The man from Ciudarreal was proclaimed champion of Spain in Sambo Wrestling a few days ago and his next goal is the Madrid Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship to be held on April 23.
The wrestler Samuel Ortega Muñoz (10/22/1995. Ciudad Real) is on the way to achieving a great record in contact sports and he competes in judo, sambo wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling, achieving important results in all disciplines. Without going any further, Ortega, was proclaimed Champion of Spain in Sambo Fighting, at the beginning of March, defeating the canary Ezequiel Braz in just over two minutes.
Samuel Ortega has this hobby in his family, since his father José Manuel Ortega is a judo teacher and has been teaching classes for many years in his own gym in Ciudad Real. José Manuel Ortega is 7th DAN (red-white belt) in judo, one of the highest degrees that exist in this martial art.
«Wrestling is something that I have loved since I was little and I am very fond of contact sports. It also caught my attention not because of the punches but because of the projections, the grip, the technique”, highlights Samuel Ortega.
From a very young age, Samuel was interested in this world of martial arts, «but what I like the most is competing. I started in fingerlings, I remember that we were separated by age and since then I’ve been at it. It is where I am most comfortable, in the competition », he assures.
Samuel Ortega / Photo: Clara Manzano
Samuel explains the characteristics of the three disciplines he practices. «In judo, what is done are projections, then once the opponent is on the ground he can be immobilized. In sambo you can grab the legs to throw yourself to the ground and you can use your legs, but you can’t strangle and in Greco-Roman what counts are throws and immobilizations, you can’t use your legs at all and I would highlight that the similarity between the three is that projections (grabbing) are allowed».
The 26-year-old from Ciudad Real recounts his daily routine “The first thing I do is have breakfast around 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning. I go away for a couple of hours to my job as a personal trainer, then I go back home to eat. In the afternoon I go back to work and then do a few matches. Finally, I get home and try to relax, which is also good for me».
This year, Samuel has conquered the gold in the National Fighting Sambo. In the same championship he also won two consecutive bronzes in 2020 and 2021. «Before the weight change, which was 90 kilos, I also won a silver medal and in Greco-Roman wrestling I also won a bronze. In judo lately I have been between fifth and seventh, losing in the fight to reach the bronze. In 2019 I was seventh in the European Sambo Fighting Championship, which was when I was runner-up in Spain in less than 90 kilos », he relates.
Samuel highlights that the fight for the gold medal in the last National Wrestling Sambo “was very exciting. I already knew my rival because I met him at the Spanish Championship last year where I won bronze. We knew each other’s things and at first we went out testing each other, but as time went by I found myself more confident and it was very nice. In addition, I won quite quickly and knowing each other, the fight usually lasts the full regulatory time and this time after two or three minutes at the most I won the fight, that’s why it was very exciting because I thought it was going to last all the time.
Samuel Ortega / Photo: Clara Manzano
“The truth is that when I saw that I won the gold, I was quite moved because my grandmother recently passed away and I knew that she was going to give me strength from above to win and I dedicated the victory to her and to the people who accompanied me”, he highlights. .
Among the next objectives, Ortega has in mind to participate in the Greco-Roman Wrestling Madrid Championship, which will be on April 23 «when I qualify as champion of Madrid, I will go to the Spanish Championship and in between I will also compete in the League National Judo”, the fighter categorically assures.
Samuel Ortega has a federative license for Madrid because «in Castilla-La Mancha there is none of this, you have to find a life, the closest thing is Madrid. I have to go there to train either every Friday or every fortnight, we practice fighting to pick up the pace.
Likewise, the man from Ciudad Real rules out the possibility of living from martial arts «living teaching classes can be, my father has done it for 40 years, but you can’t do it from competition, as long as it’s not football you can’t live from almost any sport in Spain. They do not give any economic prize unless it is at least in a European Championship and you achieve a medal. The only thing they can give are scholarships, but if you have won a medal. I put all the money for travel, tolls, hotels, registration, etc. Then I have to choose where to compete because it’s impossible to go to all the competitions, so I go either to the ones I know I’m going to score or because of proximity », he points out.
In another order of things, Samuel comments on how his training is «consisting of two hours of physical in the morning, of bodybuilding, then I also do some running and then another hour and a half of combat. Almost five hours a day. If I don’t have a competition, I rest on Saturday afternoon and the entire Sunday, but if I have a competition, I only rest on Sunday because the competition usually takes place on Saturdays».
Samuel Ortega / Photo: Clara Manzano
Regarding Samuel’s record, the fighter himself indicates that «in judo I have two national bronzes in junior and two fifth places. I was in sambo wrestling for a couple of years and then I came back, I was also champion in less than 100 kilos, one silver, two bronzes and gold this year plus seventh place in the European Championship. In Greco-Roman wrestling I have a bronze in the Spanish Championship, since I started competing with this modality last year. I have trained Greco-Roman wrestling several times, but I saw it more complicated by not wearing the upper part as in judo and as in sambo wrestling you also wear a jacket. Here you wear a jersey. So I was training for a couple of years and last year I started competing. Of the three specialties that I practice, the one I like the most is Greco-Roman wrestling, it is the one in which I have been competing the least time, but it is the one that most attracts my attention.
Samuel also wants to spend more time on judo. «I am a third dan black belt and this year or next year I want to get fourth dan. The exam deals with judo fundamentals and techniques and is self-defense with knife, katana, pistol, etc. The jury tells you the movements and you have to make them perfect. Let’s see if he catches up with my father soon, who has taught me from his tactical experience to win competitions and I have learned a lot from him », he concludes.
