The El Molino wrestling team sent a young contingent of athletes to the Redwood Empire Novice Tournament, hosted by Maria Carrillo on Nov. 17, with several athletes coming away with medals.
The annual tournament served as the unofficial start of the winter season for most participants, giving underclassmen and other inexperienced wrestlers their first taste of high school competition.
“The tournament was smaller than in recent years, but the novice Lions wrestled well and got a chance to compete after a few weeks of practice,” El Mo coach Ron Wright reported. “The kids were full of excitement and nervous energy.”
The El Molino boys turned in a great debut, with each member of the team earning a medal in their weight class. Bringing home hardware were first-year wrestlers Jonathan Aguilar (2nd place), Chance Martin (3rd place), Jonny Wheeler (3rd place) and Aidan Herman (3rd place).
In addition to the boys, the Lions were also represented by a couple of girls competing against their male counterparts.
Representing El Molino were Ardenne Chevrolet and Lynnea Olson.
“There weren’t enough girls at the tournament for separate brackets, so the girls wrestled the boys,” Wright explained. “While they didn’t get a win, they wrestled really well and showed some real potential.”
The novice tourney is also a great way to promote team unity, with athletes on hand to support teammates.
“It was pretty cool to see how excited they were to cheer each other,” Wright noted. “For every match, the entire team would be at mat-side, cheering on their teammates. The whole day was a great bonding experience for them.”
The El Molino girls team will resume preseason action this Saturday, Nov. 24, when they take the mat at the Menlo-Atherton Tournament.
