The wrestling team is built on hard work, teamwork, and a strong will to win, where every member pushes themselves to be their best on and off the mat. The wrestling team at Ridgeview High School dedicate themselves to be strong and compete at their highest level. This year’s 2024-2025 wrestling team commit to having discipline, hard work, and perseverance.
A factor that is most crucial to this sport is the nutrition a wrestler intakes. Varsity wrestler Eric Cantu has been wrestling since his freshman year of high school. Cantu gives insight on this when he states, “You have to have a set amount of calories you have to intake, to have the energy for practice while also dropping weight”. In wrestling one’s weight plays a major role because it determines who you will compete against within your weight class. For this, Ridgeview’s wrestlers hold a great amount of dedication to the sport. However, a wrestler’s teammates hold a significant standing in the sport. Cantu concurs when, “ Teamwork helps a lot when it comes to wrestling, even though it’s an individual type sport. The better bond you have in the wrestling room with all the guys in there will make you work that much harder and push yourself that much harder”. Therefore highlighting the fact that having the support of your teammates motivates a wrestler to be strong and work hard when they compete, also improving their performance on the mat. Moreover, the wrestling team when they face difficult trials look to their teammates and pick each other up to be their best on the mat.
Varsity wrestler Emily Ozuna started wrestling her sophomore year of high school and is now a senior. She first got into the sport when she noticed one of her friends participated in the sport and decided to join the team her sophomore year. Her toughest match was, “Highland because she played fourth in state last year”. Ozuna feels as well that Highland has been the most rigorous school Ridgeview High School has competed against. Although this was her toughest match, her perseverance allows her to flourish on the mat due to, “A lot of running and a lot of bodyweight workouts. That’s what we focus on, but a lot of stamina, and pushups“. These workouts require a significant amount of energy physically and determination mentally. Our wolf-pack wrestling team contains most of these elements.
However, above all the most crucial element to a wrestling team is a coach with a strong passion for the sport to help wrestlers perform to the best of their ability. Girls’ varsity wrestling coach Angelica Llanes has been, “Wrestling since I was, like, nine years old up to college, and it’s always been a part of my life, so l continue coaching because, it’s the way of my life and it’s always been a part of my life.” Llanes has grown a strong passion for the sport as a young girl and continues to have a passion for the sport in her adult life. Llanes techniques for the wrestling team to develop a close relationship among their teammates are, “Team bonding exercises or team bonding workouts, it makes a huge difference in the girls”. From this, the wrestlers have grown a tight-knit relationship that allows one another to keep each other’s heads up and get in the zone before getting on the mat.
Whether the team is practicing or competing the team remains committed to pushing their limits to be the best. As the wrestling team continues their evolving journeys on the mat, their dedication, excellence, and most of all their unbreakable bond will keep them striving for victory both off and on the mat.
