Wrestling head coach Bill Kalivas likes how his team is improving as the season progresses, but he is realistic in the team’s chances in the final few tournaments.
“I thought we made some improvements at the Santa Ana tournament collectively, when we won 25 and lost 25,” said Kalivas. “We did a little bit better at Modesto, though. We were 37-30, so I thought there was some improvement there.”
The team finished 16th overall at the Santa Ana Tournament on Oct. 2 with two wrestlers placing, and finished ninth overall in the Modesto Invitational on Oct. 9 with three wrestlers placing.
Kalivas said that there is a lot of competition in most of the weight classes, and that they are still working on designating their first and second scorers for each weight class.
“Unfortunately most of our number twos beat our number ones and knocked them out of the tournament for the placing rounds,” he said. “So that ninth place finish in Modesto probably could have been fourth or fifth place.”
Kalivas said that the team is “a work in progress,” and that they don’t have any high-school state meet placers currently on the team.
“A lot of these kids have come from programs where they haven’t been taught the proper mechanics,” said Kalivas. “This is a difficult level because most of the kids that they are competing against are state high-school place winners and have been wrestling since they were five or six years old. It’s difficult to develop four or five years of skill in four or five months.”
Kalivas isn’t looking back but looking to prepare for the future.
“I think collectively we work really hard, they stay together as a group, and I think they are trying to be as competitive as they can, we haven’t seen anyone just give up,” he said. ” As a whole we look to next year, if we can keep half of them around, I’d hope to keep more than half, almost everyone other than the two sophomores.”
The team will finish the season shortly, and the staff has a plan to prepare for next season.
“We have an opportunity to spend some time in the off season developing some more skill,” Kalivas said. “I think we’ll be really representative in the next couple of years.”
“There are a lot of intangibles, goals change, sometimes an athlete’s drive isn’t there,” he said. “It takes quite a bit for a person to be focused and be able to maintain something for a long period of time, so I just hope we can give them the right guidance.”
The team is currently moving forward after disappointing finishes in the past weeks.
“My expectations are kind of minimal right now,” said Kalivas. “We’re just going to go see if we can win some matches. Our main focus is going to be the conference championship.”
Kalivas will lead his team to two more tournaments before the Western State Conference Tournament at Bakersfield College. “We have two individuals at [the 125 and 285] weight classes that are ranked,” said Kalivas. “The problem is we have to figure out the middle of the classes.”
Kalivas said that those weight classes are their strongest by far, with Curtis Hulstine and Mark Collier ranked fifth and seventh in the 125, and Brad Carls and Quinn Moore ranked second and seventh in the 285 weight class.
Other than those placers, the team only has one other ranked wrestler in any other weight class, Santino Delfino, who is sixth in the 184 weight class.
The team is working to improve on their weaknesses before the conference tournament.
“We are looking for small victories, with little bits and pieces of improvement,” said Kalivas.