With six returning members and 29 first-year wrestlers, the M-A wrestling team’s 2016 season has been a historic triumph. The team’s season record is 4-2, having defeated Woodside (54-24), Oceana (43-27), South San Francisco (71-6), and San Mateo High School (48-24), and having lost
to Aragon because of a series of forfeits and to Burlingame as well. In these meets, freshman Ricanthony Gold contributed 28 points, the most of any individual wrestler. Seniors David Sobek and John Hamren, and sophomore Sal Ruiz tied for the next highest contribution at 18 points each.
Overall, the season included 664 matches and 240 pins. Gold and Folashade Akinola had the most matches, Chelsea Wilson and Sal Ruiz had the most pins, while Garrett Pohlman and Lauren McDonnell had the most training hours throughout the season.
At the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Tournament, the boys team placed ninth overall and the girls placed second overall. In PAL individuals, McDonnel, Paola Ramirez, Maxim Sokolov, Eric Andreae, and Makisi Tonga placed fourth, Angie Bautista and Niko Ozden placed third, Livienna Lie placed second, and Bianca Vargas, Folashade Akinola, and Abby Ericson placed first in their respective weight classes.
At the Central Coast Section (CCS), Akinola seeded first, Wilson and Lie seeded second, Ericson seeded fourth, and McDonnel and Evelyn Calhoon seeded seventh in their weight classes. The girls team placed fourth out of 56 schools at the competition. In the individual tournament, Lie placed fourth, Ericson placed third, and both Akinola and Wilson placed first.
In the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) tournament, Wilson placed third and Akinola placed seventh. Wilson, Akinola, and Ericson all advanced to state finals in Visalia, CA.
