The Boys Wrestling team suffered their first loss of the season 60-15 against Beckman on Dec. 1. This match was the first dual of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) season. 

Though the team had been training for weeks prior to the start of the season, this was the first match where wrestlers competed for team points. Eleven wrestlers competed on varsity for 11 of the 12 weight classes.

“There was a lot of nervous energy, I feel like, around the team,” junior Daniel Mattar said. “Because Beckman has been a pretty hard team to beat in previous years, I knew we might face some challenges […] I felt pretty good, but you know everyone has their nerves.”

Mattar, along with senior Amin Derakhshan and junior Kallen Lynskey, led the team in points. All three wrestlers won by fall.

“The plan was just to go out there and score—be constantly on the offense, work on every point, never stop attacking,” Derakhshan said. “I wanted to show everyone how hard I’ve worked and improved over the years, and just set an example for the team.”

Despite the mental and physical challenges wrestlers face during their matches, one major key to pinning an opponent is having the right mindset. According to Lynskey, going into a match with the right mindset can dictate the outcome.

“I told myself no matter what, I’m going to come out on top,” Lynskey said. “I went into the match confident. I was as loud as possible when breaking ‘Trojans on three.’ I went in there, cleared my head, and was confident in what I was doing. Even [though] the other guy was able to get his inside ties in really quickly, I just kept driving and didn’t give up.”

Despite the loss, the team looks forward to competing throughout the rest of the season.

“I look forward to just improving, getting better,” Derakhshan said. “We’re so much better right now than when we started and I want us to go as far as we can.”

The team’s next competition will be at home against Laguna Hills at 5:00 p.m. on Dec. 15.