Spartan Scroll

Photo by KIA HARLAN 

by ELIAS DIAZ & KIA HARLAN 

With their season coming to an end, the Spartan grapplers prepare for CIF Individual Championships Feb. 17-18 at Grand Terrace High School.

At League Finals Jan. 28, varsity had a three-way-tie with Montebello and Bell Gardens, while JV won the league title. Fourteen wrestlers placed in league, including seniors Adrian Guevara and Jacob Staley, who both ranked first in their weight classes.

“Over league finals, we had a young team, and I expected us to walk away with more league champs than we did, but we did have some injuries that prevented that. It wasn’t an ‘A’ performance, but overall it was a ‘B+’,” said Coach Dondi Teran.

The varsity grapplers were victorious when they faced Mark Keppel, winning 63-3, on Jan. 25.The Spartans also defeated Alhambra, 45-21, on Jan. 11 adding to their Jan. 4 victory against Rosemead, 48-18. They suffered their only loss of the season against Bell Gardens, 42-36, on Jan. 18.

“I think this season had a lot of learning opportunities for underclassmen to learn from previous years,” said senior Rayan Melendez.

After winning the league title, the lady grapplers also preparing for CIF Championships tomorrow at Upland High School.

They dominated in all their matches with no losses, as demonstrated when they beat Mark Keppel Jan. 25 and Bell Gardens Jan. 18, with an identical score of  60-3. They also beat Rosemead on Jan. 4, 59-20.

“We’re drilling hard by wrestling and trying to get a good sweat out to make our weight class by Saturday. In the past, the way I’ve cut weight was unhealthy, so what I’m using [now] are tips from others in eating healthy and then eating a little less when it gets closer to a tournament,” said senior Sarah Zaragoza, varsity captain.