By Ansharah Asif
On Feb. 26, the Fountain Valley High School (FVHS)’s wrestling team competed in the CIF State Championships placing second place as a team with six state qualifiers; the Barons also had seven qualifiers for the CIF Masters Tournament.
At state, junior TJ McDonnell took home third in 182 lbs, senior Zachary Parker took home sixth in 145 lbs and sophomore Ryland Whitworth took home sixth in 195 lbs.
“I feel like I did way better this year because I took third and freshman year, I took sixth, and sophomore year I didn’t place,” Parker said.
This is the first time that this many Baron wrestlers had not only qualified for state championships but also placed.
“We ran into some obstacles with one of our teammates quitting right before the tournament and we only fell short a few points to take second, but all of our guys that competed gave their all and did the best they could so we can’t be mad about it,” McDonnell said.
Key efforts were made by Parker, McDonnell and Whitworth as they used a combination of strong offense and pins to persevere. With this, their season ended on a high note as Sunset Conference champions alongside many placers in all rounds of CIF.
