At a cozy sleepover in third grade, clacks of buttons and swishes of joysticks on an Xbox controller changed the trajectory of the next eight years of Coppell junior Owen Olvera’s life.

“I was at a friend’s house for a sleepover and I decided to fire up some Madden,” Olvera said. “I really liked it – I played football because of the video game.”

Olvera’s fervor for video games would eventually leave him to end up as a starting center for the Coppell football team and a varsity wrestler.

“I always try to be the hardest working person in the room,” Olvera said. “I feel like if I work harder than the guy next to me it just all stacks on itself.”

Without a hitch, Olvera wakes up at 5 a.m. every morning and conditions himself for practice soon after.

“He seems like he has an infinite amount of stamina because he literally never gets substituted during practice and he is still able to play well,” senior offensive lineman Hayden Yepez said. 

The spark for succeeding in football came to him in seventh grade.

“The first time I got yelled at by a coach in sixth really opened my eyes and I realized that this is a real thing where we are trying to beat the other team,” Olvera said. “I had a pretty bad knee injury in seventh grade and that year I wasn’t able to play on A team which is something I really, really wanted to do.”

That was the moment he became committed to football. His wrestling journey began soon after in eighth grade to help him in football.

“He’s a hard worker,” Coppell wrestling coach Chip Lowery said. “He was our starting heavyweight as a sophomore, which usually doesn’t happen.”

Olvera believes he had great success in his wrestling matches throughout middle and high school until he joined the varsity team last year.

“Last year, my first year on varsity for wrestling, I think my rating was below 500 for the first time in my career,” Olvera said. “I think that really set a fire under me so my goal is to do better this year and do some regionals.”

His main disadvantage as a varsity wrestler was his weight. He was extremely light at 260 pounds in a 280-pound weight class. However, he was able to turn that into an advantage.

“Being 20 pounds lighter, I’m able to keep moving faster and lighter than my opponents,” Olvera said. 

Despite his agility, his size was something both he and Lowery wanted to improve on.

“We both wanted him bigger, so he’s lifted weights,” Lowery said. “Now, he’s got a lot more size to him.”

With the football season concluded and wrestling season in full swing, Olvera will use his conditioning and experience being under the spotlight as a starter in football to perform well in wrestling. 

“The football lifts are a lot harder and better for your body,” Olvera said. “I think that football building up a strength mentality in the weight room has helped me out with the wrestling part of playing sports.”

His experience as a varsity wrestler has also helped him achieve success in his football career.

“Wrestling is the best sport for football because it teaches you leverage and endurance,” Olvera said. “Having varsity experience in wrestling before I came to varsity football definitely helped too because it made me feel like I could be at the top of my game for this.”

Each year of playing, Olvera gives more and more energy to his sports both on and off the field from early morning training sessions to raw passion for them.

“I believe that he has the most heart on the entire team,” Yepez said. “I appreciate how he shows up and gives 100 percent every day.”

From a simple game of Madden 18 inspiring him, Olvera has given his all and will continue to give his all on the football field and on the mat in wrestling to achieve victory.

“I like to remind myself to have fun with the process,” Olvera said. “But, that process involves conquering others.”

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