Although wrestling has traditionally been a male dominated sport, senior Jack Guelfi, sophomore Fine Gumpert, and freshmen Kayle Grupe and Jesse Rusk are all excited to be a part of this year’s team.
Guelfi started wrestling when she was a sophomore, after transferring from Carondelet High School. She began wrestling for the first time at Campolindo. Gumpert, on the other hand, wrestled when she lived in Austria, and when she arrived in the USA, chose to attend Campolindo based on their exceptional wrestling tradition.
“They went easy on us at first,” Guelfi said.
On the Campolindo team, girls receive as many opportunities as the boys to compete at the varsity level. “We do challenge matches and if the girl wins the match she gets to play on varsity,” explained Gumpert.
Both Guelfi and Gumpert competed in the North Coast Section championships last season, making them the seasoned veterans among the female athletes on the squad.
Rusk and Grupe are the apprentices.
“They have been really nice and kind to me. They have almost been like family,” Grupe said of her older teammates.
After doing taekwondo for 10 years and injuring herself frequently, Grupe decided to switch to wrestling. “I wanted to do a sport where I can still fight,” she said.
Rusk says the climate on the team is open and accepting. “They are really nice and welcoming and help me if I have a problem with a move,” she said.
After seeing the wrestling team make a presentation about the program at school, Rusk became interested in joining.
In the Diablo-Foothill Athletic League, boys and girls compete against each other based on the weight. “It is fair in league. It is a physical sport but because we compete by weight it is okay,” Guelfi said. When the team goes to NCS however, athletes face off only against opponents of like gender.
Coach Bob McLaughlin feels that wrestling is a good way to learn physical hand-to-hand skills and self-defense. “It’s a great way to get in shape,” McLaughlin said.
