After several long days of practice filled with sweat, exhaustion, and discipline, the day has finally arrived for the San Marcos High School wrestling team to step onto the floors with their rivals: Mission Hills High School. In addition to facing their rivals, on Friday, Jan. 12, the SMHS wrestling team participated in a one-day tournament.

Before stepping onto the mat, the SMHS wrestlers must maintain self-discipline mentally and physically before their big tournament. “You have to make sacrifices not just for yourself but for your team as well,” said junior Gabe Durazo. “You need to [get the correct] weight, then you can’t go out and eat with the rest of your friends, or your friends are hanging out the same day as practice and you have to go to practice and you need to [steer] away from certain foods.” 

With the positive aspects of self-discipline and motivation to attain their goals, wrestlers face bad days that come with difficulty in practice while simultaneously maintaining good grades. “Sometimes I hate it because the practices are hard,” said freshman Logan Covert. Practices can be grueling with drill after drill such as takedowns and high C’s. Wrestlers must be prepared to perform moves that they practiced because no one can predict what their opponent will do. 

Durazo stepped onto the mat with a mental game plan to combat his nerves and go in with confidence. “I had a game plan and motivation before the match,” said Durazo. Practicing through the pain shows as Durazo defeating his long-time rival on the MHHS wrestling team and Covert “easily pinning” his opponent. Overall, the Knights beat the Grizzlies with the Durazo placing first in the 177-pound championship at the Varsity Sam DeJohn Tournament, the boys wrestling team winning overall third and the SMHS girls wrestling team securing sixth out of 72. Win or lose, the thing that changed Durazo’s mindset over time is, “Everything after wrestling in life will seem easy”.