Alone on the mat, contenders get in their stance and tap hands, the whistle blows.  They face-off and figure out the quickest way to pin down their opponent, eager to score as many points as possible for their team.

The wrestling team competed at the Capital Classic tournament from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. Several wrestlers placed at the tournament, including senior captains Aylen Vivar and Cory Silguero.

“Aylen Vivar won her weight class, she was the tournament champion,” Lewis said. “Cory Silguero got third in a pretty tough weight class, and Elysian Calderon got third in a really tough girls weight class. We’ve got to work hard.”

The tournament helped Silguero identify his strengths, along with what he needs to improve in order to achieve his goal of winning state.

“My strengths consist of a strong and determined will, an eager mindset, and quick, powerful bursts when points are needed,” Silguero said. “I realized after my loss in the semifinals that I need to focus on staying loose and advancing, but not on advancing before I have won a match.”

Vivar, who has been wrestling since eighth grade, took away an important lesson from the tournament as well.

“I learned that I need to have trust in myself,” Vivar said. “I need to have confidence in my moves when I wrestle.”

Vivar has high hopes for the team this season, but she has set the bar even higher for herself.

“My goals this year are to hopefully be undefeated, become district champ, regional champ, and state champ,” Vivar said. “I hope I can work hard enough to achieve my goals.”

Being so early in the season, the Capital Classic tournament serves as a good preseason tournament to evaluate the team.

“I’d say the tournament was a success in the manner of seeing where we are as a team and what we need to do to improve ourselves,” Silguero said.

Outside of the select individuals who did well, Lewis thinks the team definitely has improvements to make.

“We underperformed a little bit this last tournament,” Lewis said. “We had some pretty tough draws in a couple of weight classes, but we’re going to work on it and continue to grow.”

This year’s team is relatively inexperienced compared to past years, which can be a disadvantage against more difficult competition, but the team makes up for it in other aspects of the sport.

“Everyone’s working really hard in the weight room and the mat room,” Lewis said. “Our conditioning is better than it has ever been.”

Many wrestlers feel as if Lewis is always there for them and pushing them to be the best version of themselves.

“I like how much and how hard our coaches train us because when it comes to us wrestling at a tournament, we’re in better shape than our other opponents,” Vivar said. “We can definitely come together [and feel like] a family at times.”

Senior Marisol Moreno has been wrestling since she was a freshman, and she sees a lot of potential in this year’s team.

“I have a good feeling about our team this year. I know last year a bunch of our wrestlers placed in district and went to state,” Moreno said. “I believe we can do the same thing as last year and possibly have more people place and go to state.”

Moreno has loved wrestling from the very beginning, but the closeness of the team is what made it even more fun.

“What I like about Bowie wrestling is the bond that’s been created with our team,” Moreno said. “We push each other to our limits and help each other when there’s [any] moves we’re confused about.”

Lewis is close with every wrestler on the team, and he makes sure to establish positive relationships with all of the wrestlers.

“It becomes like a second family to you. I call them all my kids,” Lewis said. “I call and check on them to see how everything is going, to make sure they’re doing okay.”

With lots of determination, hard working athletes, and a bond that resembles one of a family, the whole team is looking forward to the rest of the season according to the wrestlers.

“Bowie wrestling is a family,” Silguero said. “We sweat, struggle, bleed, cry, fail, and succeed together. That’s what I love about the team.”