By Andrew Fierro, Managing Editor

After an incredible season, St. John Bosco wrestling now looks to individual tournaments, as the wrestlers prepare for the CIF, masters and the state championship.

After a long and hard season, the Bosco wrestling team came out as Trinity League champions and finished the season with triumph. Though the season for the team may be over, for the individual wrestlers, it is just beginning. Now, each wrestler will turn his focus to the three tournaments that will determine the 2022 state champion for each weight class.

Going into these tournaments, Braves wrestling program looks to make a statement, as many wrestlers are going in well prepared and extremely focused. Each wrestler going into these tournaments wants to win, and they each know exactly how hard they must work in order to accomplish this goal. Though luckily for these wrestlers at St. John Bosco, hard work is a point of emphasis, and all of the wrestlers going into competition will be ready for what’s in store.

One great example of hard work and dedication is demonstrated by senior Oscar Aranda. He worked hard his entire life leading up until this moment, and he now looks to win a state championship. He knows that there is nothing left for him to do but go out there, wrestle and leave it all on the mat.

“I feel as though I have nothing to lose. I plan on letting it fly, as my coach would say, in these next few tournaments,” said Oscar.

Though he and the rest of the wrestling team may have put in all the work necessary to compete well at these tournaments, it does not take away from the fact that the competition they will be facing is some of the toughest in the nation. For these wrestlers, working hard doesn’t stop on the mat, as they have to make changes to their lifestyle away from practice in order to stay on top of their game going into competition.

“I will change my diet and eat healthier foods. I cut out most sugary drinks and drink lots and lots of water. When practicing, I start to slow the flow of the drilling down. Lastly, I focus on one match at a time,” said Oscar.

Going forward, there is nothing but confidence from the team as each wrestler believes that they can accomplish what they want if they put their effort into it. Though the competition is high, the talent in the wrestling program mixed with the incredible amount of preparation that they put in makes it so that Bosco wrestling has a great chance every year of creating state champions.

“I believe that our energy and all the hard work we have been putting in will allow us to be successful in our tournaments to come. I believe that my whole team has the capability of winning a state title,” said Aranda.

Fellow wrestler, junior Nicco Ruiz, also feels that the team is in a great spot to succeed going into these tournaments. Not only does the team already reflect a strong contender, but they are consistently improving as well.

“I believe that the Bosco team is going to do great. We keep getting better every day,” said Nicco.

Though this may be an exciting time for each wrestler, it is also very difficult for many of the seniors who know this will be their last time wrestling for the program. Even though many of them go on to have prestigious college wrestling careers, leaving St. John Bosco is a big step that is hard for many of the athletes. The same is the case for senior wrestler Abraham Galicia.

“Obviously I’m sad that these are my last couple of tournaments for high school, but I am going to continue wrestling in college so I’m excited for that,” said Abraham.

The wrestlers will be competing this weekend, in the CIF tournament where the top five will move onto the masters, and the top nine from masters will then move on to wrestle for a state championship.