The past two years have seen Redwood Men’s Wrestling reach heights that every team dreams of. Redwood secured their second straight central section division 2 championship this season and sent four wrestlers to the state championship tournament.
By: Tyler Stark
Coach Michael Wright says, “Winning our division was an exciting experience . Our guys have worked really hard for the postseason and overcame a lot of adversity to reach their goal. I think we are continuing to improve, which is our goal. Winning is not something we try to focus on but we are centered around getting better each day and learning from our experiences.”
Wright continues by crediting his program’s culture as the key for the team’s success. “I think the culture is number one a testament to the wrestlers in the room everyday working hard, encouraging and caring about each other and a testament to our head coach, coach Watts who sets the standard with his hard work and dedication to the program.”
In regards to the state tournament Wright says, “At the State tournament we had four individuals qualify again, which is definitely a step in the right direction. However, we felt that we could have had more qualifiers, but I think the entire program is able to learn from that experience. Qualifying for the state tournament is not a guarantee for any individual. It is difficult regardless of how “good” you are, and we have to get better. At the state tournament we had two wrestlers that were just two matches away from placing, which again is a step in the right direction.”
Ranger Wrestling has been a force at the section level the last two years. If they keep dominating the section level in the coming years, success at the state level will soon follow.
Kobe Negrete ‘27, represented Redwood at the state tournament after placing 8th at the central section championship in the 120 pound division. Negrete says, “My experience winning the valley as a team was fun. All of us as a team go to see smiles that day. I did pretty well in one of my matches.”
Kai Presisendorf ‘24, placed 9th in the central section for the 215 pound weight class and qualified for state. Preisemdorf says, “I did pretty good made it top 15 feel like I probably fall in the top 12 and I have no regrets of course it’s not the best result but I went out there and wrestle and of course there is things you could’ve done better but there is always things you could’ve done better. At the end of this tournament though I wanted to be happy and I was.”
Gunner Benedict ‘25, finished 10th place in the central section tournament for the 138 pound division. Benedict says, “I feel like I under performed at state and let the nerves get to me but am ready to come back next year and perform well.”
Adrian DeLeon ‘25, finished the highest at the central section tournament with a 6th place finish in the 157 pound division to qualify for state. DeLeon says, “I feel like I could’ve been more coachable and wrestled through every position I was in and took more advantage of my scoring opportunities.
Tyler Stark
Tyler Stark ('24) is in his freshmen year, and this is his first year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. Tyler hopes to work for Sports Illustrated in the future. you can contact him by email with: tyler.st3800@vusd.us
Tags: #redwood, #rhs, #sports, #wrestling
