Wrestling participates in playoffs

It has been an eventful season for the Samo wrestling program as they were able to qualify 12 boys and two girls to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs.Aside from qualifying a majority of their roster to playoffs, and having multiple of them go even further, such as to Masters and State, their overall season has been highlighted by their perseverance and bravery to step up to the plate whenever needed.Due to the team not having a full lineup, several of the players were forced to compete in weight divisions that were 10-20 pounds heavier than their set weight. However, this didn’t prove to be a drawback for the Vikings as in the beginning of season they were able to go 6-0 in dual meets.Age was nothing but a number this year, as the freshman class were a huge part of Samo’s success this year. Three of the dual meets that the Viking’s won consisted highly of freshman players who were able to get pins against experienced schools, such as North Torrance and Valley VIew High School. In addition one out of the four league champions that Samo had was freshman Chikara Sakamoto (’19).Samo’s biggest “rookie” had to be freshman Riha Prasad (’19) who not only had to compete against the opposite sex in dual meets, but also went further than any Viking as she finished her victorious season in State, where she went 2-2.“So far our team has had a lot of up and downs and are ending the season by highlighting the skills of our freshmen through our league finals tournament,” Haroldo Nesbeth (’16) said.Nesbeth was another key individual that truly fought throughout every battle as he was able to be one of the three viking boys who qualified for Masters, while enduring a strained back and wrestling up eight pounds.While many seniors will be saying goodbye to their fellow teammates, the underclassmen have proved to be a reliable source of talent for the upcoming seasons. They have proved their prowess this year and will look to sharpen their skills in the offseason.