Wrestling in the Olympics 'a huge stepping stone' for Tucson's Roman Bravo-Young

It was a banner year for the Sunnyside High School wrestling program.

It’s not a rarity for the Blue Devils to celebrate excellence. The program recently won a seventh consecutive state championship under head coach Anthony Leon, and it goes back much further than that; Sunnyside has won 37 state titles going back to 1979, taking kids from the south side of Tucson and turning them into champions.

“All you need is some wrestling shoes, a good attitude and some heart,” said Sunnyside graduate and former UA football player Bobby Rodriguez, who owns JET Sports Training in Tucson.

Sometimes those champions create history, like Audrey Jimenez becoming the first female in Arizona history to win a wrestling state championship in a boys division. Jimenez’s milestone triumph in late February came after she won three straight championships at the girls level. The Pima County Board of Supervisors officially declared April 2 “Audrey Jimenez Day” on Tuesday.

“I’m not surprised she beat the boys, but historically it’s a big deal,” Rodriguez said. “I knew it was a big deal when ESPNW (spotlighted her). I was like, ‘Dang, she actually did that.’ This should be evidence for not just girl wrestlers, but wrestlers in general. If you’re from Tucson, you can do this as well. You just have to obsess over it to get it done. Some athletes want it some months, then they’ll turn it off for three months. A person like Audrey, they don’t turn it off. They don’t have an off button. They know what they want, they’re so structured in their life and that’s why they’re at where they’re at.”

How Sunnyside HS wrestling star Roman Bravo-Young became an NCAA champion and Olympic qualifier

Between his careers at Sunnyside High School and Penn State, Tucson native Roman Bravo-Young had a 283-10 record on the wrestling mat. Now, as RBY goes global — as in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games — he hopes to continue inspiring kids like him. 

Not long after Jimenez etched her name in history books, Sunnyside legend Roman Bravo-Young qualified for the Olympics in March and will represent Mexico in the 2024 games in Paris. Bravo-Young qualified at the Pan-American Olympic event that features countries from North America (including the Caribbean) and South America. Only two spots are available for each weight class, and Bravo-Young, who has dual citizenship because his grandparents were born in Mexico, qualified for the 125-pound weight class competition in this summer’s games.

“It just makes me proud. Not only are they Sunnyside kids, they’re Tucson kids,” Rodriguez said of Bravo-Young and Jimenez. “Hopefully that grows the sport in not just the Sunnyside community, but the community in Tucson. We want athletes not only in wrestling but in general and strive for more and reach for the stars.”

Wrestling for Mexico was the “best, smartest route” to get to the Olympics, Bravo-Young said.

“I could’ve stayed in the U.S. and wrestled for them or go to Mexico and represent where my family is from,” he said. “I’m excited to represent them. The end goal is to bring Mexico a world medal and Olympic medal, then I’ll be completely satisfied with my time there.”

The Olympics is another remarkable feat for Bravo-Young, whose decorated career hit stratospheric heights in both high school and college. At Sunnyside, he was a four-time state champion with an unblemished 182-0 record; he then became an All-American and two-time national champion at collegiate powerhouse Penn State. Now an Olympian and wrestling on the world’s most prominent stage, “I try not to attach myself to all these worldly things,” Bravo-Young said.

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“At the end of the day, I just try to be a good person and always show up and be a light and inspire others,” he added.

His inspiration stems from an adverse childhood, when he didn’t have a stable home until he moved in with now-former Sunnyside football coach Richard Sanchez for the remainder of his high school career.

“For me, I think about where I’m from — my family situation — so I’m easily motivated. It’s easy for me to get up and get going,” Bravo-Young said. “I’ve been at the top, I’ve been at the bottom, and now I’m an Olympian.

“I think it’s good to stay level-headed and block out the noise and nothing matters. It’s definitely a lot of hard work and discipline that people don’t see.”

Added Rodriguez: “He’s just a kid who is obsessed with wanting better for himself. No hand-outs, just straight grind and hard work; it’s why he’s where he’s at today.”

Bravo-Young shared how he dealt with “mental battles” leading up to the Olympic-qualifying event, which came a year after he was upset in the national championship match that prevented him from a third straight college crown.

“You don’t like to lose, so you question yourself sometimes,” Bravo-Young said. “You always have that second voice in your head telling you, ‘What if you lose? I’m trying to qualify for Paris, but what if I don’t get it done? What’s next?’ It’s not easy, but I always tell myself, ‘If you don’t like pressure, then lose.’”

Now the pressure is amplified with an Olympic medal at stake, and Bravo-Young will battle in a 16-man bracket “against some of my idols” in July and August in Paris.

“It’s pretty crazy and surreal,” Bravo-Young said. “It hasn’t really sunk in.

“I’m super-excited and it’s a huge stepping stone, but I really want to bring back a medal. I got a lot of work to get done.”

How Sunnyside HS wrestling star Roman Bravo-Young became an NCAA champion and Olympic qualifier

Between his careers at Sunnyside High School and Penn State, Tucson native Roman Bravo-Young had a 283-10 record on the wrestling mat. Now, as RBY goes global — as in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games — he hopes to continue inspiring kids like him.