Wrestling Team Concludes Season with CIF Finals

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KAYIU WONG
Staff Writer

On Feb. 21, 11 AHS wrestlers competed in this year’s California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) finals. After qualifying from Almont League, this last round of CIF was the wrestlers’ opportunity to advance onto State Finals. However, the Moors were all eliminated after their individual rounds, officially ending the season for the wrestling team.

AHS CIF finalists included freshmen Brandon Ly, Bobby Ramirez, Patrick Ersig, Gabryel Valenzulea; sophomores Nevin Sanchez, Gage Flores, Gabriel Natera, Damian Rosales; juniors Daven Sanchez, Ethan Tavares and senior Peter Sosa. In total, five representatives and six alternates made up the AHS team.

The finals were held at Westminster High School, through a double-elimination tournament process. The Moors, as a part of the Coastal Division, competed against 31 teams from nine different leagues in the final’s first round. Each wrestler had two chances after a losing round before they were officially outed. Despite not being able to advance on to State, the team looks back on the finals positively.

“The day went really well and the overall experience was phenomenal. This entire [season] paid off on the mat that day,” Tavares said.

Compared to recent years, the team had the lowest number of CIF finalists to qualify from AHS. However, Head Coach Michael Williams sees this as a rewarding learning experience for the team’s underclassmen. With a large number of freshmen and first-time wrestlers this year, Williams plans on building up from the basics of the sport and extensively working on technique next season. He predicts that despite being an inexperienced group this year, the Moors will be a force to be reckoned with and will have a substantial lineup in the years to come.

“Wrestling isn’t a sport you can learn and catch on to quickly; it takes time. [The team] has come a long way and I see great promise in them. With what they have learned and experienced this year, we [will be] ready to go next year.” Williams said.