By: Chris Ha
The MHS wrestling team has high hopes for the upcoming season, Wrestling Head Coach Jake Tanenbaum said. The team is looking solid this year with three returning CCS qualifiers: Tristan Kim, Maricar Ramos, and Scotty Gomez, he continued.
“We are in the De Anza league again,” Tanenbaum said. “We also have a good group of tough freshmen coming in hoping to make an impact down the stretch,” he added.
Although some practices were cancelled due to the poor air quality from Nov. 8 to Nov. 20, they were able to get back in action when the rain cleared, he said. He is really excited about the upcoming season, he added.
The Junior Varsity team competed at Overfelt High School on Friday, Nov. 30th, whereas the girls team competed at Overfelt on Saturday, Dec. 1st, he said. Varsity boys competed at the Peninsula Invite at Half Moon Bay, he added.
“At the JV tournament, Sam Kumar took second, Julian Escobar took third, and Gavin Zamora and Benedict Mappala took fourth,” he added. “At the Lady Royals, Yesenia Avalos took sixth and Maricar Ramos won the consolation bracket,” he continued. “[And] at the Peninsula Invite in Half Moon Bay, Tristan Kim took fourth place, Lou Noble took eighth, and Fritzjon Lucero was runner up in the consolation bracket,” Tanenbaum concluded.
Senior Scotty Gomez has been on the wrestling team since freshman year, he said. He hopes to place in CCS again this year, he added.
“At the beginning of practice we usually do cardio, and then I have a warm-up, and after warm-up, we do drills and moves and work on a lot of technique,” he said. “To cut weight, you don’t eat a lot, you run a lot, and then you drink a lot of water and sweat out all of that water.”
Other athletes returning from last year will make dual meets and tournaments exciting to watch, Tanenbaum said. The team will have three home meets this year against some tough teams and hopes to get a big crowd out for each of them, he added.