The room is full of electricity and is felt throughout the audience in anticipation of the PHS Varsity Wrestling team. The team runs out onto the mats and the crowd cheers for the one-on-one matches to begin.
The first day of the Inter Scholastic Federation (CIF) championship happened on Feb. 10 ending a successful match with 415.5 points, 12 champions, 14 finalists, 14 medalists. They still held on to their position as first in California and fourth in the nation. Top wrestlers are Arseni Kikiniou, Angelo Pasada, Laird Root, and Paul Kelly.
The team’s biggest win this year was at the Doc Buchanan tournament where they won for the first time. Eight wrestlers placed.
“We got first as a team for the first time ever, and we also got our first championship ever. I went 7-2 and fifth in my bracket. My only losses this tournament came from the same kid and I’ve been wanting to wrestle him again ever since,” senior Elias Navida said.
The feeling of being number one is unmatched. “It feels great. The numbers show our hard and consistent work paying off and it holds us to a higher standard,” junior Edwin Sierra said. Their top ranking came after the Titans won the Battle for the Belt championship Jan. 12 to 13 in Temecula with 20 medalists, six champions, and 14 placers. They finished with 366 points in total.
Multiple Titans have committed to prestigious colleges including Junior Edwin Sierra to Stanford University and Senior Jack Estevez to United States Air Force Academy. The team faced Sunnyside High School in Arizona on Jan. 20. With a difficult match, Poway came out victorious against the number one Arizona team, with an ending score of 47-15. The secret to being a successful team is great communication and teamwork.
“We are very close and are all friends even though we are all competing with each other for limited varsity sports,” senior Aliaksandr “Sasha” Kikiniou said. On Jan. 27, Poway went against number two-ranked Buchanan High School. With a tough, close match, Poway came out victorious 28 to 26.
This team has had an incredible Season with many wins. Their next hopeful victory to add to their long collection is The masters happening on Feb 16 to 17 at Southwest El Centro High School. If they place within the top three they will move on to state at the Mechanics Bank arena on February 22 to 24.
