‘Why Can’t I?’: How a Shift in Mindset Led Sergio Vega to a National Title

STILLWATER — A switch flipped for Sergio Vega going into the second day of the National Duals Invitational, and about four months later, he was getting his hand raised as a national champion.

The Cowboys were in the National Duals semifinal against Iowa, and the other semifinal of the event was Ohio State vs. Nebraska — aka Jesse Mendez and Brock Hardy, the two top guys at 141 pounds. That meant no matter what happened in the semis, the young Vega was going to get one of last season’s national finalists in the next round.

“Why can’t I?” said Vega on Saturday night, recalling his mindset going into that day at National Duals.

Vega would go on to beat Hardy via a 13-2 major decision in Tulsa, a result that shocked the wrestling world given it wasn’t all that close. A little more than a month later, Vega pinned Hardy at a dual in Lincoln. They met again in the national semifinal, where Vega won 5-3.

But he had to wait all the way until the national final before he got his hands on Mendez, the two-time defending champ. And just like every other match he wrestled this season, Vega got his hand raised.

“Once you do the right things and you work really, it’s easy to just have no pressure and go have fun,” Vega said Thursday. “You can trust yourself. I think for me, I was like every time something got tough, I know that I tried to make my training the hardest thing I could do. So every time I got into a tough match, it’s like, alright, I’ve been there. Nothing is really different because I was pushing myself so hard. That’s just how I’ve always looked at it — I’m gonna push myself and make my training the hardest thing that I’m doing.”

Mendez also hadn’t lost all season going into the NCAA final, and it wasn’t just that he was beating guys, he was pummeling them. He had seven pins and 11 technical falls entering that match against Vega with many assuming the race for the Hodge Trophy was going to come down to Mendez and Penn State 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink.

But then Vega won, and the Cowboy freshman did so without even letting Mendez take him down. In fact, no one took Vega down all season.

Vega has credited teammate Casey Swiderski a lot throughout this season, including as it pertains to that match with Mendez.

At different weights, Swiderski and Mendez wrestle a similar style in that they’re almost always going forward, bullying their opponents. Vega referred to it as “juggernaut style.”

“Honestly, I thought (Swiderski) was really crazy,” said Vega on his initial thoughts about his teammate. “But it was like a good crazy. Like, yeah, I know that dude will back me up, and all season he just kept showing me that he will be there for me no matter what. All the tough practices where I get whooped and I’m doubting myself because I had a lot of those. I was having success, but even during season, it’s like I had a bunch of practices where it’s like, man, things are just not clicking and I’m just getting beat up. That’s kind of what helped me in the match.

“Exactly what he’s told me all season happened. He was just telling me, like, ‘You gotta stay in the fight, and once he realizes you’re not gonna back down, he’ll back up a little bit.’ And then it’s like, now he’s human, you know. Everything he’s told me is exactly what happened. Like I said, he got me ready for that moment, and I probably wouldn’t be there with out.”

It played out that way almost to a T.

Mendez pressured Vega off the whistle, forcing a stall warning on the Cowboy just 39 seconds in. But from there, the two wrestled evening things up until Vega secured his match-winning takedown in sudden-victory.

Although Vega might’ve not truly started believing until that second day at National Duals, his coach has had that belief even longer.

“Honestly, I felt like I remember just when I watched him wrestle in high school, and I watched his skillset,” David Taylor said. “I was just like, man, this kid is pretty unique. Was really excited to have the chance to coach him because of what he did, and his style. You could kind of see that his style was one that you could see he had the ability to be a dominant wrestling style.

“And then I think what evolved for him was his mindset, and that really happened this summer. He came in, and he was really talented. He went through some struggles this summer of really getting into hard training and being around some guys that were really tough. There’s just a couple of practices I remember that really stood out to me of just days where he figured it out. When you say figured it out, it wasn’t necessarily winning practice. It was just really hard for him, and instead of getting discouraged and quitting, he just stayed tough. You’re just like, man, this kid can do it.”