Biography
2019-20: Named an honorable mention NWCA All-American…Became a three-time NCAA qualifier, seeded No. 13 at 165 pounds in the 2020 tournament…Claimed his second career SoCon tournament title with a 12-4 major decision over Appalachian State's William Formato in the 165 finals, starting the run with bonus wins in each of his first two bouts, pinning Presbyterian's Parker Corwin in just 42 seconds, then distancing himself from The Citadel's Dazjon Casto in the third period, coming away with a 14-4 major decision…Tabbed Academic All-SoCon…Also named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll…Carried a 26-6 overall record with a 10-2 dual mark, including a perfect 6-0 record in SoCon action…Totaled 19 bonus point wins, collecting six major decisions, eight tech falls and five pins…Earned the 165 pound No. 1 seed at the SoCon Championships…Earned his second career All-SoCon team honor…Ranked No. 15 in the final NCAA Coaches’ Panel, while also standing No. 15 in the RPI, ranking as high as No. 14 nationally (NCAA, Jan. 23) at 165…Placed at the Southeast Open, Navy Classic and Reno Tournament of Champions…Named SoCon Wrestler of the Week after taking the 165 pound title at the Southeast Open, tallying three bonus point wins, recording a 22-5 tech fall over Notre Dame College's Dominic Jacocks in his first action, then another tech fall, 16-0, to advance past Missouri's Luke Fortuna, and closed the day by pinning nationally-ranked Kennedy Monday of North Carolina before the final whistle (6:59) in the title match…Also claimed the Reno TOC championship, going 5-0, including a 10-5 decision over Wyoming's Cole Moody in the 165 pound championship round, registering three tech falls and a major decision on the day…Also topped Oklahoma State's Cade Lindsey, his opening round opponent, 18-3, then defeated Northern Colorado's Drake Engelking 20-4, downed North Idaho's Navarro Nanpuya 17-2, and Wyoming's Casey Randles with a 14-2 major decision…Finished fourth at the Navy Classic, winning his first three bouts, all bonus point victories…Advanced to day two at Midlands, outscoring his opponents 41-9 heading into the quarterfinals, and taking No. 3 Evan Wick of Wisconsin to extra time…Advanced to the quarterfinals at Midlands with a tech fall win over Princeton's Grant Cuomo, a 19-0 shutout, opening the day with a 22-9 major decision over Northern Iowa's Pat Scheonfelder…Topped Iowa State’s Chase Straw in a 17-3 major decision and No. 15 Philip Conigliaro of Harvard in a 4-2 decision at the Duals on the Diamond…Named Preseason All-SoCon…
2018-19: Named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll…Posted a 15-6 record while redshirting the 2018-19 season, wrestling at 165 and 174 pounds…Placed third at 174 pounds at the Wolfpack Open, going 4-1, with three tech falls and a pin…Took third at 165 at the David H. Lehman F&M Open, tallying two tech falls and a fall in the first three rounds of the tournament, going 5-1 on the day…Placed fifth at 174 pounds in the Hokie Open, going 3-2 with a 6-2 decision over VMI’s Neal Richards in the fifth place match…Also posted a 3-2 record at the Midlands Championships, wrestling at 165 pounds…
2017-18: Received an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships, his second consecutive appearance in the tournament…Made the SoCon podium for the second straight season, placing third…Pinned VMI's Blake Hohman at the 4:13 mark to advance to the consolation final, where he topped Appalachian State's Laken Cook 11-7, for the second time of the day, earning bronze…Finished 25-10 on the season, going 5-1 in SoCon duals…Was ranked No. 32 at 165 pounds by the NCAA coaches panel, and owned a RPI of 25 heading into the SoCon Championships…Named to the NWCA Division I All-Academic team…Named to the Academic All-SoCon team…Also named to the SoCon’s Academic Honor Roll…Also placed third at the Reno Tournament of Champions…
2016-17: Finished with a 22-12 overall record, 7-4 dual record, and a 5-0 mark in SoCon action… He picked up four fall victories, five tech falls, and four major decision wins on the year… His quickest fall came at 42 seconds against Noah Satterfield (Davidson, 2/2)… He also won by fall over Cade Kiely (VMI, 3/4) at 1:30, JaCobi Jones (CSU-Pueblo, 12/18) at 7:00, and Brian Lapham (Bucknell, 11/19) at 3:59… Of his five tech falls, two came in conference action: 17-2 against Clayton Bass (SIUE, 2/11) and 18-2 over Ruston Hill II (The Citadel, 2/5)… Perez went a perfect 3-0 at the SoCon Championships, winning the 2017 SoCon Championshp at 165-pounds with his 8-4 win over Forrest Pryzbysz (App State, 3/4)… At the 2017 NCAA Championships, he went 0-2, dropping a pair of decision losses, 3-0 to Nicholas Wanzek (Minnesota, 3/16) and 10-4 to Shaun'Qae McMurtry (NIU, 3/16)…
2015-16: Earned Deans List honors for the fall 2015 semester … Tallied a 6-20 overall record wrestling at both 149 and 157-pounds … Went 2-14 in duals going 1-4 at 149-pounds and 1-10 at 157-pounds … Collected a win by decision, three major decisions and a tech fall … Score seven dual points for the Camels … Participated at the Navy Classic, Reno Tournament of Champions, and SoCon Championships…
Prep/Personal: Attended Arlington high school where he wrestled for Coach Henry Harmoney … Lettered all four years of high school … Had the most wins on the team as a sophomore … Was named the most valuable wrestler as a junior and senior … Also as a senior he was named the most outstanding wrestler at the state tournament … Recorded a 20-1 record and 15 tech falls his senior year wrestling … Finished overall with a record of 129-18 … Son of Frederick Perez and Lisa Harpel … Brother of Edgar Soltero and Austin Perez … Intends to major in engineering and after college, he would like to attend law school … Also participated on his high school football, lacrosse, and cross country teams …
