By Calvin Connors Posted February 15, 2012
Fernando “Fergi” Herrera is an interesting young man who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he definitely would hurt any man who dares to line up against him on the field or on the wrestling mat.
Growing up, Herrera was surrounded by his two parents and four brothers and sisters. Herrera is the third oldest in his family, he has two older sisters, one younger brother, and one younger sister. He enjoyed video games a lot as a child and he didn’t start playing organized sports until the seventh grade. Fergi participated in wrestling and basketball during his seventh and eighth-grade years.
“Sports were a good way to get out there and do something with my life other than sitting around playing video games,” said Herrera.
It wasn’t until his freshman year that Fergi found football. Although he had not played organized football before, it seemed to work out to his benefit. In his freshmen year, he made a big impact on his team starting at guard on the offensive line. He also started on the defensive line. His impact was so great on the team that he had a play named after him called the “Fergi Trap”.
In his sophomore year, he was talented enough to get moved up to the varsity football team. Herrera had never finished a complete wrestling season up until his junior year. Therefore he wasn’t sure about his third year of wrestling for the Buckaroos. The thought of never completing a full year of wrestling was always in the back of his mind, but that’s what made him work harder to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a state championship.
Herrera’s junior year he worked hard and bought into what his coaches preached to the wrestlers. Fergi wasn’t predicted to make it to the state championship but he proved all of the haters wrong when he won the State Championship in the Heavyweight Division.
“I didn’t think I could do it because I never finished a season before that and when I won state I felt like I was on top of the world,” said Herrera.
Fergi’s senior year has been filled with exciting moments in his sporting events. He played a key roll on the varsity football where he started on the offensive and defensive line, and earned Second Team All-League Defensive Tackle, and Honorable Mention Offensive Guard. As a returning Heavyweight state champion, Herrera has had a lot of pressure on him to win every match, he has handled the pressure to the best of his ability by finishing first at the Tournament of Champions (TOC), placing second at the Sierra Nevada Classic, and fourth at Rollie Lane. Fergi was named a High School All-American for winning the TOC.
Fergi plans to reclaim his Heavyweight state title, graduate high school and go to college on an athletic scholarship for wrestling.
