HIGH SCHOOL

Drake Ayala, Fort Dodge’s wrestling phenom, begins senior year with Flowrestling’s 'Who’s Number One'

Cody Goodwin
Des Moines Register

A year ago, Flowrestling brought its “Who’s Number One” event to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. An announced 2,558 filed in to watch some of the best high school wrestlers in the country, and thousands more watched online.

But about three hours away, in Fort Dodge, Drake Ayala didn’t take part.

“I refused,” he told the Register recently. “All my friends were watching it at the house.”

At the time, Ayala had just won a Junior men’s freestyle national title. He felt he had earned an opportunity to compete in the event, which helps decide the top spots in Flo’s national high school rankings.

But Flo never called, so Ayala used his time elsewhere.

“I think I worked out or something,” he continued and smiled.

Must’ve been a good workout, because Ayala will be there this year.

Ayala will wrestle California standout Richie Figueroa at 120 pounds in the 2020 edition of “Who’s Number One” this Saturday in Austin, Texas. Wrestling begins at 5 p.m. Central, and Ayala-Figueroa will be the 13th match on the 14-bout card.

“This is huge,” Ayala said recently. “I’ve looked forward to this for a while. I’ve had teammates that have looked forward to it and hoped to get the invite and never did. Maybe they should’ve. I got the invite, so now I have to capitalize on it.”

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Ayala becomes just the second Iowa native to wrestle in Flowrestling’s premiere prep showcase. Bettendorf’s Fredy Stroker, a three-time state champ now at Cornell, went twice: in 2013, where he beat Seth Gross and Michael Kemerer to become No. 1 at 132 pounds; and 2014, where he lost to Vincenzo Joseph at 145.

Even more, Ayala is one of two future Hawkeyes competing this weekend, along with Pennsylvania prep Wyatt Henson, who will wrestle New Jersey’s Cody Chittum at 145 pounds. It marks the second straight year two future Iowa wrestlers are in the event. Last year, both Jesse Ybarra and Patrick Kennedy won, at 120 and 170 pounds, respectively.

But this also marks the beginning of Ayala’s senior season, the final chapter in one of the finest high school wrestling careers in state history.

Ayala is a three-time state finalist and two-time champ with a 132-2 career record. He will enter the 2020-21 season on a 91-match winning streak. He’s one of seven Iowa high-schoolers to win freestyle national titles at both the Cadet and Junior levels. He’s also the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the country at 126 pounds, according to MatScouts.

As such, Ayala is thinking bigger. Much bigger.

During his ascent, Ayala had the uncanny ability to use slights as fuel. He’d print out national polls that had his name at the bottom and tape them to his door. He’d see friends and teammates win and work unceasingly to match them. He’d listen to his dad share stories of falling short and vowed to take advantage of every opportunity.

The fire remains, but his target has moved. Ayala still wants to win, of course, but now, he is more driven by larger, longer-term goals.

“It’s not about the wins and losses at this point,” Ayala said. “I don’t necessarily look forward to a high school state tournament now, if that makes sense. It’s more about growing in every aspect of my wrestling to get ready for college and beyond.

“I need to fix my weaknesses, learn more about myself and learn more about wrestling before I go to the next level. There’s little kids that look up to me. This is something they should be striving for. They should all want to be there someday.”

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This weekend will reveal how he stacks up with one of the very best.

In Figueroa, Ayala is wrestling the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2021 class, according to MatScouts (Flo has Figueroa at No. 1 overall). Ayala is No. 9 (or No. 7, by Flo). A top-10 pound-for-pound matchup should be just as entertaining as the rankings suggest.

Figueroa is a three-time state champ in single-class California. The senior at Selma High School in central California is an Arizona State recruit, a Super 32 Challenge champion and won a silver medal at the 2018 Cadet men’s freestyle world championships.

He’s also making his third appearance at “Who’s Number One,” something only four other wrestlers — former Iowa wrestler Gavin Teasdale, current Penn State star Roman Bravo-Young, current Oklahoma State standout Daton Fix and Michigan standout Alex Facundo, who is making his third appearance this weekend, too — have ever done.

“(The guys at Flo) texted me and were like, ‘We really want you to wrestle Richie,’” Ayala said. “I said, ‘Heck yeah, I won’t turn that down.’”

More top-tier events await Ayala after this weekend. The Super 32 will be later this month. Other events might pique his curiosity, such as the USA Wrestling’s preseason national tournament or the UWW Junior men’s freestyle national championships. The high school season may begin shortly after.

But for now, Ayala is focused on Figueroa, who presents a challenge unlike any he’s faced before. That's part of the excitement, he said. Ayala wants these tests because they will either show him how good he can be, or how much better he can still get.

“I think I’ve grown in a lot of areas I hadn’t focused on before,” Ayala said. “I think the jumps I’ve made are bigger than ever. Hopefully, you guys see that on Saturday.”

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

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