Wrestling faced off against Maryland high schools at a competition in Bel Air, Maryland on Jan. 3 and 4. During the regular season, they face teams within MCPS.
“[The Bel Air tournament] was a learning experience. Most of the team wrestled eight matches in two days,” junior Marco Martinez said.
This is Martinez’s first year on WJ wrestling. He has been a key contributor for the varsity team.
Junior Damon Termini has also wrestled varsity this year. This is his second year on WJ, including off-season wrestling. He is in the 120 pound weight class, with a record this season of 7-1, five of those matches occurring while being on the varsity team.
“I haven’t been to as many meets as I have wanted to this season. Due to other commitments, I missed the tournament in Bel Air,” Termini said.
“We did alright [in Bel Air] and I think we could’ve beat a lot more teams out there if we didn’t have to forfeit certain matches due to injuries or fatigue. In general, the season has gone decent, although we’ve suffered a lot of injuries with Matt Flynn, Cole Holland and Ben Meier-Schellersheim,” Martinez said.
Senior Cole Holland, a second-year wrestler, has recently tore the ligaments in both his thumbs.
“My season before the injury was going great. I had become a lot more confident in my abilities and always gave it my best. That’s all I can do. I will be out for the rest of the wrestling season, unfortunately,” Holland said.
Sophomore Mohammed Hasan has been on wrestling for two years. Despite his injury, he was excited to attend the tournament in Bel Air, MD.
“I am injured and that gave me an opportunity to watch all of our wrestlers. I was very impressed with what I saw,” Hasan said.
The remainder of the season is made up of local tournaments. The team had a scrimmage this past weekend against Quince Orchard HS.
“Next year, I think we’ll have a promising team with a lot of potential in our underclassmen. We are just looking to be a winning team next year and we just got to work to get to where we need to be. The team is very thankful to the amazing coaching staff, Coach Frantz and Coach Silver, and some incredible captains to help us get where we aim to be,” Martinez said.
![Social studies teacher Timothy Rodman holds a production factory simulation in his AP Microeconomics class. "Students remember running for class president or the mock congress or the production factory much more so than learning topics like circular flow," Rodman said. "[The simulations make learning] very tangible and real and then students down the road are able to use it."](https://www.wjpitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_4420-1200x675.jpg)
