Wrestlers qualify for Sectional tournament

At the GNHS wrestling Regional, the team had a couple of wrestlers advance to Sectionals that was held at Deerfield High School.

Sectionals were Friday and Saturday and wrestlers competed for a spot at the State tournament.

Alex Carbajal 152 pound wrestler placed third at the Regional.

“I did pretty decently. I got third. I wrestled tough, and I am still very sore,” Carbajal said.

One thing that the wrestlers are doing are trying to get the mindset better. At Sectionals, there was a lot of competition, so only the best moved on. This is why having the mindset of a champion can help wrestlers succeed.

“Get my mindset right, and I will start bringing intensity into practice. We all have to  help each other with that mental aspect,” Carbajal said.

Carbajal’s goals were to make it to State and just wrestle tough and be aggressive.

“Write down your goals and just do them,”  Carbajal said.

Senior Frankie Salcedo at 132 pounds placed third at the competition. He did hurt his leg, but he is hoping to be back before this week’s tournament

“(I hope to) go to state by placing at the Sectional,” Salcedo said.

Salcedo’s goals are to place at the state tournament, Frankie is a 4-year wrestler and wrestled a couple of times on varsity his freshman year and varsity wrestling his sophomore through senior year.  Frankie is putting in the work in the wrestling room.

“The team did phenomenally, most of us placed and we placed fourth as a team,” Salcedo said.

One thing  the team needs to work on according to Salcedo is conditioning, 

“We all need some good cardio,” Salcedo said.

Where Salcedo separates himself from other wrestlers is his mental game.

“I don’t think before a match, I just wrestle,” Salcedo said.

The team will be competing on Friday and Saturday at the Sectional tournament.

Connor Kozanecki 145 pound wrestler qualifies for the state tournament being held February 17th through Febuary 19th.