By Jakob Salao, Sports Editor
Last year, Kennedy’s boys wrestling team struggled to compete against other schools. With less than 20 wrestlers, many of their matches were forfeited because there were not enough athletes to compete. Since then, their former head coach retired. This left some wrestlers frustrated with their usual pre-season training.
“Our coach was retiring and since then, we couldn’t use the wrestling room,” senior Saif Majali said. “We either trained at home or even had the Cypress team help us out. It was frustrating since practice started a month late and that’s a long time for wrestlers.”
Luckily for the wrestlers, things changed as their former assistant coach Aaron Calderon stepped up to the challenge and took over as the team’s new head coach. Since then, the boys have been working hard to get back into championship-level form.
“We do a lot of movements in order to train and become better day by day, such as bodyweight training, physical conditioning, drilling techniques, and various movements that make us better,” junior Mario Anaya said.
Although the team may not be as big as last year, Anaya doesn’t let that faze him.
“Our team has decreased in size, but size isn’t important. There are many individuals that are very dedicated to the sport and they have a big future ahead of them,” Anaya said.
The boys competed in their first dual meet on Dec. 11 against the Cypress Centurions. Although they didn’t come out with a win, there’s plenty of the season left for the boys to wrestle their way to a championship.
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