Wrestling members fight for varsity spots at Valhalla Madness

Samo’s wrestling varsity members were chosen during the first publicized Inter-squad Wrestling Championships, or Valhalla Madness, on Nov. 15.Each wrestling member vying for a spot on varsity was paired with another member in the same weight class. The stakes were high as only the winner of the match received a spot on varsity.Many wrestlers believe that Valhalla Madness was a good way to pick varsity members.“You have to prove that you’re the best in your weight class to show that you can be on varsity,” varsity team member Doug Noteware (’14) said.New varsity members include Conor Meyer (’16), who defeated Greeniwch Chase ('17) 11-3 and Andy Rosas ('14), who defeated Brian Stewart ('16) 3-1.The evening also composed of exhibition matches and a freestyle wrestling match between English teacher Ruth Magnuson and Maddy Tung (’15). After Magnuson put up points early, Tung rallied back to win 17-12.“It was fun and it was a good fight,” Tung said. “Next year we’ll hopefully have another faculty-student standoff.”Coach Mark Black believes that Valhalla Maddness was successful. His goal for the season is to push the wrestlers into the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and beyond.“The ultimate goal is to make state, but you need to go one step at a time: league, CIF, masters and then state," Black said. "We try to get each kid to the next step every year.”cyen@thesamohi.com