San Marcos wrestling kicked off its 2025-26 season with a strong showing at the Heart of the Warrior Tournament on Saturday at Westlake High.
“I am impressed with our team’s overall performance this weekend,” San Marcos head coach Jesus Romero said. “Of the 27 wins we had as a team, 22 were by way of pin. It’s still early on in the season, and we still have lots of work to do.
“This weekend helped gauge how we can best ‘sharpen our iron’ before our first dual meet against Santa Barbara on December 3.”
The Royals were led by senior Anthony Leal, who captured first place in the 144-pound division.
Leal cruised to three straight wins via the pin before he pulled out a 6-4 victory in the championship matchup.
“My mentality was different this tournament,” Leal said. “I did not think about winning at all. In fact, I didn’t care about winning. I just wanted to wrestle the best I could and have the best matches I’ve ever had.”
Meanwhile, Gus Cooper and Tripp Jones placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 106-pound division. Cooper went 4-1 and defeated Jones in the third-place matchup, while Jones went 2-2 on the day.
“Watching these two battle it out is always a heartbreaker; you want both of them to win,” Romero said. “Even though they are competing against each other as teammates, they leave it all on the mat and don’t hold anything back.”
Daniel Olivo rounded out the boys with a 3-2 showing at the 138-pound class, with all three wins coming by way of a pin.
Girls @ Triton Scramble Tournament
The San Marcos girls team competed in the Triton Scramble Tournament on Saturday at Pacifica High.
Ingrid Vargas led the charge with a third-place finish at 105 pounds, falling to the eventual champion in the semifinals. In the third-place match, she clinched the win with a fall in just 38 seconds, the fastest of the year.
“Ingrid is a great role model, a leader, and without a doubt, one of the hardest workers in the room,” Romero said.
Angelique Silva made her varsity debut with third place at 170 pounds, Sophia Garnica earned a pin to place fourth and Cambria Stephens placed second in the novice portion of the tournament.