Ending season with a 3-3 record, varsity wrestling finished in third place at Century League finals which were held at El Dorado High School Feb. 5.

“Team wise, we were very successful this year,” said Feargus McTeggart, head coach. “We competed in every match we had and wrestled hard. I am proud that the team was able to place this year at league finals.”

Individually, in league finals Jerome Santos, senior, and Jacob Castillo, Ryan O’ Connor, and Darrin Windes, juniors, were Century League champions as they led the team to have the most first place finishes in league. Seven other wrestlers placed at finals and qualified to advance to the CIF-preliminaries.

“It felt good to stand up on that podium as first,” said Castillo. “Especially when I have spent so much time practicing and training, all my hard work had paid off.”

Santos said, “Our team worked hard this season to be able to make it to Finals. We really...[got] our work done during practice and with eleven guys heading to CIF, we accomplished our goal.”

Though the team accomplished much at Century League finals, calamity struck at the CIF-preliminaries held at Brea Olinda High School Feb. 18 – 19.

“I was not on my A game at all during CIF,” said Castillo. “From the warm up I just could not operate as well as I wanted to and even though I was only one match away from placing third, I took my second loss on the second day and got eliminated.”

McTeggart said, “The team was generally not in good condition during that time; most of them were either sick from the flu or recovering from injuries. The after effects of the season were getting to them, and it happened at a really unfortunate time.”

But on that day, two wrestlers were victorious as O’ Connor and Windes placed fourth and third, respectively, and therefore qualified to advance to the Masters tournament.

“My game plan was just to wrestle each match like it was the last one I was ever going to have, and that is exactly what I did,” said O’ Connor. “With that in mind, I really did not expect to place at CIF but somehow I managed to overcome the odds and took fourth on the podium.”

O’Connor and Windes headed to the Masters tournament, held at Temecula High School on Feb. 25 – 26, for an attempt to further advance to the state championships. However, both were eliminated from the tournament on the first day.

“I kept the same philosophy as I did during CIF,” said O’ Connor, “but I was a lot more nervous this time around and I just did not perform as well as I needed to. But I have no regrets as this was a great learning experience I hope I can return to next year.”

“Even though O’ Connor went ‘0-2 barbecue’ at the Masters tournament, he really gave it his all in each match,” said Santos. “[O’ Connor] was really close at winning all of his matches, it was just that his opponents took that one point lead when there was almost no time left on the clock. Luck was just not on his side that day.”

With the Masters tournament at a close and no one advancing further to the state championships, the season finally ended for the wrestlers, who now harbor hope in their five returning wrestlers and strive to become the team to beat next year.

“I am very proud of what this team has accomplished this year, they have worked hard, wrestled hard, and played hard, and they have all contributed to make this season the best one I have ever had,” said Santos on his role as team captain. “I put my hopes on the next varsity team captain to lead the team to a first place victory on the podium next year, and I hope the team will go the extra mile and put in work over the preseason so that they will be fully prepared for the next season.”

“The team all finished well and deserve all the medals they have won throughout the season,” said McTeggart on the team’s performance. “And even though this is a young team with only two graduating seniors and five guaranteed returning wrestlers, next year’s team will need to work harder than ever, their drive will need to be stronger, and most importantly, they will need the strongest desire to win if they want to get to be league champions.”