On Thursday, Jan. 12 boys’ and girls’ wrestling took on Capuchino High School in a home dual meet. It was a showcase of Panther dominance with Burlingame claiming 64 points to Capuchino’s 18.

Standout juniors and co-captains River Lee and Ariuka Purev-Chang looked to be in midseason form. Both of them won their matches by pin with identical scores of 15-3. But it was the younger core of the team that really shone through.

“[The first-year wrestlers] have been doing a good job coming together as a group,” head coach Ernesto Nunez said. “They wrestled tough and after seeing what they can do together, my confidence level in my young team just went up.”

Notably, freshman Simon Limb in the 108 lbs weight class opened the night with an efficient pin in the first two-minute period, putting Burlingame on the board with a maximum match score of 6 points.

“[Limb] has only been wrestling for a month and he’s undefeated,” Lee said. “He’s been going crazy.”

Burlingame’s depth extends beyond its freshman squad.. Nuñez’s team had enough wrestlers for 14 matches (and more), but only nine took place — Capuchino was forced to forfeit five times.

Although Burlingame looked solid through and through, there was noted room for improvement. There were three Burlingame losses — all 6-point pins — and even in the top wrestlers’ matches, Lee was tossed to the mat once, and Purev-Chang had to settle for a four-point win after a long match largely in stalemate. Despite that, the team’s  attitude and direction couldn’t be more positive.

“We’re trending in the right direction,” Nunez said.

Burlingame competed in a varsity tournament on Saturday, Jan. 14 and will travel to San Mateo High School on Tuesday, Jan. 17 to participate in another dual meet.