Warren Jacobson cub writer
The sound of bodies being thrown against the mat was overlapped by the enthusiasm and chants coming from both the bleachers and the team as the JV wrestling team beat Mira Costa in a duel meet with a final score of 39-24.
On Jan. 10, Before the JV meet, varsity broke records, smashing Mira Costa’s league duel meet five-year winning streak, ending the meet with a final score of 42-26.
 
Throughout the match, the audience could hear the team cheer on every player, even if a teammate was losing.
 
“It’s our part to win our match so our team can succeed. Also, we need everyone as a team to help each other and carry us to the victory,” freshman wrestler Dan Menache said.
 
Every match is divided into three periods of one-minute time capsules, giving each wrestler a limited amount of time to pin the opponent or score as many points, which makes achieving a victory a lot harder.
 
Freshman Koby Kranis’ match went “pretty well”, as he pinned his opponent in the first period.
 
“Well I won, but I wanted a better result. I didn’t get the pin but I won by points, which is also good,” Menache said.
 
The team’s success doesn’t come easy, along with normal everyday school work, they spend around two to three hours a day doing drills, sprints and practice matches with wrestling alumni. “They [do their] drills so hard,” junior team manager Liza Zacarias said.
 
Despite their success in this match, the team did encounter some difficulties.The team had issues with not listening to the coach’s instructions and with grabbing their opponents’ headgear. As the match went on, however, the wrestlers got a better understanding of what they needed to do. They were able to win with the help from JV and varsity wrestling coach Ryan Faintich.
 
After the game, the coaches sat down with all the players and were supportive of their victory, but also gave the proper advice on needed improvements.
 
“Coach Ryan pours all his effort into this team and he puts in so much time. [He] even came in during winter break to better the team,” Zacarias said.
 
The next home JV wrestling meet will be on Jan. 22, in the Swim-Gym at 3:00 p.m. against rival Santa Monica High School.