stranger to the fighting mat when he joined Weston Ranch wrestling as a freshman. He's wrestled since he was six years old, making him one of the more seasoned wrestlers for the up-and-coming Cougars wrestling program.

“I started in Taekwondo but I didn’t really like it anymore because I wanted like more of a contact sport,” Lo said. “My dad brought up wrestling so I decided to do it and I fell in love with the sport ever since.”

In his first year of high school wrestling, the 106-pounder advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section Divisional rounds just a step shy of the big stage. This season he would not be denied. On Feb. 10 at the SJS Division 4 Divisionals Lo took down Daniel Narvaez of Lathrop to take home bronze in the 106-pound weight class.

He ended the tournament going 4-1 and qualifying for the SJS Masters for the first time in his high school career. Lo couldn’t hold onto that momentum once the big day came. He missed out on the top six and ended his sophomore season with a loss to Titus Khamjoi of St. Mary’s.

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Despite missing out on the CIF State Tournament this season, Lo will have two more years to continue climbing that ladder.

“I think I did decent this year, I got further than I did last year but I’m still hoping to make it to state,” Lo said. “I had an off day the day of the Masters. I didn’t wrestle to my full potential and I think I could’ve done better.”

The need to be challenged

A big reason behind Lo’s success this season was his driving desire to improve. As a sophomore he has assumed the leadership role as a wrestler other Cougars look to when it's time to learn a new move.

“He used to come to me as a freshman just giving me all kinds of ideas like ‘Hey coach we should try this or we should try that,’” said Benny Guardiola, Weston Ranch’s wrestling head coach. “It took some of the other wrestlers a little bit of time to get there but now that they’re doing this stuff that Maddox suggested they’re all starting to get up to his level.”

Lo’s suggestions not only helped his teammates improve but also helped influence others to join Weston Ranch wrestling. His friend, sophomore Kenny Serrano was one of those cases. Serrano initially wasn’t going to join wrestling but with Lo’s encouragement and guidance, he advanced to the SJS Division 4 Divisionals for the 120-pound weight class.

When he’s not challenging others, Lo is constantly challenging himself.

“Like in the beginning, we used to joke around that Maddox just wants to do fancy moves but over the years we’ve just seen him get better and better,” Guardiola said. “He is a very technical wrestler and Maddox never wants to go for the easy pin. He wants to wow the crowd and for them to know that this is my skill.”

This offseason Lo is looking to improve his aggressiveness during his matches something he felt he lacked during his SJS Masters outing. Typically the calm cool and collected sophomore isn’t the wrestler to take charge.

Guardiola also wants him to improve his stamina so he can last all three rounds of his matches. Lo is a step ahead of him in taking cage fitness classes that essentially prepare athletes for track season with lots of running.

“I’m glad his work ethic is spreading around to everybody else in Weston Ranch wrestling,” Guardiola said. “I wish I had a whole team of him. But you know we got a lot of kids that are joining alongside him and seeing that as a coach is awesome.”

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Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Record's Fan Fav Boys Wrestler of the Year: Maddox Lo of Weston Ranch