Sarah McManus
Sports Reporter

Photo by: Michael Wong

spmcmanus@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

Macario “Mac” Borrego may only be a freshman at CMU, but he has already made his name known in the wrestling world with quite the resumé.

“I have been wrestling since I was three years old,” Borrego said. “My family wrestled, so I kind of just grew up into it.”

Before coming to CMU, Borrego was well-known throughout New Mexico for his wrestling talent. He attended Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho and wrestled throughout his four years there.

Three years in a row, Borrego was a finalist in State wrestling, winning the title his junior year. Along with winning the title, Borrego was also selected for All-State wrestling.

Borrego has spent much of his time this season recovering from a number of ailments.

“I’ve had a lot of injuries,” Borrego said. “I broke my right thumb, sprained my left thumb, strained my lower back and had MRSA, all just this year.”

MRSA (short for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is a staph germ that cannot be treated with typical first-line antibiotic medications used in treating an average case of a staph infection.

After many weeks of recovery and rehab, Borrego was able to get back to a normal practice regimen two weeks ago. All the recovery time seems to have done him good as Borrego won a tournament last weekend, his first match back, making his official record 7-4 for the season.

College wrestling can be intimidating, but that has not stopped Borrego from keeping calm when going into a match. Some athletes have superstition, or traditions before games or matches, but Borrego has a different approach.

“Sometimes I listen to music, but mostly I just like to stretch and make sure I’m nice and loose,” Borrego said. “Right before any match I tell myself, ‘This is yours, don’t let anybody take it away from you.’”

Not being able to compete through the majority of the season was hard for Borrego, but he was more than happy to be back on the mat.

Borrego says he enjoys wrestling because of the life lessons he has learned since starting as a three-year old wrestler as well as pushing his body to its limits. With so much experience under his belt, Macario Borrego is sure to be making a great impression on the CMU wrestling team in the years to come.