Varsity wrestling claimed two victories in their final two meets of the season this week, beating Hillsdale High School on Thursday, Jan. 25, and triumphing over 39-38 in their final dual meet on Monday, Jan. 29. The back-to-back wins leave the varsity squad with an overall record of 5-2 and earned Burlingame their second consecutive third-place league finish. 

Burlingame’s 72-12 victory over The Knights was especially notable. The Hillsdale wrestling program has been a force to be reckoned with this season, as displayed in the initial exhibition matches when they achieved a 1-1 record in the junior varsity (JV) division and handily won the girls’ division. However, the 14 Burlingame wrestlers competing in the varsity meet proved their late-season skills. They nearly gained the maximum points possible, with all but two wrestlers beating their opponents either by fall — a match-ending pin — or forfeit.                       

Varsity night began in the 215 weight class, with senior David Kracke executing the first fall of the meet and starting a winning streak. Freshman Kolin Keyak put up a good fight against his opponent but ultimately fell short, while his brother, freshman Levi Keyak, received a win by forfeit at 106. Adding to the streak, freshman Ben Sakal came away with a hard-won fall, demonstrating the concentrated strength within varsity’s younger wrestlers. 

Co-captain and junior Lauren Aguilar — known as “L.E.”  on the team — pulled in six points against her male opponent at 120, with co-captain and senior Thinsang Tamang following suit at 126. After co-captain and senior Ariunbold Purev-Chang won by forfeit, sophomore Miles Reeth scored six more points with his easily earned fall.

Junior Brendan Pozzo pulled off a fall in his match, a difficult but hard-earned face-off that put the team up another six points. The falls were starting to look inevitable, though sophomore Quincy Yu fell short of his opponent, surrendering the last points Burlingame would lose this meet. After senior Ravi Krishnan won by a forfeit, the final 18 points were awarded to the Panthers, with junior Mark Betanzo, senior River Lee, and co-captain and junior Andrew Jarrett owning their respective matches. 

Following a 40-36 loss against Carlmont High School and a win over Menlo-Atherton High School by forfeit, the Panthers demonstrated their tenacity in the Hillsdale match. 

“We gave up pins that we shouldn’t have, and that cost us the dual meets, so today coming in with a really big win I think helped our team overall feel better about their performance,” Aguilar said. 

The bounceback was not a product of pure luck — it was the determination of the team that made it happen.

“This week we had a dual meet that got forfeited, but seeing even the JV kids come up to practice on Tuesday when it wasn’t completely scheduled was really cool to see,” Purev-Chang said. 

The Panthers claimed a victory in their final dual meet on Monday, Jan. 30 on a technicality — the competition ended with a 38-38 tie that came down to a win on criteria of more points scored. But the wrestlers now have a bigger focus in mind: learning from these final matches to prepare for the championships. 

“We want to go out there and perform like we did today so we have another stellar performance,” coach Gio Aguilar said. “But for us, it’s just getting us ready for the finals.”