The Blue Devils started and ended the night with wins. Senior Mia Perez kicked off the varsity competition with a win, and Minh Bernier would pin his opponent, winning the final match of the evening.
The girls wrestled well overall: senior Ari Lopez (130 pounds) and Freshman Juliet King (155 pounds) would pin their opponents, and Junior Suzzette Cruz won her match as well, giving the Blue Devils 18 points to the Bulldogs' 9. The boys had many positive moments, but aside from the Bernier pin, they would not earn any additional points.
The Blue Devils’ wrestling program is in good hands with head coach Ben Davis and assistant John Rosendale. They have built a strong overall program with a strong coaching staff, parent volunteers and a great turnout of athletes.
This year, the Blue Devils feature elite returners and newcomers. Senior and team captain Bernier (215 pounds) is a returning state qualifier (top 25 last year), ranked 15th statewide, and holds a GPA above 4.0. Junior Jonas Rohr (157 pounds) and sophomore Henry Rosendale (175 pounds) are returning SJS Masters qualifiers; Henry also played the national anthem for the duel on violin. Seniors Liam Cook (144 pounds) and Flynn Smith-Lottriz (165 pounds), who spent last year as exchange student in Senegal, is fluent in multiple languages, adding depth. Junior Diego Dersch (190 pounds) is expected by Coach Davis to have a strong season.
Of his newcomers, Davis said, "We have several freshmen I expect will move into the varsity lineup in January. Both Alexander Takie (113 pounds) and Will Coburn (132 pounds) wrestled in our middle-school program. Because we have a great-middle school program, it helps the varsity team immensely."
Rohr, a junior, when asked about the team culture, said, “I think the team atmosphere is great. Everyone thinks wrestling is just a solo sport, but it’s so much more than that. Every day, you’re working your butt off for 2 hours with everyone else on the team. Everyone’s great to work with, too. I wrestle at 157, but my main drilling partner is the 215-pounder Minh Bernier. I know if he wanted to, he could use his weight to crush me, but instead, he’s really good about lightening up so we can both grow and learn from each other. It’s the same with tons of other kids in the room: people of all different weights train together with the sole goal of helping everyone grow as a team.”
Similarly, the girls have a few standout leaders returning. Sophomore and masters qualifier Rebecca Wong (120 pounds) wrestled well last season and looks to improve this season as well. Perez, a returning senior, (105 pounds) has had a great career at Davis High and looks forward to her senior year.
Perez is a strong leader and has embraced the role of mentor to some of the new athletes. Perez said of her role as a senior leader, “We have some great new girls on the team, and being able to help them as they are starting out has been a lot of fun. I think it's important to remind new wrestlers how necessary it is just to show up and put in effort; it can be scary walking onto the mat and facing an opponent for the first time, and if you can do that and put your all into your match, then you've already accomplished a lot. Being able to have the girls watch me and being an example for them is a huge motivation for me, too.”
Adding to the optimism for this season, Davis on his girls squad, added, “Lopez ... had a great first match. Freshman Juliet King (155 pounds) wrestled for our middle-school team. The remaining girls' team began wrestling in November and is improving rapidly. Davis girls have a recent tradition of success, and our future is bright. We’ve had three girls get scholarships to wrestle at the college level in the last several years. Multiple State qualifiers and two have placed top 3 and 4 in California."
The Blue Devils are back in action with the boys on Dec. 9 at Jesuit, and then on Dec. 13 in Elk Grove at the Cur... Click here to read full article
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