The wrestling mat is a canvas for Michael Ortega.
That’s where the Portage senior can show everything he has poured into the sport.
“It’s kind of clicked this year for me,” Ortega said. “I guess it’s more of a confidence thing, believing that I’ve done so much throughout my whole life for wrestling, and I can express how much confidence I have when I’m on the mat.”
With that confidence, Ortega (35-3) is creating a masterpiece this season. He has won conference, sectional and regional titles, and he heads to the East Chicago Central Semistate on Saturday ranked No. 3 in the state at 150 pounds by IndianaMat.
Ortega, who will try to qualify for the state meet for the first time after falling one win shy last year, won his weight class at the Hobart Regional last week with an overtime pin of Merrillville senior Marlone Kirksy in the championship match. That was Ortega’s second win against the sixth-ranked Kirksy in the past month, and another meeting is possible at semistate.
“He’s a very tough opponent,” Ortega said. “But people like him really push me in the room. The guys who beat me by decision or almost beat me, those are the ones who drive me and make me so much better as a wrestler.”
Ortega’s drive is something that Portage coach Luis Acuna notices all the time.
“You can just see it in his work ethic,” Acuna said. “There’s passion and intensity in everything he does — the way he drills, the way he lifts weights, the way he runs every sprint. It’s passion exuding from him.”
Portage senior Cameron Woods, who will join Ortega at the East Chicago Central Semistate after finishing third at 126 pounds in the regional, said Ortega has been seeking out new ways to gain an additional edge over his opponents.
“He has always taken it seriously,” Woods said. “But I would say that this year he’s trying a lot of different things. … He just eats and sleeps wrestling. He’s very dedicated.”
Woods said he and Ortega don’t wait until Monday practices to correct mistakes made during matches at Saturday tournaments.
“If we both end up experiencing any type of troubles in our matches, we’ll go over it with each other a thousand times,” Woods said. “We’ll come in on a Sunday and get some work in, then come back on Monday and drill it even more.”
Ortega has found more and more hours to devote to wrestling in recent years. He stopped playing football after his sophomore season.
“I knew that if I really wanted to be good at this sport, I’d have to do it for the full year,” he said. “Why be good at two sports when I could be great at one?”
Ortega said he intends to wrestle at the next level too.
“A big reason why I want to go to college is because I know there are a lot of people there who are better than me, and I want to go to college so I can become better than them,” he said.
Ortega will rely on the get-up-and-go that has guided him to this point.
“Just keep going — don’t let up on the gas pedal,” he said. “Even when you think you’ve done enough, keep going because you haven’t.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
