It’s pre-season at Wolfpack wrestling. “I feel excitement for the growth of this program and the potential for each individual.” Coach Lopez, the head coach for the past three years and a science teacher, said. Some candidates may become team captains for both boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams. Practices, held three times a week in October, focus on strength for wrestling in the gym, field, or weight room. The last week of
October is the deadline for recruits, with exceptions for fall sports. Captain announcements are pending, as last year saw shared leadership. Coach Lopez plans to prepare athletes physically and mentally through pre-season tournaments and practices.
Assistant coach Carvajal shared her thoughts on how the team has grown and about the beginning of this season.“I’m excited about them and I think that they are brave because they are trying something different. We grew up knowing how to play basketball, volleyball, soccer, and other popular sports but wrestling is completely new to these students. They take a chance at it,” an assistant coach for the past two years, Coach Carvajal, an AVID teacher, said. No team captain has been chosen for the team yet but there are three candidates for both genders of the team. “I think that most players have something to contribute to the team, all wrestlers do. I think that everyone has it in them to be a leader, but I think when we announce our leaders it’s usually people with experience, people who are vocal, and people who lead by showing lead by example. We will have three captains for boys and three captains for girls,” Coach Carvajal said.
The coaches are excited about the season so are the recruits as they share their thoughts on wrestling. “I did this sport because I wanted to get stronger and stay fit. I saw how wrestlers trained from last year and their dedication and I knew I had to join wrestling. At one point I wanted to quit from the intensity of the training but having the support of the team and coaches and seeing the dedication made me decide to push forward,” Roger Rosales, a senior, said. He heard of the sport through Club Rush and wrestlers recruiting. Rosales expressed his feelings about wrestling as a fun and inclusive community where everyone is included. His goal for the season is to go undefeated and have fun with his friends. “As it is my last year of high school, I want to join a sport and have fun and wrestling seems to be that sport,” Rosales said.
“Wrestling is interesting and different from other sports mentally and physically. You’re on your own when you compete but the training is as a team,” Mathew Valencia, a senior, said about his experience in wrestling. He heard of the sport through his friends who told him about it and decided to give it a try. So what are your goals for this season? “My goal for the season is to learn as much as I can while staying in shape at the same time,” Valencia said. He chose to do wrestling among the various sports available. He said wrestling is just interesting and unique in its own way. “It’s not like any of the other sports at our school from the conditioning, training, sportsmanship, and community. It is a very humble and easy sport to fall in love with as I did with the first day of practice,” Valencia said.
