Contributor: Jared Tucker

As the season slowly nears to an end, the wrestling team begins to consider their postseason plans without key graduates Ramin Abraham and Rafael Salinas. 

“It’s been a learning year mostly, and we miss those guys from last year; But I think we have a young, talented team right now, so there’s definitely a bright future for the team,” junior Ricardo Salinas explained. 

Even without Rafael or Abraham, Salinas is optimistic about the team making postseason.

“Everyone’s made a lot of progress from the start of the season, and we’re starting to put things together at just the right time,” Salinas said. “There’s a lot of potential on the team and the biggest thing right now is getting people’s confidence up, so they can start wrestling to their potential.”

On the contrary, senior Anjual Joyner doesn’t hold the same level of positivity as Salinas. 

“I’m sort of confident that we can make it post conference,” Joyner said. “I know there’s going to be a couple of wrestlers that will stand out from the rest.”  

Because there’s only eight days before the regional match, the team is continuing to refine their skills in order to perform their best. According to Joyner, seriousness has been lacking during practices. 

“Everyone’s held accountable for their own actions,” Joyner said. “We need to work hard when no one’s watching, when the coaches aren’t watching. Those little things add up, and they present themselves in matches. I feel like the best thing to do to prepare is going hard in practice.”

Catch the wrestling team at their last meet before regionals tonight at 6 p.m. in the Fieldhouse.