Head wrestling coach, Gail Miller was so proud of his varsity wrestlers for placing first, during their first tournament of the season, at Mira Mesa, last Saturday, that Monday morning the entire MC staff received an e-mail.
The e-mail asked if the teachers could congratulate any wrestlers in their class.
The team walked away with their first victory as champions, winning with over 40 points, with three Champions: junior Miguel Dorantes, sophomore Alex Weber and senior Ted Kassen. The three runner-ups were senior Danny Grant, senior Mitsu Smyth and junior Abdul Dahman. All of the Sundevils placed either 3rd or 4th in the tournament.
The wrestlers have always had a strong program and it continues on this year.
The team won CIF last year and is working towards that goal this year as well.
“We had most of our guys wrestle better than guys wrestle badly,” Miller said. “Of course we’re always striving to improve, week by week. We’re just hoping that by the end of the season, when it really matters at CIF, they’ll wrestle their very best.”
But being a champion team takes more than hard work.
It takes team work.
“We try to make sure that the guys are taking care of each other and have a buddy to work with throughout the tournaments,” Miller said. “That helps guys stay warmed up. The guys need to take care of each other and have a drill partner.
“It’s like having a brother, and I think we did a really good job of doing, during the tournament. We encourage our guys to have a teammate there, a brother to support them.”
The key to their success is that the wrestling team has been taught to live by the words faith and family, whether on the mat or in life.
“Our philosophy is that we have faith and family,” Miller said. “We’re family because we’re not concerned if you’re a champion. We are only concerned that you do the right thing and make good decisions. What kind of friend, student or brother you are is what matters.
“And then there’s faith. It’s not tied into religion or anything like that. Faith is about believing. It’s that you believe in yourself, you believe in your teammates and you believe in your coaches. If they follow that philosophy, they’ll end in success, maybe not in wrestling but in life.”
Their first home meet was with Ramona yesterday, but the results were not accessible before press night. The next home meet will be on Jan. 7 against Orange Glen.
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