Jose Rojas (born April 27, 1990) is a professional racquetball player. Rojas's highest ranking is #3 on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), which he was at the end of the 2011-12 season. At the end of the 2014-15 season, Rojas was #6, which was his sixth time in the IRT top 10 at season's end. Rojas has represented the USA several times in international competition, and been a gold medalist three times.

Professional career

Rojas has two wins on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT). His latest was at the Kansas City Pro-Am in September 2013, when he defeated Rocky Carson in the final, 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 3-11, 13-11, and more remarkably beat Kane Waselenchuk, in the semi-finals, 2-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, which was Waselenchuk's first loss in a complete match since January 2009. Rojas's previous win was in February 2012 at the San Diego Open, when he beat Alvaro Beltran in the final. His only other finals appearance was at the 2013 New York City Pro-Am, which was a loss to Carson, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4. Rojas had an impressive start to his pro career, as he made it through qualifying in his first IRT event: the 2008 Motorola IRT World Championships in Denver before losing to Alvaro Beltran in the Round of 16. Later that season, Rojas made the semi-finals at the 2009 California Open before losing to Rocky Carson in four games.

International career

Rojas has been on Team USA six times. Most recently, Rojas competed in the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

in Toronto, where he and Jansen Allen won gold in Men's Doubles by defeating Bolivians Conrrado Moscoso and Roland Keller in the final, 15-8, 15-5. He also was a silver medalist in Toronto in the Team competition. Also, Rojas won gold in singles at the 2014

Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...

by defeating Andres Parrilla of Mexico in the final, 15-4, 15-11, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he also earned a silver medal in doubles with David Horn after losing the final to Mexicans Daniel De La Rosa and Edson Martinez, 14-15, 15-12, 11-1. Rojas was part of the American gold medal team at the 16th International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships, winning the final for the USA by defeating Kris Odegard, 15-14, 15-10, giving the USA a 2-0 win over Canada. Also at the 2012 Worlds, Rojas earned a bronze medal in men's singles by reaching the semi-finals, where he lost to Polo Gutierrez of Mexico, 10-15, 15-12, 11-6. Rojas was a bronze medalist at the 2014 World Championships in Burlington, Ontario, where he lost to fellow American Rocky Carson, 15-8, 15-12, in the semi-finals. Rojas's performance at Worlds in 2012 qualified him for the

2013 World Games The 2013 World Games ( es, Juegos Mundiales 2013), the ninth World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in the city of Cali, Colombia, from July 25 to August 4. Host city allocation history The 2013 World Games were initially all ...

, where he reached the semi-finals, losing to Gutierrez, 15-9, 8-15, 11-9, and dropping the 3rd place match to

Carson Carson may refer to: People *Carson (surname), people with the surname *Carson (given name), people with the given name Places ;In the United States * Carson, California, a city * Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois *Carson, Iowa, a city * ...

, 15-12, 9-15, 11-5. Rojas's first appearance on Team USA was at the 2008 Pan Am Championships in Costa Rica, where he played singles, losing in the quarter finals to Gutierrez, who was the silver medalist that year. As a junior player, Rojas won the IRF Junior World Boys U18 title twice, in 2008 and 2009. He's one of only four players to do so, including

Sudsy Monchik Sudsy Monchik (born October 12, 1974), is an American racquetball player. As a five-time Pro World Champion, Monchik is one of the top 3 players in the history of the sport. Monchik was known for his power and speed, as well as his shot-making ...

, Rocky Carson, Jack Huczek and

Ben Croft Ben Croft (born February 11, 1985) is an American racquetball player. Croft's a former racquetball World Champion, winning men's doubles in 2010 with Mitch Williams. His personal best ranking on the International Racquetball Tour was 3rd at th ...

USA Competitions

Rojas won the USA Racquetball National Doubles title in 2015 with Allen and 2014 with

. In both years,

and Tom Fuhrmann were runners up. In 2015, Rojas and Allen defeated Croft and Fuhrmann, 5-15, 15-8, 11-4, and in 2014 Carson and Rojas won the final, 12-15, 15-14, 11-3. Rojas won the USA Racquetball Boys U18 Championship three times: 2007, 2008 and 2009. He also won the USA Racquetball U18 doubles title in 2008 with Jansen Allen and 2009 with Jose Serrano. Rojas attended Delta College and won the USA Racquetball collegiate men's title in 2009 and 2010, and in 2010 also took the doubles title with David Horn. Rojas is sponsored by Ektelon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Jose 1990 births Living people American racquetball players Racquetball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in racquetball Competitors at the 2013 World Games Sportspeople from Stockton, California Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games

Professional career

International career

USA Competitions

See also

References