Bud Rank wrestler dominates on the mat

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Bud Rank Elementary's Austin Flores won the 2008 Clovis Unified district championship in the 107-pound division, his second straight district title.

But Flores, a fifth-grader this past season, had bigger fish to fry.

The younger brother of Columbia University and former Buchanan wrestler Ryan Flores, he won three Trinity Awards during the season.

A Trinity Award is given to a wrestler who wins three national tournaments. Austin Flores, the country's top-ranked 10-year-old, won nine -- including the 2008 Cliff Keen Reno Worlds on a 2-0 decision over No. 2 Luke Norland of Iowa.

"I just really like the sport," said Flores. That may be a bit of an understatement for the elementary schooler who works out two to three hours a day, five or six days a week.

Flores' only losses during the 2007-08 season came at the hands of wrestlers three years his senior, and one of his Trinity Awards came while competing in an older age bracket.

"I brag about him a lot," said Ryan Flores, a 2008 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships heavyweight qualifier and past Trinity Award winner. "All my teammates know what my little brother does."

Austin Flores credited his success to his speed. Especially against older wrestlers, the 107-pounder lacks the strength to hold them down and relies on takedown after takedown.

"I just say, 'If I lose, I'm going to give this guy a match,' " Flores said of his mentality. "I give a little bit extra."

He said a lot of that comes from his brother, and not just the technique. Austin said Ryan taught him a lot through typical older-brother tormenting.

"I still do give him a hard time," joked Ryan, home for summer vacation. "I beat him up every day."

Of course, a father who runs a wrestling camp and constructs a conditioning obstacle course around the perimeter of his northeast Clovis house doesn't hurt, either.

"Not only to have three Trinities is a big thing," said John Flores, Austin and Ryan's dad. "But to have a Trinity in an older division was a really big thing."