Wrapping up a successful wrestling season

Through the years, the Aragon wrestling team has boasted seasons of success. Coached by three former Aragon wrestlers, the staff is anything but short of experience.

This year, the team is fairly balanced between new and returning wrestlers, some of whom have four years of wrestling under their belt. First year wrestler and junior Sam Stukov says “At first it’s kind of intimidating. There’s some intense conditioning, but then it gets fun.”

For the returning wrestlers, getting back into the routine helps to improve their skills.

Head coach Steve Ratto points out, “I think they’ve improved. It’s about getting the most practice time. The more you’re there the better you’ll get and, as you get deeper into the season you’ll learn more. As you come back year after year, it becomes easier, since you’re learning the same moves and perfecting them.”

Perfecting a move takes time. A wrestler can learn the footwork of double-leg take down, but might then have to practice following through and finishing with a pin. Intense drilling and repetition of moves all go into a solid wrestling practice.

The team’s record has been improving as well. Although they lost their first dual meet 45-36 against Capuchino, the team improved, losing by only a single point to Oceana High School.

The next week, Aragon faced off at Mills High School, a school Aragon had beaten last year. History repeated itself this year as Aragon took a victory of 40-37 clinching the win in their last match with first-year wrestler Jeremy Goldberg pinning his opponent.

The victory was not guaranteed from the start, as Mills won the first two matches by pin. Nevertheless, Aragon followed up with senior team captain Conor Stanton defeating his opponent. Later, third-year wrestler and junior Brian Barron defeated his opponent by pin and an eight point lead.

Senior and four-year wrestler Edgar Moreno beat his opponent in the third round, making his record now 4-3. Moreno comments, “I’ve been wrestling for about four years. So it’s going as I expected, win a couple matches lose a couple. We’ve been working hard during practice.”

The practices before a tournament or before a dual meet can sometimes focus on technique revision or simply conditioning to lose that extra pound before weigh-ins.
“It’s just physical conditioning. We just do a lot of running and a lot of pushups,” says second-year wrestler and sophomore Victor Gomez.

It is equally important for a wrestling team to have someone for every weight class so that they aren’t forced to forfeit a match. This year, they have managed to fill that gap of weight classes without too many holes in the lineup. The moves and strategy for weight classes change as you go up the scales.

“They are definitely different moves. We’ll teach a move and give the information that says, this is probably a move for lighter guys because as a heavier guy it might be too much work or too hard to lift up the guys leg. When you’re wrestling 285 pounds, you’re not going to go for a guy’s leg and try to pick it up in the air but if it’s a 125 pound wrestler, it’s going to be a lot easier. It’s more of an issue of ‘is this move better suited to a certain weight class?’” says Ratto.

With PALS just around the corner, the team will see more challenging opponents to face. However, their improving program and balance of skill sets they will be going in well-prepared.