Watch: 10YO Vito Arujau Shows Unrelenting Ambitions as He Vows to Surpass His Legendary Wrestling Father

For Cornell senior Vito Arujau, the journey to the top wasn’t as easy as many of his comrades from the national collegiate wrestling circuit. Coming to the US with his family at the tender age of two posed a long road ahead of him. However, growing up in an athletics-oriented family helped him along the way as he finally clinched the coveted World Championships gold medal in Belgrade last year.

While 2023 has been a remarkable year for the Big Red wrestler, he has always been determined to etch his name among the elite pantheon of the world’s wrestling stars. In a newly surfaced video on social media, Arujau’s focused mentality is once again highlighted as a young Vito is seen talking about his plans for the future.

Harboring a champion’s dream from a tender age

In a recent post on X by the official FloWrsetling account, Vito can be witnessed grinning like a shy child on the brink of greatness. The caption reads, “Vito Arujau getting interviewed at just 10 years old!” In the short video clip, the 2023 US Open Champion talks about how wrestling is a daily conversation topic in his family. Arujau also talked about his vision of becoming the family’s biggest star while asserting themselves on the mat.

The interviewer asks Vito about his older brother Nick and how he thought of his sibling’s performance. With little deliberation, Vito responded by saying that Nick’s form was “okay“. The answer takes one interviewer by surprise and he asks how Vito planned to edge past his 3-time state champ brother.

With a shy smile, the future Cornell student admits that he would become a 4-time state champion, and the interviewers couldn’t stop sharing a chuckle at the young one’s confession.

Vito also caught his peers off guard when he talked about his motivation to immortalize the Arujau name on international stages. “Maybe I’ll be a 3-time World Champion“, admitted the youngling, prompting the interviewer to comment, “Now you’re trying to beat your dad, huh?“, hinting at Vito’s father’s impressive achievements during his professional time.

Vito found his call for wrestling from his father

Vito’s father Vugar Orujov represented several countries on the world stages during his time. Major highlights of his career include two freestyle World Championships gold medals in 1991 and 1995, representing the Soviet Union and Russia, respectively. He’s also the 1995 European champion and the World Cup winner from the same year.

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Having such an inspirational figure right at hand, it wasn’t too unnatural for Vito to follow suit. With 6 medals (5 of them gold) in 2023 on national and international stages, we believe it’s only a matter of time before the junior Arujau seals his place among the sport’s most decorated names.

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