Eric Ruiz, a two-time California state qualifier and PAL champion, started wrestling his sophomore year. His intense MMA background is what initially inspired him to try out wrestling. As a young child, Ruiz was heavily involved in martial arts. At just eight years old, he began jiu jitsu at Rough Empire in East Palo Alto and fell in love with boxing shortly after.
“When I’m fighting, I have so much adrenaline, allowing me to release my energy,” he said.”I put in a lot of hard work, and I like winning because I can see the results.”
Ruiz continued boxing and competing in MMA as he began his first year at Woodside High School. Ruiz attended Woodside during his freshman and sophomore years. Before his junior year, a teammate from Rogue Empire encouraged him to transfer to M-A for better coaching and more opportunities within their wrestling team.
“At Woodside, we were a lot more laid back and more about having fun with the sport. The intensity of wrestling here is much higher but in a good way,” he said.
Since his junior year, Ruiz has played a crucial role on the team as the captain and the PAL champion for the past two years.
During his junior year, Ruiz became a California State Qualifier and won many awards outside of M-A wrestling matches. Ruiz was a two-time Gym Root wrestling champion and placed third in CCS last year.
This year, Ruiz ranked among the top 20 wrestlers in California. He also won third place his junior year and fourth place this year at the Freakshow tournament in Las Vegas.
One of Ruiz’s biggest inspirations, Carter Striarchhi of Pennsylvania State University, motivates him to wrestle even better. “I like the way he wrestles. He is aggressive but has good technique and knows when to attack; he’s well-balanced,” he explained.
Like Striarchhi, Ruiz hopes to continue his wrestling career in college. He has been looking into schools not only for his athletic career but also for academics. Aside from wrestling, Ruiz hopes to study architecture, as building and design have always fascinated him.
As he reminisces on his final senior season, Ruiz noted how much he will miss the team and the coaching staff at M-A. “I’m going to miss them all. We’ve bonded a lot, and the coaches here are great,” he shared.
