The San Luis Obispo High School (SLOHS) wrestling room is about to be a lot more busy as CIF comes to SLOHS this Friday. Photo courtesy of the measured.slcusd.org.
As the end of the season approaches, San Luis Obispo High School varsity wrestlers are starting to gear up for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). This tournament will place teams from across the central coast in a grueling contest to move on to masters.
It takes place at SLOHS this Friday and Saturday.
Athletes will begin their first rounds at around 10 am and continue to 4 o’clock in the afternoon each day. Wrestling competitions are commonly divided by weight class. Here, the championship finals will begin at a class of 106 lb and move up to a weight class of 285lbs.
“It starts on Friday, and this is really important to Varsity. Coach has been putting in a ton of extra practice for this. As a JV player, practice is not too hard because we cannot wrestle in CIF. We are all supposed to help out,” said JV wrestler and freshman Charlie Gillmore.
After CIF, athletes are sent to Central Section Masters in Selland Arena, Fresno. For the past few years, several of our athletes have gone to masters, and some have even made it as far as state.
“We’ve had three years in a row now sending someone to state, looking to continue and hopefully we’ll start sending some girls too!” said wrestling coach Brandon Drucker.
CIF boasts participation from a wide array of schools. In this coming tournament, opposing teams include Farmersville High, Morro Bay, Mission Oak, and Clovis North.
“The competition varies a lot and it’s always tough but not unbeatable, we aren’t the toughest area for wrestling, so it’s not horrible but there are definitely some really good wrestlers here and there,” said freshman wrestler William Borgsmiller.
After everything this season has thrown at them, the SLOHS wrestling directors are more than confident in their team’s ability. For the past few weeks, they have been practicing techniques and learning “contingency plans”, for when their preferred series gets countered.
“We had a solid year of athlete growth, with a large group of underclassmen and all of those wrestlers stepping up individually. . . As a coaching staff, we are more excited than ever about the next few years of the program!” said Drucker.
As our varsity wrestling team heads off to CIF, be sure to cheer them on! Or get to school early to avoid the parking nightmare!
