Since 2004, coaches at El Camino and South San Francisco High Schools have run a wrestling program for youth in the Bay Area.
Middle schoolers from up and down the Peninsula learn and compete against each other in a spring league organized by coaches from the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) and USA Wrestling.
Now, South City High Wrestling Coach Temo Cervantes and El Camino High Coach Japheth Aquino, who also teaches at Westborough Middle School, are looking to expand the wrestling program to South San Francisco Unified School District’s (SSFUSD) other middle schools.
According to Aquino, the primary goal is to develop young people through a fun after school activity, while also identifying students who may want to keep wrestling in high school.
“It’s mostly social. I think they like the physical activity,” said Aquino, “but then there are a couple who [sic] I’ve noticed already that they are really into the sport, and they really want to be good at it.”
It’s an ambitious goal for a program that is only now getting back on its feet after getting shut down in 2019 by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Aquino and Cervantes seem to welcome the challenge.
As an open folkstyle state champion and a 2011 graduate of South City High, Cervantes said returning to coach the Warriors is a great way to pass on the life lessons wrestling taught him.
“What I’ve learned from wrestling is how to set goals and achieve them, and I think that’s a valuable thing for students to know.”
Aquino agreed.
“Once you’ve wrestled, you can probably do just about anything,” he said. “Between the workouts, the weight management, the competition, and then the post-competition. . .everything comes down to how you perform, what you put into it.”
“Once you’ve wrestled, you can probably do just about anything,” he said. “Between the workouts, the weight management, the competition, and then the post-competition. . .everything comes down to how you perform, what you put into it.”
Aquino has coached wrestling throughout the Bay Area for more than 36 years, producing several state champions and national qualifiers.
He said if there is enough interest, the high schools could open up their gyms to students who want to train over the summer.
“My brother did wrestling. He did it in middle school at this program,” said Westborough seventh grader Isaiah Lampe. “I came to one of these practices when I was far younger—like in elementary school—and I just like it.”