A Beginning Victory for Girls’ Wrestling

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The Girls’ Wrestling Team take their second victory as first place in a tournament at Lynbrook High School.

With 18 of 26 returning girls on the wrestling team, the main goal of Coach Jose Julio Garcia for this season is to be CCS Champions.

The team is currently ranked two in pre-season based off of last year’s season according to Garcia said, “In our first meet I hope to beat the team ranked in first with some secret weapons.”

Something that Garcia says the team is lacking is the need to get the ball rolling and to start believing that they have a chance and that together they can pull it off. The expectations are high with the goal to be the first CCS girls’ wrestling champions in school history. The eight seniors – Vivi Porras, Stefanie Ruelas, Celeste Alonzo, Maria Camargo, Jennifer Molinero, Melissa Rios, Samantha Gonzalez, and Briana Perez – have been setting themselves up for the past four years. Garcia said, “I hope the seniors set a tone, a legacy, and inspiration in the following years for the younger wrestlers.”

With victory at their first meet as first place champions, the team was able to beat Terra Nova by 149 points, with the opponent not even reaching 100. After taking half a season last year to focus on school work senior, Vivi Porras, returned to win first place on their first meet, as well as Stephanie Ruelas -and junior Rosalba Orozco all placed first in their weight class.

Porras says, “We’re doing very good on our stamina, but personally I could improve on taking shots.” Ruelas thinks, “At our first meet I tried not to get really nervous like I did before. I think that helped me a lot, I enjoyed it. I still need to fix some things like my shots and being top.“ Orozco, a first year wrestler said, “In the beginning I felt scared, but after warm ups I felt confident. I placed first by pinning the first girl in 0.39 seconds, the second girl in 3:19, and the last girl forfeited. I was excited and couldn’t believe that I won first because it was my first time competing. What I did good was that I listened to my coach and what he was saying on the side while I was in the match. What I need to improve on is working on top.”

Last year Camargo went to state, but this year she unfortunately suffered some injuries during preseason. Unsure of her situation on the team Garcia clarified, “Yes Camargo is wrestling and at the moment is injured, but she will return in hopes of making it to state and overcome preseason injuries,”

With an outstanding win on their first meet, the team’s main focus is to set a tone for season meets. “It is always the journey, not so much the outcome because the win is just a bonus, a good experience that build happiness and confidence. As a coach I feel successful and even if we lose we learn to pick ourselves back up.” Our first meet on Saturday, December 3, we took first place and blew away all competition and set the bar extremely high, anything less is not acceptable or a foot forward. If the team takes a loss, they use the word “learning” as a way to learn from their experience. Every situation is a learning experience until the real show because it’s not how a season starts, but how it’s finished,” said Garcia.

“Overall the team is doing well, with the freshmen and sophomores needing a bit of improvement.Something the team is trying to improve on is being more consistent at not getting tired or rushing to beat their competition because they tend to do it a lot, but with daily consistency and trying to make our girls as primed as possible we will be successful,” said Garcia.