Wrestling wins 12 of 14 matches against Redondo Union High School

Samo wrestling won 12 of 14 matches against Redondo Union High School at the team’s second dual meet of the season on Thursday, Jan. 22. The team has welcomed many new freshman wrestlers, who have improved throughout the season and will assist the team in future matches.

Captains Rizal Garcia (’15) and Ethan Matty (’15), along with most of the team,  won their matches.

In a fast match, Matty was declared the victor by pinning down his opponent, which leveraged Samo’s overall score by six points.

Due to the uneven match up in weight classes, Redondo was forced to forfeit five of their matches, which decreased the total number of matches from 19 to 14.

Samo lost only two of the 14 matches. Francisco Guttierez (’15), for example, was defeated after a five minute match — more than double the length of an average match. Guttierez and the Redondo wrestler both struggled to advance until Redondo’s wrestler was able to bring down Guttierez.

“I could’ve stopped all the takedowns and pinned him if I had just put more emphasis toward that,” Guttierez said.

Though the team has many younger wrestlers this year, players have high hopes for success in league championships and in California Interscholastic Federation matches.

A few veteran wrestlers including Garcia, Matty, Lewy Nagesh (’15), Guttierez, Connor Meyer (’16) and Noah Johnson (’16), are supporting the younger wrestlers, forming the backbone the team needs in order to ensure a strong season.

“Even though some of our wrestlers have only been practicing for one or two years, they still train with us everyday,” Matty said. “They may have less mat time and competition experience than others, but they’re still expected to go out and give it their all.”

According to Johnson, the young players are adapting well and will be of big help to the team in future years.

“It’s a little tough because we didn’t have a full lineup, so some freshmen had to fill varsity spots,” Johnson said. “But our freshmen are showing a lot of promise, so I think next year will be a good year.” 

Samo wrestled Lawndale High School in a home dual match on Thursday, Jan. 29.

Matty is hopeful for upcoming matches, and believes that the team can continue to succeed.

“I look forward to competing for the rest of season,” Matty said. “I’m proud of the team too. We were able to get a lot of wins and pins. I’m looking forward to seeing if we can keep the same intensity as a team when we wrestle.”