The Granada Hills Charter (GHC) wrestling team delivered strong performances at the CIF Regionals on Saturday February 7, with the girls team placing fifth and the boys team finishing fourth. Multiple wrestlers earned top-eight finishes, securing advancement to the CIF Championships next weekend at Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles.
The top eight finishers from Regionals qualified for the championships, where wrestlers will compete for a chance to advance to the state tournament at the end of the month.
Senior and captain Maya Avila led GHC’s performance at Regionals, earning first place in her division. Strong showings followed from sophomore Cael McClenahan, senior and captain Lincoln McClenahan, junior Arman Gukasov, and junior and captain Maya Magaña, who each secured second-place finishes, contributing to the team’s overall success and advancements to CIF Championships.
Although wrestling is often seen as an individual sport, GHC’s success has been built on a strong sense of unity and shared tradition.
“Every senior night, for the girls, we put together baskets of the things they like,” Magaña said. “We include a variety of items correlating to facts we’ve discovered about them throughout their time on the team and we present them in front of the whole crowd.”
Small traditions like these help strengthen relationships among teammates and create a more supportive environment during practices and competitions. The closer the team is, the easier training becomes, despite the physical challenges and mental toll practices present.
“Every time you wrestle, there’s no loser,” Lincoln McClenahan said. “Whenever you’re surrounded by other people with the same goals as yourself, especially when you’re close to them, there’s a mutual and unspoken understanding of respect. It not only makes learning from loss really easy, but it pushes the team to make quick improvements.”
The team’s bond is reinforced at the end of every practice and meet through a ritual known as the “call off.” All the wrestlers gather in a huddle with their hands in the center chanting: “Granada on me; wrestling on three; one, two, three Granada; one, two, three wrestling.” Though brief, the tradition symbolizes an unbreakable tie between the entire team.
As the season nears its conclusion, the wrestlers reflect on the connections formed through long practices, demanding tournaments, and shared goals.
“At this point it doesn’t feel like a team or even friends,” Magaña said. “Since you bond with your teammates on a physical level, it’s hard to see these people solely as bodies; it feels like a family.”
With CIF Championships approaching, GHC’s wrestlers will look to carry both their momentum and team chemistry into the final stages of their postseason.