DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:Alvarez a warrior for Estancia

A room full of cranky wrestlers barked. Not enough heat in the room to keep the sweat pouring during practice.

The heaters were out inside Estancia High’s wrestling room, making it unsuitable to wrestle in the cold.

Wrestlers bruised, burned and barked too much for Coach Brian Burgess’ comfort.

So, what did Efren Alvarez and the rest of his six varsity teammates do three weeks before the Garden Grove League championships?

Nothing but lift weights and run the first two weeks.

Finally, someone fixed the heaters, a week before the league finals.

Plenty of time for Alvarez and his team to turn it up, right?

Nope. But Alvarez showed that one week of practice was enough, especially after Burgess decided not to cancel the season due to the heaters being out of service for most of the year.

Alvarez (15-5) thanked his coach the only way he could — by winning a league title. He claimed the 189-pound championship Saturday at Santiago, giving Burgess his first league champ during his four years at Estancia.

“If it has to be any wrestler, I couldn’t be any happier that it’s him,” said Burgess of Alvarez, who beat Santiago’s Julio Cuevas, 6-5, with an escape late for the title. “I think it’s fantastic that it is Efren. He’s a hard worker and a really good kid.

“Efren is the first four-year guy to come through with me. Just watching him grow from his freshman year, it’s just night and day. I’m proud of the guy.”

No way was Alvarez going to let Burgess down in his senior year. Not the guy who believed in him after Alvarez became academically ineligible last year and missed the last part of the season.

Those grades are up and so is the Eagles’ program. Much because of Alvarez showing the younger wrestlers what it takes to compete.

They learned as the entire varsity team, all seven wrestlers, advanced out of the league finals to the CIF Southern Section Eastern Division tournament at La Quinta High on Feb. 16-17.

“I wasn’t expecting it to happen,” said Alvarez after the team missed two weeks of practice because of the heaters. “We had to work twice as hard. It was cold in here. Most of us were out of shape. We had to start over again.

“But it’s a good feeling that the whole team is going to CIF. You feel more confident.”

A confident Alvarez bodes well for Alvarez and teammates.

A year ago around this time, Alvarez said he was more confused than secure. He said his parents went through a divorce that kept him up thinking about what went wrong. It affected his grades, as he said he stopped attending the English class he was failing.

He needed something.

Seeing his determined mother, Angelica, move forward allowed Alvarez to get through.

“Time passed,” he said. “I just forgot about it.”

Angelica has never seen Alvarez wrestle in person. She first thought her son made a bad choice of pursuing wrestling as a freshman. It was too brutal of a sport for Alvarez to handle.

Now, when she watches Alvarez on the mat via video shot by her daughter, Norma, a sophomore at Estancia, she beams.

Angelica is proud. So was her son when he watched himself for the first time.

“I feel like I turn into somebody else, someone like a warrior,” Alvarez said. “I was kind of surprised.”

His coach sees a fighter in Alvarez.

So do his teammates, Pedro Lopez (103 pounds), Damian Leon (125), Justin Crosson (135), Bryan Torres (140), Gabe Thaler (171) and David Lopez (285).

They will all be with Alvarez at the individual event in La Quinta, where the top five qualify for the Masters, the precursor to the state finals.

No one is cranky now and Burgess is happy about that.

“I’m glad they were able to persevere. Hopefully it made them stronger,” said Burgess of his wrestlers dealing with not practicing for two weeks. “They could have easily thrown in the towel. Not for a minute did I see any of them do that. Efren led the way. I told him if he gets that CIF medal that it’s going to be a thousand times better than a league championship.

“Efren needs to be the first one to break through for these [younger] guys and show them it’s possible. That’s what they need and Efren is a good example to follow.”

EFREN ALVAREZ

Hometown: Costa Mesa

Born: June 3, 1989

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 185 lbs.

Sport: Wrestling

Weight class: 189 lbs.

Coach: Brian Burgess

Favorite food: Spaghetti

Favorite movie: “Spider-Man 2”

Favorite athletic moment: Being a part of Estancia’s entire team qualifying out of the Garden Grove League championships at Santiago Saturday. Seven Eagles advanced to the CIF Southern Section Eastern Division tournament at La Quinta on Feb. 16-17.

Week in review: Won the 189-pound title at the Garden Grove League finals, beating Santiago’s Julio Cuevas, 6-5, with an escape late at Santiago.