Navarro Schunke wins third straight state title, helps Brandon Valley wrestling win state
BRANDON, S.D. (BVM) 鈥� Navarro Schunke won his third straight state title this past weekend at the South Dakota state wrestling tournament. The sophomore has now won each year since high school and is on his way to five straight state titles, a feat only four others from the state have accomplished.
鈥淚t feels pretty good,鈥� Schunke said. 鈥淚 know that it鈥檚 not going to happen too often for most people so it does feel really good.鈥�
Along with his own title came a team state title for Brandon Valley and a state title for his older brother, Valley senior Damion Schunke. It was a great send off for Damion before he heads to Arizona State to wrestle and for the rest of the seniors.
鈥淲atching him just grow to be nationally ranked and all this great stuff for him,鈥� Navarro said. 鈥淏eing able to go to ASU, it means a lot to me that he finally got there, where he always wanted to be. Just watch him grow and be with him and work with and all the stuff in between it means a lot.鈥�
The brothers have been wrestling since they can remember, getting thrown on to the mat by their dad who was a wrestling coach at Northern Colorado University at the time.
鈥淚鈥檝e been wrestling really since I was three, that was the first time I was on a mat,鈥� Navarro said. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure I just thought it was fun at that time.鈥�
Navarro would continue to have fun but because he was always wrestling older kids, it was hard to gauge where he was at. Then in eighth grade, he wrestled in a duals against some top wrestlers and did well. That was the first sign that he had the potential to do well in wrestling.
It was also during eighth grade that he won his first state championship. However it wasn鈥檛 an easy one. He had been wrestling great all year but had lost twice to his friend, Owen, during the season.
鈥淚 was getting a little scared about state and I only thought about that match that I was probably going to have with him,鈥� Navarro said. 鈥淢y state tournament that year was not a good looking one.鈥�
Even though he won, he wasn鈥檛 happy with how it went. Navarro spent the whole summer training and also worked on his mentality when entering a meet.
鈥淚 just went out and wrestled without being scared of losing,鈥� Navarro said.
The new mentality worked. Navarro went undefeated and won his second state title. Then this past summer, he won US Marine Corps Jr & 16U Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota. It all led up to this season where he once again went undefeated on the way to his third straight state title.
Now Navarro is one of the top wrestlers in the nation and a major prospect in the Class of 2024. It has taken a lot of work and Navarro has had a lot of help especially from his father and brother.
鈥淲atching him (Damion) win his first state title, watching him work out in the practice room and just watching his technique,鈥� Navarro said.
Along with them have been Navarro鈥檚 teammates. They have been a source of motivation for him, making the work that has to be put in to be a top wrestler enjoyable.
鈥淎 really big part of it is my teammates,鈥� Navarro said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun and then we know when to work hard.鈥�
With their help and Navarro鈥檚 own drive, there is no doubt he will have a great chance of accomplishing his goals of winning five state titles, make a world team and be a double champion at Fargo.
