The time is coming for winter sports to begin at Cape Coral High School, and the wrestling team is preparing for another great season.

The team has a legacy of excellence. Last year they had multiple people make it to regionals, and even a few qualified and competed at states. The year prior to that, the team even won the award of 2023 Best of the West.

This year seems to be no different. Several returning wrestlers are determined to make it to regionals, and there are numerous new faces that are hungry and ready to win.

Junior and second time returning wrestler Adrian Vazquez-Rodriguez stated, “I think we will be good this season, we have a mix of wrestlers that have been wrestling for a long time and wrestlers that are new but have a lot of potential.”

Captains of the team have yet to be picked, as it is undecided whether there will be official captains, but there are seniors who play leadership roles in helping the younger wrestlers grow and learn. 

The first matches for the boys took place on November 22, and these were part of the preseason classic that occurred at Mariner High School. 

“It[the preseason classic] was definitely a rough experience, you had to realize that you will get destroyed and the only thing you can do about it is put in more work,” said senior Jeremy Velasco.

This was a way for the boys to get a feel of how they’re going to be this year and to give the first timers some experience before the actual season matches start.

Velasco said, “Our chemistry as a team is unmatched and I believe we’re doing more hard work than most of the teams out there.”

The team for this year is practicing to enhance their talent, both individually and within the group as a whole.

“I do think we’re going to be good this year as last year we had a younger team with a lot of potential so throughout the off season our team’s skill improved greatly,” said senior Hector Alberro. “I like the team environment as everybody supports everybody and during the season my body gets into great shape strength and stamina wise.”

The boys have different motivators, for some it’s learning self defense, for others it could just be wanting a physical activity or even coming from another contact sport and wanting to compete in high school.

Junior Atticus Jones said, “I like the way that you learn how to control somebody and the confidence of the sport gives you.”

Senior Velasco practiced jiu jitsu prior to joining the wrestling team and was very advanced in it before becoming a wrestler and making a decision to hone his skills on the mat.

This makes for an extremely passionate team that cares about winning matches and putting their all into every time they step onto the mat.

“I love the bonding team aspect and the satisfaction of winning against good wrestlers,” said returning sophomore Sergio Cortes.