Gatorade GameChangers: Lauren Lujan, AOLG wrestling

Lauren Lujan has got wrestling pinned down. The Academy of Our Lady junior is undefeated this season in IIAAG wrestling, and last season she was perfect in the 122-pound weight class - finishing All-Islands with a gold medal.

"We all push each other and the team bonding is like really good and feel really close to my teammates and my coaches," Lauren said. "I just want to wrestle better than I did the previous years that I wrestled and I want to see like a major improvement before I become a senior next year."  

Lauren has improved steadily since her freshman year at AOLG. She took bronze as a freshman, and won the gold as sophomore and this season she's won all of her matches by pin.

Lauren was interested in wrestling because of her background in jiu-jitsu - she started training at the Purebred Academy in the 3rd grade.

"I wanted to join wrestling because I came from a grappling background," Lauren said. "I wanted to apply that information that I learned like the drills and technique and I wanted to apply it to some other sport."

Lauren hits her studies as hard as she hits the mat. She takes Algebra 2 and AP psychology and juggling athletics with academics has helped her make the most of her time.

"Academics is very important because you can't be in a sport if you don't have good grades," Lauren said. "I think that being in wrestling motivates me to be more productive because I'm always busy and I have to manage my time, so I practice time management too."

While she's not wrestling, playing jiu-jitsu or training muay thai, Lauren likes to give back to the community. As a sophomore she was in the Leadership Resiliency Program, and she liked what she learned.

"I feel really good giving back to the community because I know that with my busy schedule, I don't get the opportunity to do that," Lauren said. "Doing that and just taking time to give back to others is very important to me."

Lauren is aiming to finish her season perfect - and not to jinx it - but that would be two undefeated years in a row for the Cougar wrestler. Thing is, Lauren is such a hard worker, no one would be surprised if she did it - and that's what makes Lauren Lujan a Gatorade Game Changer.