LOS ALAMITOS, CA — With their season just starting, Los Alamitos High School’s wrestling team has a bright future ahead of them.

Since 12 seniors in wrestling graduated last year, varsity is left full of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who are steadily working hard. The 60 students who make up the team practice for a minimum of two hours daily. The wrestlers had been training for months in summer camps before even touching the mat at school. Most wrestlers started training in eighth or ninth grade. Wrestlers Ren Gonzalez and Dallas Tinoco’s talents are especially impressive, and their coach believes they could eventually be top 10 in the state. The whole team, in fact, has great potential. The freshmen wrestlers recently took second place in a big tournament, and varsity took seventh in another tournament.

Wrestlers learn not only wrestling skills but important life lessons too. The values of hard work, determination, and goal-setting are embedded within the sport.

“I’ve learned to try my best,” sophomore wrestler Luke Caeser said.

Mark Ruiz, the wrestling coach, teaches his students wisdom that helps them improve at wrestling as well as all aspects of life. Ruiz uses the experience from his years of wrestling in high school and college in addition to the advice his own coach gave him to help his students become their best selves.

“I like to teach them that we win, and we learn,” Ruiz said. “I never ever say loose.”

For the past five years, Ruiz has been working to promote and elevate the girls’ division. Because the sport is stereotyped as masculine, female wrestling is often ignored or unheard of. However, the sport is growing worldwide, and wrestling is offered to all students equally. Female wrestling at Los Al surged within the past decade to the point where a separate division was created. Female wrestlers have the opportunity to wrestle in their own division or in co-ed with male wrestlers. Currently, only four girls are in wrestling, but all female students are encouraged to join the team.

“Right now, we’re just young. We’re improving every day,” Coach Ruiz said.