Wrestling Anticipates League by Dominating against Montebello

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KEVIN KONG
Staff Writer

Behind the doors of the wrestling room, one could expect to find wrestlers pushing themselves to prepare for Almont League. The varsity wrestling team is currently ranked sixth overall of six different high school leagues.
“Our team is pretty good. We are well physically, but we need to work on our mentality. I think we can take league and make playoffs,” senior Co-Captain Ernie Ornelas said.
Head Coach Michael Williams believes that with preparation, the team can qualify for the California Interscholastic Foundation (CIF) postseason matches. The team can improve by wrestling other teams at matches and tournaments. Williams expects he can advance the team on new techniques because they are past the fundamentals.
With improvement, there are also various concerns that can slow their progress down, including possible injuries and empty weight classes, creating considerable draw backs.
“We have [faced] injuries, but it points out weaknesses and strengths so we can make adjustments,” Williams said.
On Jan. 4, the Moors wrestled Montebello, winning 37-28. At one point, Montebello was up by five. However, Alhambra raised the score to gain a lead as Sidney Aung, Aaron Logan and Stephen Ovsepian all pinned their opponents. One underdog in the competition was Mario Arrendondo who had to face Almont League’s best heavyweight from Montebello. Arrendondo and won 16-10, despite being nearly forty pounds less than his opponent.
The team defeated faced Bell Gardens on Jan. 11 with a score of 49-22. Josue Garcia pinned at 195, while Ernie Orneles pinned at 220. On Jan. 8, the wrestlers took part in the Nogales Super Champions Tournament. This tournament hosted some of the state’s top high school wrestling teams. Alhambra took charge and was ranked sixth out of forty-five teams. Jairo Alcaraz won first place, Michael Robles earned second place and Alfred Ginez received third.
“We are a very seasoned team, although we have had to fill [empty] weight classes. I feel [that] we are going to be league champions this year,” senior Manny Reyes said.