Injuries thwart Wrestling in State and CIF

Samo’s wrestling team was on its way to California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) with captains Ethan Matty (’15) and Rizal Garcia (’15) both qualifying. Garcia placed first in league and Matty advanced as well. Both of them had injured knees. Garcia was undefeated throughout the wrestling season and place first in league.

“A couple of us came ready to wrestle, and it just didn’t work out for the others,” Garcia said. “But it felt great. I know I ended my season fighting and I’m content with that.”

Matty, because of his standing, continued to CIF without having wrestled in league due to his injury. This feat is rarely accomplished in the world of wrestling. Both Matty and Garcia had to undergo physical therapy and take care of their knees with stretching and ice everyday to keep themselves in good enough shape to wrestle.

“I didn’t compete at league, but I went to CIF because I’ve competed at CIF every year before this,” Matty said. “I’ve seen this kind of thing happen to other wrestlers that get injured and move on based on their ranks and previous accomplishments.”

Conor Meyer (’16), Haroldo Nesbeth (’16), Connor Husting (’18), Nasir Grissom (’17), Noah Jonson ('16) and Francisco Gutierrez (’15) also qualified for CIF. Both Meyer and Grissom placed 6th, but did not continue on to state.

“I’m proud of our team this year,” Matty said. “I got the chance to see a lot of our athletes progress and advance into big tournaments. We also beat most of the teams in our league even though we had a couple empty spots in our lineup. We all worked hard and gave it our best shot.”

According to Garcia, the team was very proud of their league finals standings.

“The height of over season was probably league finals,” Garcia said. “Most of our wrestlers won and we placed in the top three. Our low point was probably when we lost our match against Mira Costa. They wrestled harder than us.”

The team progressed a lot, and with 10 wrestlers that competed in CIF, it ended the season on a good note. There were also several first year wrestlers that made to the finals, including Maddy Tung (’15) who placed third in CIF and 3rd in state.

“We had a junior and a sophomore both qualify to go to masters and one competed,” Matty said. [Tung] placing in state and CIF is a huge accomplishment.”