The wrestling team at Thurgood Marshall has come to a new beginning. New beginnings bring new people and a noticeable effect on the season.

Head Coach Brandon Toh has been working on building this year’s new team. Despite being new, he is motivated to rebuild a strong team.

The wrestling team so far has a record of 9-5. The team accomplished a team trophy, and placed 4th at the Monrovia High School tournament.

The team’s record is is reflective of what is going behind the scenes at practice.

Captain Diego McDonald stated, “People are just leaving early and doing whatever they want.” He talked about the lack of discipline that some of the new wrestlers have.

This exposes some inconsistencies within the wrestling team that could affect the team and further influence others not to show up or put in the effort. 

Psychology and American Sign Language teacher Daniel Jarashow is not the head coach of wrestling this year. He has been tied up with lots of responsibilities to attend to, so coaching wrestling and trying to balance work life and personal life has been difficult for him this year. 

According to team captains Diego McDonald, Keen Velasco, and Samson Allen, the team has the potential to become great by the end of the season.

 According to Allen, the team is very open minded and eager: “They’re all really quick learners, which I do appreciate.” 

With new teammates, the wrestling team captains hope to see more awards and achievements coming their way, with effort and dedication as the necessary price. 

While discipline and leadership challenges remain, if the wrestlers commit to accountability, consistency and effort, the program has potential to turn its new wrestlers into the next league champions.