With a record of 2-3, the wrestling team is looking to improve key underclassmen and its program while sending top wrestlers onto CCS.
The team faced Los Altos at home on Feb. 2, losing 54-16 during the Falcon’s senior night. Senior wrestler Adam Camp, the only senior on the varsity team, found a moment of peace in the middle of an aggressive match.
“For my senior night match it was about having fun; wrestling is a sport that is a repetitive grind and I just wanted to let loose,” Camp said.
The team also suffered losses to Homestead on Jan 28 and to Milpitas on Jan 21.
“The losses were kind of hard since we almost got ahead of Homestead … [and lost] in a wide margin to Milpitas,” Camp said.
Camp, however, is looking forward down the line into SCVAL playoffs and a run at winning the CCS title in the 220-pound division.
“To prep for CCS. I am in the wrestling room for three hours a day trying to better my technique,” Camp said. “Because I have a background in football the strength and speed come easily but wrestling is a very unique sport where learning the technique is crucial.”
Despite having only 15 wrestlers last year, the team is using the season to grow and establish a presence on the campus by increasing the athletes on the team up to 17.
“We are a young team with a lot of first year wrestlers and are looking forward to improving as the years go on,” Camp said.
To expand the program, the team held its first fundraiser on Feb. 6. Holding an inter-team wrestling tournament in the large gym, the team asked spectators to donate any amount of money in the name of any player on the team.
The inter-team wrestling matches for the fundraiser were broken into five sections determined by weight class. In the lower weight class freshman Clayton Murabito claimed victory. In the next two weight classes the winners were freshmen Victor Chen and Justin Yagobi.
The next two weight classes in the fundraiser tournament saw two coaches, assistant coach Jordan Nunez and head coach Daniel Gamez, wrestle in each weight bracket along with the students.
Out of these two weight brackets, sophomore Kyle Abe beat Nunez and Gamez beat sophomore heavyweight wrestler Allie Liddle.
But even tournaments like these barely support the team. The neglect the team has suffered is apparent when its treatment is compared to that of wrestling programs at other schools. According to Abe, the SHS team is the only athletic team he has seen that has to clean its own facilities and gets lower priority when trying to reserve the gym for practice.
Despite the large costs and numerous hurdles, Abe is hopeful that the fundraiser and the team’s ability to produce stars such as Murabito and Camp who have the potential to make it to CCS will give wrestling the legitimacy it needs to keep running.
“[Camp and Murabito] are bound for CCS and this team is growing,” Abe said. “The future looks quite bright and we are hopeful to continue this upward trend.”