McALLEN — McAllen Rowe senior Petey Lozano, one of the most dominant middleweight wrestlers throughout the Rio Grande Valley, signed to continue his academic and wrestling careers at Schreiner University in Kerrville surrounded by his friends, family and coaches at a ceremony Wednesday evening in front of McAllen Rowe High School.
“I’m kind of nervous right now because I didn’t expect this to be the outcome, but I’m also really excited knowing that my dream since I was a kid is actually coming true now,” Lozano said.
Lozano developed into one of the Valley’s best on the mat during his four years competing for the Warriors, but nearly called it quits early on.
“My freshman year I went in and I won my first match. Then after that, it just all went downhill. I went on a five-match losing streak and I just thought, ‘This isn’t the sport I expected. I didn’t expect it to be like this at all,’” Lozano said. “At first I didn’t want to do this anymore and I didn’t want to be around this anymore. I was going to completely quit wrestling, but then something told me don’t and I just kept going and going. In the end, I just never looked back and I’m glad I didn’t because this has been the best experience I’ve ever been through.”
It ended being a fortuitous decision for Lozano, who poured himself into his training before taking off at the beginning of his sophomore year.
The Warriors’ veteran wrestler fought to earn three consecutive trips to the University Interscholastic League’s state wrestling meet in three separate weight classes. He clinched his first spot at state as a sophomore at 138 pounds before moving up to 145 as a junior and 152 as a senior.
“(The emotional investment) is very high and you feel everyone’s nerves and their excitement,” he said. “It’s just a whole different rush, like the adrenaline rush you get from a district or regional tournament is totally different from the state tournament because it’s just all the heavy hitters and top dogs and everyone’s going for the exact same goal you are. In the end, it’s really whoever wants it the most.
“Those people have been wrestlers since the day they were born and just knowing that it’s such a huge arena full of people. You’re kind of just like, ‘Whoa, these are people from all over Texas.’ Not just your little school district or little region, but everybody. It’s amazing being up there and witnessing all that.”
Lozano improved his performance at the state meet in each of his trips, earning a coveted Day 2 spot after winning two of his three initial matches. He also carried the weight at times of being the lone Rowe wrestler competing at state.
“At first I was very nervous and scared of being that one wrestler, but I personally don’t see myself as just the Rowe wrestler,” he said. “I’ve always thought of it as a team sport because I wouldn’t have been able to get where I was without my team and that’s how it’s always been. From my freshman year to my senior year, everyone who was my wrestling partner and whoever helped me throughout my wrestling career, they were the reasons I was able to be as successful as I was.”
Lozano went out with a bang and finalized his high school career by hauling home loads of hardware.
The Rowe senior won seventh place overall in 152-pound division at the 2020 UIL State Wrestling Tournament in Cypress and ended the year ranked eighth overall in his weight class by WrestlingTexas.com.
Furthermore, Lozano was voted the RGV’s 2020 Male Wrestler of the Year by the Rio Grande Valley Coaches Association and also locked up The Monitor’s All-Area Male Middleweight Wrestler of the Year.
“Every time before a match as soon as I got on that mat, I would zone everything out and just focus on what I was planning to do and what I came to do,” he said. “I went in there to do business and do what I do best. I just went out there, had fun and wrestled. But that’s always been the thing, just having fun.”
Lozano, who has also practiced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for more than a decade, gained a reputation for helping and improving his teammates and younger wrestlers around him. Now, the Rowe senior hopes to use his collegiate opportunity to major in kinesiology and one day return to the Valley as a teacher and wrestling coach to teach and develop the RGV’s next generation of athletes.
“I wanted to be a coach from the time I was about 10 years old, actually. That’s when I was in jiu jitsu and I was barely starting wrestling,” Lozano said. “I would help train kids on the side and give them private lessons. It just made me realize this could be my future right here teaching others about the sport that I love the most and showing them that they can find their own outlet.”