Last year the boy’s wrestling team had a record of 4-1 for their dual meets making them co-champions in the PCAL, while placing 7th overall at CCS.
Their lone representative to State was Diego Cesar Chaidez. He was the only male wrestler to have reached state within the past 6 years which was a huge accomplishment. Though he has graduated, the team has remained strong as many key wrestlers have returned.
Returning are seniors Santiago Chaidez and Isaac Rodriguez, and junior Charlie Cerda. All of them were strong contenders in CCS, and are the team captains as well as good leaders. “Isaac Rodriguez has been very vocal, Charlie he’s a junior he’s been very vocal he’s been a good leader, and Santiago Chaidez is also one of our leaders who came out late because of the long football season but since his arrival, he’s been on the forefront of leading,” Coach Miguel Rodriguez said.
The team’s greatest strength right now is their sheer size. They have a total of 75 wrestlers with about 50 percent of them being freshmen. “We have a lot of people to fill in the spots in the lineup,” Coach Miguel Rodriguez said.
Though their size is their greatest strength, it is also their most challenging issue. “It is a weakness, it’s so big that we cannot wrestle in one practice so we have to split our practice,” said Coach Rodriguez. “That’s never ideal, but it is again one of our big strengths, so we’re excited.”
Wrestling is a physical sport in which strength and mobility are key factors, so it’s even more difficult when you have to compete with an injury. Isaac Rodriguez is dealing with a Slap Labrum Tear from last year that reached from his anterior to his posterior shoulder. He received surgery and has since been working through it. “ I went to balance physical therapy to rehabilitate my shoulder to get back into wrestling,” he said. “Once I was cleared I wrestled a good amount my junior season without any injuries. On my own, I have done some band work to strengthen my shoulder and improve stability.” His goal for this season is actually to complete the whole season. “My ultimate goal is to make it to state. I want to place in CCS preferably first and make it to state and be a runner-up or even place again.”
Chaidez’s goal is straightforward. “My big goal for this season is to make State,” Chaidez said. “I know I will achieve this goal by just continuing to work hard and by having that gotta want it mentality.”
The team as of right now is looking strong. The dual at Hollister went well for them as a team they placed 2nd for varsity going 3-2. “The energy started low, and then they picked it up,” said Assistant Coach Zavala. “We started it with a loss on the varsity side, but it was a wake-up call and they pulled it out by getting three consecutive wins and got one more loss.”
Their latest tournament on the ninth of December was the Webber Lawson tournament which was the hardest tournament so far. “This has been the toughest lineup for the Webber Lawson that I’ve seen in recent history,” Coach Rodriguez said. “You have Gilroy who ranked number three in the state, Pittman who also ranked in the state, Clovis who ranked number five in the state.”
With elite wrestlers and a tough format that doesn’t allow any loss to rank, the team had a rough time. Unfortunately, no one ranked and the team came out nineteenth which was in the middle of the pack. However, this tournament was still beneficial for everyone on the team.“Every time you get on the mat you get to learn something individually, as a team, even coaches some of the stuff that you can do to motivate performance, so it’s all a learning lesson, but just in general the quality of wrestling we got was really good.” Coach Rodriguez said.
Expectations for this season are high, as Coach Rodriguez hoped to have the boys place top 5 in CCS minimum, and or have the team be in the top 3. He also hopes to be league champions and, more importantly, have more wrestlers compete at state. “I know that last year we had one male qualifier, I want to get at least two to three this year,” Coach Rodriguez said.
