Wrestling Their Way To CIF

BRIANA THAI

Staff Writer

On Feb. 17, the varsity boys wrestling team boarded the bus to Grand Terrace High School. All 12 of the team members had qualified to compete at the preliminary rounds of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championships.

After placing second in the Almont League, the boys continued to practice every day after school for two hours, perfecting all the moves they know, from lateral drops to jap whizzards. For the last 30 minutes they practice their moves by wrestling with each other.

“CIF was a really tough tournament for the majority of the team, but overall, a great experience,” senior Captain Brandon Ly said. “Hopefully, we can improve our results next year by practicing harder and [recruiting] more students into the team for a full line-up.”

The CIF finals were held through an elimination process, and only the top six would move on to CIF Masters. Unfortunately, the majority of the team was eliminated throughout their preliminary CIF matches, with only senior captain Robert “Bobby” Ramirez placing fifth in finals. He is advancing onto CIF Masters and if he places in the top eight, he will continue onto the State Championships.

“CIF was a learning experience for [the team] and I hope they will perform and place next year,” said Ramirez.

Despite most of the team not being able to advance to higher rounds of CIF, the wrestlers have high expectations for next year, as they hope to become a larger and stronger team.