Skyline men’s wrestling hosted their alumni game Friday, Sept. 5 at the Skyline College Gym. The people in attendance witnessed what wrestling is about. On the mat we saw double, single leg takedowns as well as leg trips, pins and more. For Skyline’s current team it was a great challenge to start their season against the experienced alumni. 

Assistant coach Mariano Sanchez said the alumni night is all about exhibition.

“This exhibition slash scrimmage is a way to get some of the local alumni to come back and engage with the team and give our guys a chance to compete in front of the crowd, it sort of gets away [from the] nervous before the real competition,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez also said work ethic plays a big role in what the coaches focus on in training prior to official matches. 

“We have been training all summer. These guys haven’t stopped training since last year,” Sanchez said. “We had a lot of high school kids coming this summer that put a lot of time these semesters. These guys have been putting time on the mat and in the weight room.”

Sanchez said the foundation of Skyline wrestling is to get them as prepared as possible for what is known to be a different level of wrestling at the collegiate level. 

“[The goal] early in the season is to get these guys comfortable with this level of competition, the college level and the goal is to get a little bit better and we are kind of focused on getting a little bit better every day, then just get ready for the playoffs right through the off season,” Sanchez said.

The alumni were not only present on the mats but also in the stands as many former wrestlers for Skyline were in the crowd. 

“There were a few returners here that wrestled because they are on the younger side of the alum. But there are also maybe five or six that are in the stands here that are just too old and we are not going to wrestle, maybe pushing 50’s or 60’s,” Sanchez said.

Skyline’s men’s wrestling team is currently the only sport that does an alumni night. 

”It’s about getting those guys to keep coming back, and that’s what’s important, that’s the point behind the alumni,” Sanchez said. 

The alumni had a really aggressive approach in every match. There was no mercy shown by the alumni side as they went on to win 7 matches in a row some of them coming from the way of the pin. 

Alumni for the Trojans Ricardo Bribiescas won his match by the way of a pin. He said when was the last time he stepped into the mat and how he feels about it.

”I haven’t stepped on the mat since my last year here in 2016, I felt good to be back, I’m still in shape, I box and do [mixed martial arts]MMA, so it felt good,” Bribiescas said. 

Bribiescas said he had some advice for the team and talked about how he misses wrestling. 

“I will stay consistent and listen to the coaches, no pressure and have fun. It’s such a thrill, once you are in there it feels that whatever problem you have outside of wrestling feels like nothing matters but to wrestle,” Bribiescas said. 

Current Skyline wrestler Moses Blanco talked about his first season at the college level, and goals for the season.

“I am very excited to be here instead of being a fan, it is a total experience. I’m shooting high, I want to place in a state that is my main goal, place as high as I could. I do not want to be mediocre. I want to improve my cardio and dictate the match more,” Blanco said.

The Trojans next meet is Saturday, Sept. 13 against Santa Rosa Junior College.