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Perez's Work Pays Off

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By EDDIE DANIELS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Last summer, when Ray Perez participated in the monthlong J Robinson Wrestling Camp in Minnesota, he got a feel for what life would be like away from home.

It's a good thing, because Perez will be attending and wrestling for Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo.

Pasco High coach Mark DeAugustino talked to one of his former wrestlers, Nate Engel, who wrestled for MVC and was a 2008 U.S. Olympic trials quarterfinalist.

Engel, a state runner-up as a senior at Pasco in 2002 and NAIA All-American at MVC, spoke to the Vikings' coaching staff, as did Pasco assistant and MVC alum Adam Nuru.

"It just feels really awesome because I worked hard, so it was like seeing my hard work pay off," Perez said of the support he received in trying to get into a college program. "The coaches kept their word. They've been telling me since my freshman year, 'You're real good and you can go real far.' Just hearing them saying stuff like that and actually helping me get into college is awesome."

It seemed to be a long, trying process, which is surprising considering Perez is a three-time state qualifier who was second in the state in Class 1A at 189 pounds.

"I've always dreamed about it, obviously, but I really wasn't sure, especially when it was getting late into the year," Perez said. "I was talking to coaches, but they weren't really offering much, so I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Now that it's here, it's just an awesome feeling.

"Being from Florida, it's not really the wrestling state. I guess I could kind of understand coaches were a little bit hesitant to bring in a Florida wrestler, but Florida wrestling is coming up."

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