After an impressive season last year with them finishing 15-3, the wrestling team is back and better than ever. They have spent this off-season working on their cardio, weightlifting and perfecting new moves taught by head coach Tomas Montero.

“We have been weight training in the weight room for one half of the week and wrestled the other half of the week, we’ve just been drilling and preparing for the season I suppose,” wrestler Yanishel Abor (’25) said.

The team’s first match will take place on Dec. 3 at Land O’ Lakes High School where then be participating in the Ben Richards tournament. Individual wrestling tournaments consist of about 16 teams each wrestler sorted into their weight class. Usually, they are double-elimination tournaments meaning the player has to lose two matches to be eliminated. If they don’t lose at all wrestlers are put into 4 or even 5 matches that day and if they advance these meets can easily take about two days.

Although wrestling is a very male-dominated sport the ladies on the RHS wrestling team don’t hold back. Just last season two players on the girls’ team were ranked within the top 20 high school female wrestlers in Florida: Tatiana Siayaz (’23) coming in at #7 and Yanishel Abor at #18.

“This past season was good because I noticed a lot of improvement from sophomore year, I was disappointed at the end of the season because mine ended early from an injury,” Siayaz said. “I felt good about making it in the top 20 because I was honestly so surprised.”

As of now, the team has officially started practicing for the season but they encourage new students to come and join.

“People can still join and you can be as small as 60 pounds, you wrestle people within your own weight class,” Montero said. “We’re always learning new techniques, first starting out we teach you everything from new moves to standing to walking onto the mat. Everybody can wrestle it’s just a matter of getting out there onto the mat and learning.”