At first, Damian Trujillo wasn’t much for the spotlight.

Definitely not the one that accompanies the wrestling mat, or anything to do with wrestling.

His lights were geared more toward those of the Friday night and football variety.

“I was really into football my sophomore year of high school,” Trujillo said. “But then after football season, my offensive line coach told me that I should start wrestling. Back then, I wrestled also because it really helped with my footwork.”

Trujillo enjoyed some success his senior year at Roy (Utah) High, helping his team advance to the state football championship game, as well as winning a state wrestling title that year.

Interested in competing in either sport in college, the phone didn’t ring.

“We got smashed in the title game,” said Trujillo, who was a captain on a 12-1 team that ended up losing 28-7 in the title game. “Halfway through my senior year, and after winning a state wrestling title, I didn’t have any scholarship offers. I went on one recruiting trip and wasn’t offered anything.”

That was until ...

“My dad got in touch with (North Idaho College wrestling coach) Pat (Whitcomb),” Trujillo said. “They started talking about me and the next day, Pat called and offered me a scholarship and asked if I’d be interested in coming here.”

In Trujillo’s first season at NIC in 2015-16, he was seventh at the NJCAA tournament at 285 pounds, earning All-American honors for a top-eight finish.

But his growth, both on and off the mat, really began after redshirting the 2016-17 season.

“Honestly, I think the biggest thing for me was giving time to myself,” Trujillo said. “Last year, when I redshirted, I had a girlfriend and was always with her. I wasn’t really looking at the process of what I wanted to be. It was more like what we wanted to be. When we broke up, I had time to myself and figure out who I was.”

That person, was a changed one — both on and off — the mat.

“I became an animal,” Trujillo said. “That whole summer we were together, I stepped on the mat once. I lifted weights, but didn’t work hard or anything. I went out and had fun with my friends and really stepped away from wrestling.”

Now, he’s on track to challenge for a national title next month at the NJCAA championships Feb. 24-25 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Trujillo is ranked fourth in the nation at heavyweight in the latest Intermat.com poll. As of yet, while he’s got an interest to continuing his wrestling career, he hasn’t decided where.

“Probably the biggest thing for him has been his confidence,” Whitcomb said. “Sometimes you have a kid that redshirts and not that they don’t use the year to get better because they’re not in the lineup. He worked as hard as he did the first year he was here when he went to nationals. And you could tell the jump he made confidence and strength wise. He was in the weight room the spring of his freshman year, and all of last year. You can tell just how much he wants to win this year.”

So much so that even a torn meniscus in his left knee during the Pacific Open in Forest Grove, Ore., on Nov. 12 didn’t slow him down.

“I popped it doing a move, and it didn’t feel like my meniscus at first,” Trujillo said. “It felt more on my menial side and it worried me because I’d never felt that in my left side before.”

Even though it was painful, Trujillo kept wrestling.

“I was walking around on it the next day, and then they had me suit up,” Trujillo said. “I could have wrestled if they needed me to and hold off and reduce the amount of points the other team could get.”

The biggest reason behind him continuing to compete while injured was to compete in the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas in early December against the best of the best in the nation, not only in the NJCAA, but also from Division I, Division II and NAIA schools.

“He actually wrestled the entire Cliff Keen Invitational with the injury and he said it didn’t bother him until after the match,” Whitcomb said. “He knew that he’d use the break to get it cleaned up and it was perfect timing that he didn’t wrestle our next set of duals (against Warner Pacific and Montana State-Northern at home) and it gave him three weeks off. He was already up and moving around after that, so I didn’t worry that he was going to be out for any length of time.”

Trujillo returned on Jan. 13 in the Cardinals’ match against Eastern Oregon at Sentinel High in Missoula.

“I had the same mentality to go out, stay aggressive and be rude,” Trujillo said. “But I kind of gassed out and now know I need to start running again.”

Thanks to his rehabilitation work, Trujillo intends to continue his studies next year in pursuit of a career in physical therapy.

“I’ve always been interested in that, but when I got here, I let all that hard work get the best of me,” Trujillo said. “But now, I’m ready for it. After my redshirt year, and being by myself, I really matured a lot over that time.”

“He’s a good kid and a great team leader,” Whitcomb said. “He kind of came out of his shell. As a freshman, and I hate to say the word, but he was a little shy. He’s really emerged as a real personable, approachable team leader. I think the big thing is the comfort and confidence level of him. As he got confidence, in the matches you can see it. On campus, you can see it. Not that he was a loner, but he was really shy as a freshman. He wasn’t just really where he stood and becoming an All-American and I think right then in the spring, in everything else, he really just took off.”

To the point where Whitcomb believes Trujillo will find success at nationals this year.

“If he just keeps wrestling the way he’s capable of he’ll be fine,” Whitcomb said. “He knows he’s going to out-condition the other wrestlers. When you know that, you’re able to wrestle harder in the first and second period, because you’re not afraid to get tired. You work harder knowing you need to get tired because that other guy is tired. If he can keep working like that, I don’t see another heavyweight being in the same shape as he is. You never know who you’re going to see, but regionals is going to be the next step for him. If we can get him there, he should be fine.”

First things first for Trujillo, who will wrestle his final home match on Thursday when the Cardinals host Simon Fraser at 7 p.m. on sophomore night. He’ll have his family in the crowd that night as well.

“It’s tough for them, but they’ve made it up to a lot more matches this year,” Trujillo said. “It’s nice to have them here. When they come, I like to show off and this is where I’m at.”

And his family will see Trujillo, in a better position to succeed, both on and off the mat.