In their first tournament on Dec. 9 in the annual Webber Lawson Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Fremont, the wrestling team placed 20th out of 30 teams. Senior Alexander Liddle went undefeated 4-0, making it to the finals and winning first place in the 285 lb weight class.

“I feel individually I did very well but I'd like to see some of my teammates getting medals as well,” Liddle said.

Each of the athletes, junior Victor Chen, senior Vladimir Kataev, freshman Linus Blom and senior William Sabato, had at least one win before being eliminated.

“The team did really well on their feet and got some good takedowns, but they struggled being on the bottom,” coach Daniel Gamez said.

Last year, the team struggled with filling weight classes and end the year with only seven wrestlers. With more grapplers this year, the team won’t have to forfeit as many dual matches.

“In the past, other schools have had larger teams, but I’m excited for this year because we have a more competent team size-wise,” junior Isaiah Vivero said.

Key wrestlers like seniors Jack Ryan and Ajay Brar weren’t able to participate this year due to injuries. Brar had accumulated a number of injuries throughout his two-year wrestling career and thought it best to discontinue.

“It was hard to walk away from wrestling,” Brar said. “But I had to do it because it was taking a toll on my body.”

New wrestlers like Blom, sophomore Sanam Mokhberi and Liddle have helped fill in the places left by veterans. With the addition of assistant coach Taylor Wilson this year, individual athletes are also able to get more one-on-one help.

“My goal is to continue to teach them techniques to add to their arsenal and get more wins,” Gamez said.

The team’s next tournament will be for varsity boys at Abraham Lincoln High on Dec. 9.