Will Soto is only a sophomore and already one of the most decorated wrestlers in Newburgh Free Academy history.

He showed up on the scene as an eighth grader and finished third at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships, and then further improved this past winter when he won his first state championship.

Now, he can add international champion to his resume as Soto competed at the U15 Pan-American championships in San Salvador, El Salvador, winning gold in freestyle wrestling and beach wrestling, and silver in Greco-Roman wrestling, representing the Puerto Rican Youth Wrestling national team.

“It means a lot because I didn’t know how the competition would be down there since it’s a foreign country,” Soto said. “I’ve never heard of most of these kids, but just wrestling new people and meeting new people was great.”

Soto was able to represent the Puerto Rican national team, as his father, Gil Soto, traces his roots to the island. His father and all his family were born in Puerto Rico.

“It was a really good experience,” Soto said. “It wasn’t in an arena like it would be in the U.S. It was in El Salvador, so it was much smaller and there were only two mats to wrestle on. It was a little bit chaotic, but other than that, it was run pretty decently.”

The opportunity came when Gil Soto received a message from a friend suggesting the opportunity was there.

“We knew a few people who had done it, and we thought it would be a good opportunity to go outside the U.S. to wrestle. We took that opportunity, and it was pretty good.”

The tournament started on June 13 and ended on June 15. The family arrived on the morning of June 11, and they left on June 16. That only left time for wrestling, not much time to be a tourist.

Greco Roman was the first to be contested on the tournament’s first day. Greco-Roman wrestling, which focuses more on throws, is not where Soto is at his best.

That’s where he won his silver medal.

“That one’s really hard,” Soto said. “I’m not the best at that one.”

He had an off day on June 14 before returning to the arena on the morning of June 15 for the freestyle competition.

He dominated his way through, navigating the differences between freestyle and folkstyle – what he does during high school wrestling – and won the first of his two gold medals.

“Freestyle can end really quickly compared to folkstyle,” Soto said. “In freestyle, you get taken down and you get turned over four times and the match is over. You have to be careful. In folkstyle, you have some leeway. You can go to your back as long as no one has control.”

The games ended on June 16 with beach wrestling, which is competed in sand, instead of a mat. It also rained so the sand was wet, requiring wrestlers to be careful about slipping. Soto didn’t give up any points in that area and won the gold.

“That’s different because you can’t touch your knees, or anything, so it’s not like freestyle or folkstyle,” Soto said. “You have to work snap downs and stuff.”

Soto is now training for the upcoming 2024 junior and 16U nationals in Fargo, S.D. He’ll take the lessons he learned in El Salvador there and back to the high school mat next winter.

“I learned how to perform under pressure because it’s a different stage, and a different environment, and I was representing my country,” Soto said.