Wrestling won second place in a tournament against Norwalk High on Dec. 6, had a tournament against Edison High on Dec. 12 and against University High yesterday.

Wrestling took second place in the tournament at Norwalk against its regional competitors and had three tournament champions: seniors Darron Petit, Jonathan Nicklaus and Shahin Shams each won 4-0 with two pins. Senior Alex Lepere took second place in the tournament, winning 3-1.

In the tournament at Edison, seniors Ken Nakama and Andres Aragon each won once. Nicklaus, Petit and Lepere each won twice.

The wrestling team’s efficient cooperation and close friendliness are two traits that set the team apart from teams in the region. The team spends almost three hours from sixth period to 5:15 p.m. at practice every weekday, which shows immense dedication to the sport.

“Right now as a team, I don’t think we have anything big to work on; I just think we need more heavyweight people to join wrestling,” co-captain Shams said.

Wrestling team members practice hard to ensure success during tournaments in the near future.

“To get better, I still think the team needs to work more on their technique and basics,” Aragon said.

Coach Cliff Nelson said that he is very pleased with the beginning results from such a newly put-together varsity squad and has plans to win against most of the schools in Irvine so the team can make it to CIF.

Nelson also mentioned that the wrestling team should try to win the team title in the league as a team, but that the team should focus on competing as individual champions in their assigned weight classes.

Despite the great results and high hopes, there is still a big competitor that threatens the wrestling team’s plans.
“Irvine (High) has a strong wrestling program and has been champion for a while now,” Nelson said.

Nelson commented that Irvine had the biggest and most stable team in the region, and that Woodbridge has been trying to take over their title as champion. He also mentioned that Irvine seemed to be the favorite pick in the region and that Wrestling would have to work hard to win over what Irvine has.