MHS and WHS Students Earn National Athletic Honors

 

NATION'S BEST - Matthias, Rios, and Perez Claim National Honors

A trio of local athletes leave their mark at the highest levels.

The Summer of 2025 was a very productive season for three Moore area athletes. Westmoore senior Kyrain Perez was named an All-American wrestler after her 8^th-place finish in the 100-pound class at the 2025 Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota. Westmoore graduate Trae Rios, now a freshman wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, finished 8^th at the Fargo tournament, also earning All-American honors in the 175-pound class. 

Moore High School sophomore Dominic Matthias had an especially spectacular summer. Matthias claimed three national championships in his the 15-17 year-old age group at the 2025 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Houston. Texas, winning the 3000 meters, 1500 meters, and the 800 meters. Matthias also set a new national record in his 1500 meter win, finishing the event in 3:56.31. He was also named the AAU Joel Ferrell Outstanding Performance Award winner.

It was just a few years ago that the 15-year-old Matthias was playing soccer and running track and cross country. He says it was after a few meets in junior high that he decided running was going to be his focus in high school.

“I really liked soccer and running,” said Matthias. “But after I ran a few meets I realized that I could be pretty good, so I gave up soccer and focused on track. That has worked out pretty well.”

“Pretty well” would be an understatement. Matthias’ success at the AAU meet in Houston follows a scintillating freshman year, where he won a 6A state championship in the 3200 meters, finished third in the 1600 meters, and fourth in the 800 meters. Back in the fall of 2025, Matthias finished third at the Class 6A state cross country meet.

Even at 15, that success has not gone to Matthias’ head. His passion for run and competitive drive are just beginning to heat up and that helps him stay focused on the task at hand.

“Winning was pretty special, but I just went down to Houston to run,” said Matthias. “I knew I was running against some pretty special competition, but I didn’t spend much time thinking about anything other than running my best.”

For Matthias, running at his best means being consistent, especially at the longer distance runs.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of days in practice, it becomes easy to tell when the run is getting tough or I’m hurting,” said Matthias. “I’ve worked on making things look like I’m running easy so that people can’t tell when I’m tired or hurting.”

Heading into the 2025 cross country season, Matthias says he and his Moore Lion teammates are now focused on the next set of goals. One of the big ones is improving on the team’s seventh-place finish at the 6A state cross country championships.

“I think we have a good chance,” said Matthias. “You need to have all of your guys 100% dialed in to win a state championship, We try to train as much as we can together and keep our top seven strong, because all seven guys matter when it comes to winning.”

On a personal level, Matthias also has some lofty goals that include state championships and beyond.

Hopefully, we can make it to Nike Cross Country Nationals and possibly make All-American out there. That would be pretty nice.

- Dominic Matthias

The young Lion runner knows that he has a lot of miles to cover in the future, so he’s focusing on the goals ahead. But he also admits that his dreams include running at the collegiate level and even competing for the U.S. in the Olympic Games. In the meantime, he’s balancing all that high intensity on the cross country course and track with doing well in school and taking time to relax.

“I love all kinds of music and I enjoy being outside doing things like shooting hoops,” said Matthias. “But I also like to stay on top of things and make sure I get everything done.”

Westmoore senior Kyrain Perez says she feels great heading into her senior year, but is still taking things day by day after a strong summer of wrestling competition. That’s being pretty level-headed after earning All-American honors at the prestigious Junior Nationals in Fargo in July.

“Coach McGowan challenged me to check it out, and I realized that I still had an interest in it,” said Perez. “I realized that it could help me with my goal of going to college and I also realized that I was pretty good at it.”

As she enters her senior year, Perez will be gunning for her third consecutive 6A state wrestling championship. And as an All-American, she understands that she now has a target on her back and the competition will be gunning for her. That’s just fine with Perez.

“Wrestling is a tough sport and it teaches you some great things about life,” said Perez. “You’re going to face a lot of tough situations in life, and wrestling has given me confidence and helped me keep a great mindset.” 

She also loves sharing that competitive attitude with her like-minded teammates.

“One of my goals was to place at Fargo,” said Perez, “So it feels great to accomplish that and be named an All-American.”

Perez wrestled in the highly competitive 100-pound class, where she went 5-3 with four falls. After a loss in the quarterfinals, she responded with three straight falls to beat Colorado’s Lola Gonzales and earn a top-eight finish, nailing down All-American status. Perez says her passion for wrestling began at an early age.

“I actually got interested in about fourth or fifth grade,” said Perez. “There was this church that had wrestling for kids as sort of a charity thing, and you would get to eat after. So, I started going to that.”

Picking up a free meal is not a bad way to get started in a sport. COVID came along and nearly derailed Perez’s wrestling journey. But Perez says Coach Bryson McGowan helped spark a renewed interest in middle school. 

“I really like the community that wrestling gives you,” said Perez. “There’s so much more to it than just wrestling on the mat. The people you meet and the things you learn. I’m like a totally different person now than when I got back into it in eighth grade.”

Life looks a lot different this fall for wrestler Trae Rios. One year ago, he was starting his senior year at Westmoore. Now he’s walking across campus at the University of Oklahoma.

 “Man, it is a lot of fun being here in Norman,” said Rios. “It’s even more fun being able to practice every day and live at the place where I practice.”

Rios says going to OU has always been a dream of his.

“It’s been a goal since I hit high school,” said Rios. “Just growing up 25 minutes away from the campus and being a big football fan. And all their sports teams are competitive, so to be able to go to school here and compete for the Sooners in D1 wrestling is a dream come true.

The dream for Rios began early in life. He has been wrestling since he was five years old, but says things really clicked for him in eighth grade.

“I had always been around wrestling, but when I moved to Westmoore, it all came together,” said Rios. “I had great coaches who helped me develop and get so much better.”

Rios qualified for the 6A state tournament all four years of his high school career and placed three times. He went to the Fargo national tournament this summer focused in on having his best showing ever.

Rio faced a bracket with 256-competitors, so it’s easy to understand what he’s talking about when he uses words like “grind” and “taking a toll.” He performed well this summer,  placing in freestyle and finishing fourth in Greco-Roman wrestling. That earned him the lofty title of All-American and gave him some great experience.

“Greco is different than freestyle, so it was a lot of fun being able to experience that and to represent Westmoore and Oklahoma,” said Rios.

Getting to the “top of the wrestling mountain” is no small task. Rios credits his coaches at Westmoore for helping him in that journey.

“Honestly, my success started when I started trusting my coaches,” said Rios. “Westmoore has such a strong support system, so moving over there and being able to put that trust in Coach Evans and the other coaches was a huge deal. They helped me perform the way I hoped that I could perform.”

“Fargo is a long week and a grind, day in and day out,” said Rios. “We wrestled four or five of the seven days that Team Oklahoma was there, so it really takes a toll on your body and you have to be mentally tough.”

And now, one of those lessons is understanding what it takes to climb into elite status as an All-American.

“This year at Fargo was really special when I made it to the second day,” said Perez. “I had never done that, so it was a pretty big accomplishment. From there, I just kept my focus and fought to get into the top eight.”

It wasn’t until the All-American parade that Perez says it really began to sink in that she had achieved a lofty goal.

“I was walking onto the stage and hearing the announcer speak the words,” said Perez. “It hit me that there were over 2,000 girls there, and I was one of the last 64 standing. I just stopped and thought, ‘Whoa!’”

Perez’s goals for her senior year include chasing a third 6A state wrestling title and then looking beyond that to college. 

“I’ve been talking to a few colleges and trying to figure out what my options are,” said Perez. “After college, I think I’d like to go into the criminal justice system or something in the medical field.”

Rios points to his family and friends as key elements in his success. He also says that his faith has given him a strong foundation to build on.

“My faith in the Lord shapes my life,” said Rios. “When you trust Him and know that He has a plan for you, whether you win or lose, it takes the pressure off and allows you to just enjoy every moment.”

Rios says that he also understands that stepping into the role of a college athlete at a high-profile school like OU brings responsibilities.

“You just have to hold yourself to a higher standard,” said Rios. “It’s nice to be successful, but it’s important to remain humble through it all and realize that you have a chance to impact younger kids who have the same kinds of dreams you had growing up.”

 

Photos courtesy of the Moore Monthly