Brighton's Warrior: Aaron Calderon

Twenty seconds left. A shot. A sprawl. A mad scramble to hold on to the slimmest of leads. Then an eruption as the clock hits zero, and one man is left standing as the State Champion. This year, that man was own Aaron Calderon.

Calderon, a junior, stepped onto the mat at The Palace of Auburn Hills in the late evening on March 3 for his last match of the season, and despite his 57-2 record on the season, it seemed like everything was stacked against him. Standing across from him was Detroit Catholic Central’s Alec Mooradian, a three-time defending state champ seeking a high school sweep of the title.

From the start it was clear the two were well matched.

“I went into the match knowing that guys psyched themselves out against him, all the titles and the name. But I just looked at him as another kid my age and who weighs the exact same as me, he may have been quicker and faster but I knew I was stronger than him,” Calderon said of his opponent.

Calderon’s strong power moves weren’t getting him the results he was looking for. The first round ended with no score for either side. Mooradian chose the bottom of the referee’s position in the second round and after a tough battle wiggled free from Calderon’s grasp and scored a point for the escape.

The two broke apart and sized each other up for a few seconds, then Calderon made his approach, taking a few steps in then exploding towards Mooradian’s right leg. He snagged the ankle and tore the defending champ off his feet for the two-point takedown and completely swinging the momentum.

“That’s one of his go to moves, it’s an absolutely beautiful move,” senior teammate Jackson Pizzo said.

Mooradian scored another escape point to tie it up before the end of the second round but it was now clear the unbeatable senior was in fact vulnerable.

Starting the third, Mooradian made an unexplainable, he declined to get on top of the referee’s position and in this action handed Calderon a free point, putting the Bulldog up 3-2. With the lead Calderon had to remain aggressive as he had been warned for stalling in the second round and another infraction would reward Mooradian with another point.

Calderon continued taking shots at Mooradian, staying on the offensive. Then the three-time champ showed his prowess as he tried to turn a move on Calderon when the latter got a little too deep on a shot. This set off a flurry of action as Calderon did everything he could to keep from being taken down. Hopping around Mooradian while trying to yank his own leg free, Calderon battled throughout the last half minute with everything he had until he heard the final whistle.

Springing to his feet in excitement, Calderon ran to the center of the ring to get the decision from the referee, bouncing around with joy he got his arm raised and he was a champion. After shaking hands with his opponent and the Catholic Central coaches, he ran to the open arms of Coach Sam Amine who hoisted the state champ high into the air.

“That was an amazing moment. It was easily the most exciting thing I have ever seen in my ten years in the sport. Just seeing Aaron and Coach Sam so amped up and the Palace going crazy was intense,” senior CJ Brish said.

Since his title run, Calderon has loved every second of being a champion.

“Coming into school was great, and it has been great. Everyone just saying congratulations and all that kind of stuff, even people I’ve never talked to, it really has been great,” Calderon said.

Obviously the future holds a lot for the young man as he is just finishing up his junior year at BHS. Despite rumors and questions to the contrary Calderon plans to play football again next season as well continue to working on his wrestling in summer tournaments and camps.

Calderon was not worried about the strain of the two sports; football, where he needs to gain weight and wrestling where you are constantly cutting weight.

“I mean it depends on how much I grow, I will probably bump up to at least 160 pounds next year, maybe 171 pounds, we will see. But I am playing football,” Calderon said concerning the topic.

Whatever happens next year and years to come for Aaron, no one will be able to take away the fact that he is, and will always be, a champion. 

Colin Nash - BHS Times Copy Editor