Chanting arose from the crowd as the team shouted, “Come on, you can do it!” The Tigers prevailed against the Canby Cougars with a score of 45-28 at their first home duel on Dec. 13.

Wrestling coach Kaleb Reese was proud of the team’s performance as Canby is often a difficult opponent.

“I think they wrestled really well,” Reese said. “What I’ve seen them do well so far is that they’re going out, putting out a lot of effort, trying new things, getting in positions, and learning what to do.”

Junior Jordy Mendez was victorious in his match, giving the team points that would help them secure the duel.

“I use double leg; it’s my best move out of all,” Mendez said. “It’s when you go in from both legs and drive [your opponent] on the side.”

The team’s captain, senior Emilio Jimenez, put in his all to lead the team to success.

“We’re the best,” Jimenez said. “We should be the number one team at that tournament; in the state; we can beat anybody as long as we have potential and work hard during practices.”

Mendez agrees that Jimenez helps the team in several ways.

“I warm up and practice my shot [and] get help from my team captain, Emilio,” Mendez said. “He hypes me up and gives me that confidence that I need.”

Jimenez also managed to defeat his opponent at the tournament. “He was more of a scrambler, but once I got that first shot in and took him down I was pretty confident during the rest of the match,” Jimenez said.

Though the team was successful for their first conference game, they still will need to continue improving in order to make it to state.

“We focus everywhere on our feet,” Reese said. “How do we take shots, how do we throw people, defend against those things on top, break people down, how do we pin them, bottom, move to score, escape…we’re going to get better in everything that we do.”

Reese believes that Cameron O’Connor, Javier Velasquez, Emilio Jimenez, and Carter Dennis, along with the rest of the team, will have a great chance at reaching state.