Girls’ Wrestling Squad Finishes Season Early

Because of the limited number of competitors, girls’ wrestlers ended their season with North Coast Section competition a week earlier than the league championship tournament.

“2 weeks ago, we had girls NCS, which the girls go to, and last weekend was league, where all the boys wrestle and the top 5 go to state. The issue is, since we already had girls NCS, we are not allowed to wrestle in league, because league is qualifiers for boys NCS,” said 3-year veteran and varsity captain Remy Benner.

The team’s size, or lack thereof, isn’t an issue for Benner. “I’m not necessarily sad that girls can’t go to league. Girl’s NCS is comparable to boys NCS, its just that since there aren’t girls we don’t have to do qualifiers,” she said.

The girl’s team was fairly successful at NCS, which took place on February 10-11. “Both Arine [Kim] and I went 3 and 2. We both just needed to win 1 more match to place, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but that’s okay,” said Benner. “We also took Cecelia Chang, and she didn’t make it to the 2nd day, but she also wrestled well.”

“Technically the girls were allowed to stop practicing [after NCS], but since I am varsity captain, I felt like I had to go in to keep the entire team in order as well,” Benner explained. “I kinda thought, ‘Do I want to wrestle? Do I not want to wrestle?’ I’m just kinda tired. But I don’t think [the team size is] that big of a deal since the girls did have NCS.”

Conversely, sophomore Arine Kim explained the impact that such a small team has on her. “Honestly, it’s just in our league that we have such a limited amount of people and the Lamorinda area in general. It was discouraging we were unable to have a girls league this year because we had one last year.”

However, the girls wrestling team has been on an upward trend since 2015. “My freshman year, I was the only girl on the team,” said Benner. “Last year we had 2, and this year we have 4. So we’ve been doubling every year, but it sounds like we might lose a few more next year, and I also won’t be here next year.”

“We normally just invite our friends to do wrestling, and during the PE wrestling demonstrations we are able to really spark other people, especially girls’, interests,” said Kim.

Although Benner will not attend Campolindo for her senior year, Kim explains the team will still stick together. “I think although Remy leaving will be a huge loss, because she was our captain this year, I believe our camaraderie and other wrestlers with exceptional leadership quality, as well as skill, will allow the team to run smoothly,” she said.