Wrestling practice requires discipline, which helps push me towards achieving my goals, such as focusing more on my work.

Danny Antikyan

By Kyle Arechiga & Julian Bayan

Out of the many Granada Hills Charter (GHC) sports teams, wrestling comes off as relatively obscure to most on campus. Unlike baseball or basketball, wrestling is a combat-oriented sport that requires grappling with an opponent, which is less common than the more common non-combat sports. As a result, the hard work of the wrestlers on the GHC Wrestling Team is often left unrecognized.

Last Saturday, the wrestling team competed at the CIF La City Championships with great success. Three students will be moving on to State Qualifiers next week. Junior Daniel Antikyan was the City Champion in his weight class. Freshman Maya Magana and junior Simoneta Zickeviciute also qualified for State by being the runners-up in their respective weight classes.

The team also had nine other students place and receive medals. Sophomore Lincoln McClenahan received third place. Junior Krystian Chemnitz, senior Sophia Leonova, and sophomore Alexis Tirado scored in fourth place. Junior Alondra Avila, sophomore Maya Avila, and freshman Arman Gukasov finished in fifth place. Finally, junior Bryce Champollo and sophomore Amanda Sanchez were ranked sixth place.

Wrestling is a sport more complex than most perceive it to be. Apart from using strength and endurance to grapple with your opponent, it also helps you build traits that can be applied outside of the mat, such as patience, discipline, and focus.

Practice starts at 5:30 p.m., so students must patiently wait extra hours in or around school until it starts. That alone requires extra dedication. At practice, students use their strength and endurance towards rigorous training on the mat until 7:30 p.m.

“I’ve been working out for a while, but compared to wrestling practice, that feels like nothing,” junior Danny Antikyan said. “Wrestling practice demands so much of your stamina and time, so you need to be very tough to get through one.”

Like most schools, GHC prioritizes academics, which pushes those on the wrestling team to not only work hard on the mat but in the classroom as well. Thankfully, incorporating discipline into their academic career improves their overall focus, which in turn helps them both with wrestling and in school.

On top of having to spend the rest of the evening at practice on most days, the wrestlers also bear the responsibility of being good teammates.

“As one of the team captains, I do feel stress to be the best, and to help other wrestlers out,” junior and Team Captain Matthew Damian said. “With my newfound responsibility, I feel that it paves the way for more success in my future.”

Within the field of wrestling, not only are matches won through strength but also won through strategy.

For example, wrestlers use various techniques to take down their opponents such as single-leg takedowns or double-leg takedowns, also known as throws. These require both precise timing and execution. Wrestlers also have to excel at escape and reversal tactics to keep themselves from being pinned by an opponent, or if pinned to reverse the situation. These maneuvers require agility, flexibility, and quick thinking.

For those who are on the GHC Wrestling Team, the same traits used in their strategies are also applied within their lives as well, as timing, quick thinking, and agility are skills that can showcase their perseverance and hard work both on and off the mat.