Boone Grove’s Gavin Castellanos enjoys traveling — seeing different places, participating in new experiences.
He lists Florida at the top of his list of destinations.
“Even when I’m out there, though, it’s always finding a ball somewhere and just kicking it around, whether it’s with my family or by myself,” Castellanos said.
Soccer is never far from his mind, which makes this season all the more significant for the senior center midfielder.
“Soccer’s been my life since I can remember,” Castellanos said. “It’s a part of me. I don’t want to go out on a bad note. That’s also why it means so much to me to win something this year.”
Castellanos and the Wolves (6-0, 3-0) have won plenty during his career, including three straight Porter County Conference titles, with him earning the MVP award last season. But a sectional title has been elusive.
Boone Grove won consecutive Class 1A regional titles in 2017 and 2018 and then moved up to 2A the following season. The Wolves haven’t won a sectional since.
Castellanos knows the task this season will be far from easy for Boone Grove, which is ranked No. 20 in the 2A coaches poll this week. No. 4 Illiana Christian and No. 14 Hanover Central are among the teams in the sectional.
But Castellanos and his teammates have been focused on trying to break through.
“It’s been a while since we made it out of sectionals,” he said. “It would be nice senior year to make it out. I really, truly think we can get out of sectionals. This is the team that can make it far. We know how to play together.
“I have a lot of time under my belt. Senior year, you’re going to want it the most. I’m really looking to win sectionals. I’d do just about anything to win sectionals. This year means the most to me since we haven’t won a sectional since I’ve been here. We’ve won the PCC, and the next step is sectionals. That’s important to me and the team as well. We’re all looking to get some hardware.”
Castellanos, who had seven goals and four assists entering Boone Grove’s game at DeMotte Christian on Tuesday, indeed has put in the time for the Wolves. He has started since his freshman season. After posting seven goals and 11 assists as a sophomore, he had 14 goals and four assists last season.
“He came in right away and was making a difference on this team,” Boone Grove coach Brian Sherwin said. “Now senior year, you can see not only are his skills getting better, but his maturity on the field, his field vision, everything each year, you can see it just building and building and building. It really makes this team much better.”
Castellanos is a captain along with senior defender Avery Wertz and senior forward Anthony Perez.
“He’s a great player,” Perez said of Castellanos. “He knows how to shoot. He knows how to distribute the ball. He’s really composed. He’s a wonderful player. He’s awesome.
“He knows how to bring a great mentality onto the field. He keeps people’s heads up. He just has a great mentality.”
Sherwin, who is in his 25th season, praised the “amazing” partnership in the middle of the field between Castellanos and senior Jake Klingaman.
“It’s not very often you get two talented players like that working together unselfishly during games,” Sherwin said.
Sherwin compared them favorably to the midfield duo of Dylan Castellanos and Angel Castellanos. Dylan Castellanos, a 2019 Boone Grove graduate, is Gavin’s brother. Angel Castellanos, a 2020 Boone Grove graduate, is their cousin.
Those two were key players for the Wolves when they won back-to-back regional titles. That fact hasn’t been lost on Gavin Castellanos, who draws on it for a little bit of extra motivation.
“They went to semistate, so it’s almost like I have to try to one-up them and get to state,” he said.
Castellanos’ path has not been without bumps. He said he has been dealing with issues with his hip flexors and plantar fasciitis since middle school. But Castellanos, who also played basketball and baseball when he was younger before concentrating on soccer, doesn’t have time to rest.
“I got the most joy out of soccer, and it made me the most happy,” he said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
But Castellanos’ playing days could be coming to an end after this season. He hasn’t ruled out attempting to play in college, but he seems to be leaning in the other direction.
“I think I’m going to stop playing soccer and focus on an education,” he said. “But I’m never going to count soccer out. I love it so much, so I might end up going back and trying to play college soccer. We’ll see where I am at the end of the season, mentally and physically.
“I have to decide in these next few months if I really love soccer that much to go on and play in college, or hang up the boots after high school. My whole life has been soccer. It’s going to be different when I’m not playing.”
If he doesn’t play, Castellanos is looking into attending Indiana, with an eye on getting into the Kelley School of Business.
He said he intends to graduate from Boone Grove after the first semester and plans to work in construction “to save up some money” for college. Depending on what comes next, he also could decide to continue to play club ball.
Castellanos has already cemented his legacy with the Wolves.
“He’s a really good kid to coach,” Sherwin said. “He’s just an asset to this team — offense, defense, practices. He’s a really complete player. I don’t say this lightly, but he’s one of the best field players that I’ve ever seen at Boone Grove. He is excellent.”