As the crowd became quiet and the audience anxiously waited for the wrestling game to start, two wrestlers, one in red and blue the other green and white, stepped onto the spotlight. After a brief handshake, the wrestlers got into position crouching down until their foreheads almost touched. With a sharp tweet of the referee’s whistle, the game began. It was an intense back and forth match of both players trying to pin down their opponent. The coaches shouted words of encouragement while the audience hollered in excitement.

On January 10, YLHS wrestlers faced Villa Park at the Yorba Linda High School gym. The beginning half of the game was between Frosh/Soph on one mat and JV on another. Frosh/Soph showed excellent performance with some of our female wrestlers taking the W. On the other side of the gym, JV also gave it their all in a neck to neck battle between each opponent. The JV wrestlers had a fierce competitive spirit as the YLHS boys were determined to win. Soon after the game ended, each side had a handful of wrestlers that won each round. With a short break, the auditorium darkened and a spotlight was pointed at varsity Men’s JV. The varsity game was truly a match to see due to the high anticipation and energy in both the crowd and the players. The wrestlers would pin, cut, bridge, hit using everything they learned from practice.

YLHS wrestlers put in countless hours and dedication to show such great performance on the mat. Practice goes from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm in the night on Mondays to Wednesdays. The rest of the week is dedicated to other trainings such as the weight room. Paige Richey (11) is amazed at “the effort and commitment that is put into this sport.”  Although YLHS wrestlers show great amounts of perseverance and hard work, their accomplishments couldn’t have happened without the great leadership of their coaches. Coach Forty is complemented by Coach Mike Sprenger, assistant coach of Yorba Linda High School Wrestling, and Landon Myers. On 2013, Coach Forty was honored as Orange County coach of the year and nominated to be CIF Southern section of the year in 2014. Due to such great leaders, the YLHS wrestling team was able to bring home multiple CIF champions and League winners.