On Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, Berkeley High School’s varsity wrestling team faced off against San Lorenzo High School and Arroyo High School in a much anticipated and energetic three way duel. The event was a tri-meet, which meant that the wrestlers competed against opponents from their weight class, with the victory being awarded to the school that amassed the most total points. In this competition, Berkeley, Arroyo, and San Lorenzo High School faced off in separate matchups, with each school going head-to-head against one another.
BHS first squared off against San Lorenzo, and came out the gate strong with multiple BHS wrestlers winning points through takedowns, and pinning their opponents, claiming victories. From that point on, San Lorenzo struggled to close the point gap, and the BHS wrestlers continued to come out on top. “In the first match against San Lorenzo, I think we did really well. I like a lot of our performances there,” said second year BHS wrestler and sophomore Seigo Lee. Siena Ingraham, first year wrestler and BHS freshman, added, “We started off strong. It was really good to be honest, as a lot of the other team forfeited.”
After securing the team victory over San Lorenzo, Berkeley then faced off against Arroyo High School. Arroyo started off with their foot on the gas, claiming multiple victories over Berkeley in the lower weight classes. Despite the deficit, Berkeley ignited a comeback, led by team captain and BHS senior Charlie Gittelsohn, along with BHS juniors Ben Blair and Jared Huang. As the weight classes increased, each match grew in length and started to become more intense. However, despite Berkeley’s efforts, in the last few matches, Arroyo regained the lead. “It was really close until the last three matches. We were getting slammed a bit, but it was really close with some crazy matches,” BHS freshman Max Snow said. By the end of the event, the Arroyo boys and girls varsity teams both defeated BHS, with the final scores of 56-23 and 30-12.
Reflecting upon BHS’s performance, Lee commented, “The reason we lost a lot of the matches is we forgot to stick to the basics … working on the fundamentals is the thing we forgot to do, as well as being consistent.” Similarly, third year wrestler Giovanei Gaspar Vasquez echoed this emphasis on fundamentals, and shared the team’s game plan moving forward. “We’re just going to try and get better and go over the fundamentals again … we’re a really closely knit team, so we’re gonna support each other out,” he said.
In the end, BHS boys and girls varsity team finished the day with victories over San Lorenzo High and fell short against Arroyo High School. Despite the setback, the team looks to focus on honing their fundamentals skills as they prepare for future matches.