It’s not that Lake Central’s Emilio Tirado wasn’t working hard.

But two years of high school wrestling made Tirado realize he probably wasn’t working hard enough. His first two postseasons ended in the regional, and he wanted to go further.

“I figured the only way I could get there was by working harder, working more and spending more time on it,” he said.

So Tirado has spent the past two seasons diving deeper into the sport, and he has evolved into a state-ranked wrestler who has been difficult to beat as a senior.

Tirado (30-2) heads to the Crown Point Sectional on Saturday ranked No. 8 at 175 pounds by IndianaMat. That’s a dramatic turnaround for a wrestler who lost at least 10 matches during each of his first three seasons, although he qualified for state at 165 pounds as he hoped last year.

Tirado, who didn’t start wrestling until middle school, has shown what’s possible with hard work, according to Lake Central coach Luke Triveline.

“He’s proof that you don’t have to start at 4 years old to be a high-level wrestler,” Triveline said. “You can time hop by working and get to a higher level.”

Triveline said there was always a belief in Tirado’s potential among Lake Central’s coaches. Tirado’s journey to realize that potential started soon after his sophomore season ended at the Crown Point Regional. Having stopped playing baseball a year earlier, he had spring and summer seasons with little to do outside of school, and he started visiting the Region Wrestling Academy.

“I didn’t skip a single practice,” Tirado said. “I didn’t do any tournaments that summer, but I went to every single one of their practices.”

Tirado’s extra time on the mats improved his wrestling ability, and his extra time in the weight room made him stronger. The mental part was the final piece of the puzzle for him, and that came when Triveline asked for a word with him at the Hobart Super Duals last season.

“I pulled him into the locker room and yelled at him,” Triveline said with a laugh. “After that, it clicked a little bit in his head that he should be doing better because he is better.”Tirado also laughed as he recalled that moment and agreed that he got the message.

“I just realized that I shouldn’t be losing to these guys and that I’ve put in more work than most of these guys had and I should be performing better,” he said.

Tirado finished last season with a trip to state, but he wasn’t fully satisfied. He lost in the first round.

“I felt way better about that season because of how it ended,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily what I wanted, but it was better than the years before that.”

Tirado went back to work in the offseason, spending more time on the mat and in the weight room than ever before while also paying more attention to his nutrition.

“I really feel like nutrition has a big effect on performance,” he said. “You can feel the effects of it. If you’re on top of your nutrition, that’s another thing that can give you an edge over somebody else.”

Celestino Garcia, a senior 165-pounder who is one of Tirado’s most frequent practice partners, has become well acquainted with his teammate’s seemingly endless energy.

“He’s taken that extra step to always do the hard things, especially when it’s not asked of him,” Garcia said of Tirado. “He puts his head down and gets the work done, but he’s always taking it a step extra.”

Tirado intends to keep taking those extra steps because he wants to lengthen his stay at the state meet.

“I’m really going to focus, trying to hone in on what I’m doing during each drill at practice and just be present during that,” he said.

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.