Student-Athlete of the Week: Azael Marrufo

During four seasons as a varsity winger for Niwot, Azael Marrufo has been the Cougars' most productive attacker, with 34 goals in 34 games, the most recent a game-winner against Regis Groff in the first round of the 2021 Class 4A soccer playoffs. But that isn't the most memorable moment of Niwot soccer for the talented senior. That moment came during the 2020 postseason, and it isn't a wholly pleasant one.

"Making it to the semi-finals was wonderful, because my brother made it to the semi-finals, and now I was in the semi-finals, too," he said. Maruffo's older brother Abel was a starting defender for Niwot during the 2017 season, which ended just shy of an appearance in the Class 4A championship match. "But I couldn't play. I injured my MCL in the second round quarterfinals. I started the next game, because I thought I could have played. And then I got the ball, and I tried turning, and that's when it popped again. I had to leave the game early."

Niwot went on to lose 2-1 to Windsor, another blow to the then-junior. But if there was a silver lining in either loss, it's that Marrufo now had even more incentive to make his senior season the best of his career. He spent the off season rehabilitating his knee with the assistance of Niwot athletics trainer Maya Watne, and then decided to tackle an off-field issue that has also limited his playing time.

"At the end of freshman year, I had really bad grades, but the worst was my sophomore year," he said. "I missed a couple of games, and that's what screwed me over."

With strong encouragement from Niwot Athletic Director Joe Brown, Marrufo started taking academics more seriously during his junior season, and was able to keep up his eligibility. If anything, his studious habits have only intensified in his senior year, and the threat of a bad weekly grade report has become a thing of the past.

"Making it to the semi-finals last year really improved everything," he said. "I decided I'm going to keep my grades up, I'm going to turn everything in, so I can play in every game. It's my senior year, I want to do my best, and I want to graduate as well."

For Brown, Marrufo's transformation from a potential drop out to model student has been "incredible" to watch.

"Sometimes things are tough for people, regardless of what that is," Brown said. "And when you finally have that breakthrough moment, after you've chipped away and chipped away and chipped away, you're more proud of it. And I think that's where he is now, and why he sees so much value in keeping his grades up."

That has translated not just to a higher GPA for Marrufo, but also to a genuine appreciation for learning and doing classwork, he said.

"I'm very poor at math, but I've got support from teachers who help me. My best class is English. I love English, and I like writing."

So far, Marrufo is on track to complete both of his goals--making the Class 4A semi-finals, and then going on to graduate. With the win over Regis Groff, thanks to Marrufo's lone goal, Niwot moves on to round 2 on Nov. 3, and a win there gets them right back where Marrufo wants them.

As for his academic progress, Marrufo will not just graduate with his class, he is also tentatively exploring college options, again with Brown's assistance. Right now, a strong contender is Laramie County Community College, which took three Niwot soccer players following the 2018 season.

"Azael just had to figure out his purpose," Brown said. "Oftentimes we do things just because we have to do them, and once he figured out that getting good grades, and getting things taken care of meant he could play soccer, that light bulb went off. He learned that he could be successful, and he started to feel self value in doing so."