Staff Photo by Robin Rudd/Chattanooga Times Free Press – Cleveland’s Aaron Lopez, left, is congratulated by his brother Marvin Lopez after winning the Division I 140-pound state championship in Franklin, Tenn. Marvin won the 135-pound title, and their team also was victorious.Marvin Lopez finally can say he’s a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestler, after he endured some hard times to get into the team’s preseason workouts that started last week.
A redshirt freshman now, the former Cleveland High School standout didn’t make it past the NCAA clearinghouse last year. He was forced to enroll in school without financial aid and prove he could handle college courses.
“He had signed the letter of intent, but his options were to go to junior college or pay his own way — tuition, books, meals,” UTC coach Heath Eslinger said. “He decided to come here although he got no money for tuition or books.”
Lopez felt he had only one option, even though it posed a major challenge.
“I was nervous because I didn’t know how everything would work out,” he said.