It starts in the morning – 7AM through the gloomy winter Seattle weather, up to the plateau, and through the traffic of three high schools.
That’s when Eastside Catholic’s wrestlers begin preparing for the school day ahead and the meet to follow.
Their minds are filled with thoughts of what is going to happen when they step on that mat and how to prepare throughout the day. That all-important preparation revolves around one thing: food – when and how much they consume of it. Some of them, depending on their weight goals for the meet, go to lengths including limiting water consumption and more. And despite this, many of them continue to apply their best selves to their schoolwork despite the rigorous preparation they endure concurrently.
But these meet-day actions and disciplines are just a small part of the work that these wrestlers put in to prep themselves for intense and rigorous matches that push their limits physically and mentally. Some would say that there are no high school sports comparable in the arduous process of preparing for a game (“meet”) day.
To an outsider, this might make it a daunting sport to join. However, the rigorous nature of the sport has led to the wrestling team having a unique bond, perhaps unlike any other athletics team at Eastside Catholic.
The build-up to a meet and the transpiring matches is almost as high pressure as it is when the clock starts. The participating teams first line up for weigh-ins, which are crucial for ideal matchups for each team. Eastside’s team is extremely dedicated to the weigh-ins, and some might say extremely so. There has been at least one instance of a Crusader making a hospital trip due to chronic dehydration from attempting to cut weight for a wrestling meet. Those who may question such fasting should remember what is at stake: these 8-10 hour fasts can mean the difference between wrestling someone 10 pounds heavier or lighter than you.
Simply put, wrestling training and preparation are not to be taken lightly. It’s the only sport with “blood time”, as EC wrestlers proudly advertise on their sweatshirts around school. This rang true during this particular meet on January 3rd, when a West Seattle wrestler got such a bloody nose that it had to be rewrapped multiple times, eventually making the competitor resemble a mummy. And now, EC wrestler Winston Montermoso has the white, blood-stained wrestling shoes to prove it. Wrestling isn’t for the faint of heart. And this wasn’t even the most significant injury of the meet, as EC wrestler Michael Jamer was forced to make a hospital visit later that night. To one, this could instantly be a reason to not participate in the sport, but to those participating, it brings them closer together.
Often as humans, our closest allies are those with whom we have endured hardship and strife.
In a separate conversation with Eastside Catholic teacher and former Army sergeant Brian King, one of the things he noted was that the connection he had with the other soldiers in his regiment was like none other in his life. This was because of the absolute trust he had to have in them, as well as (to put it lightly) the harsh conditions they lived through together while deployed in dangerous areas such as Afghanistan. The same concept applies – albeit to a much less extreme degree – to EC’s wrestlers.
This brotherhood also expands beyond teammates in the sport of wrestling, as well as opponents. Anyone donning a wrestling singlet has earned respect from those who know the struggle. I attended a Mariners baseball game recently with Eastside Catholic wrestler Noah Chamberlain, and a worker at the Dipping Dots who was on the Franklin team recognized Noah as a wrestling opponent. The season had ended nearly three months prior, and he remembered him from maybe a few matches during the season.
After Winston Montermoso’s bloody match against West Seattle, Montermoso noted that the West Seattle wrestler seemed like a genuinely nice person off the mat and how Montermoso even felt a little bad. Nonetheless, he was all business on the mat, and this showcases how one be competitively spirited towards an opponent and yet still respect them as well as genuinely caring about their wellbeing.
While Eastside Catholic hasn’t won a state title, their upward trajectory has continued this year. Thanks to the work of second-year wrestlers, an influx of player-recruited sophomores has further popularized the sport in the school.
There is still one major barrier that the team has yet to break and is a focus of members of the team who are trying to grow and further legitimize EC Wrestling: a girls wrestler. Eastside Catholic has not had a single female wrestler throughout their history as a school, which dates back to 1980. That may be changing soon. Several candidates were identified between the conclusion of last season and the start of the current one, but none came to fruition at the first practice. Nonetheless, this momentum may lead to this barrier being broken in the near future for this team.
All in all, Eastside Catholic’s wrestling team is on the rise and is worth keeping an eye on throughout this season and beyond. Despite losing seniors Connor Boehl and Ben Boss, who finished top 10 in state last year, this team has continued to grow and improve and could make some serious noise as a team next year as most of their varsity wrestlers enter their junior and senior years. Time will tell.
