By Steve Ames Special to the Acorn

Eric Blackwell

Wrestling has really taken hold this season on the Royal High campus.

The Highlanders finished 6-0 to win the league dual meet champ-ionship and now they’re on pace to take the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division V title.

Royal’s grapplers are led by senior captains Adam Rundgren (121 pounds), 24-7; Ben Sardoni (132), 22-9; Shaun Jones (137), 26-8; Eric Blackwell (154), 34-4; and sophomore Kevin Dunn (114), 34-3, who is ranked fourth in the state.

Rundgren, Sardoni, Jones and Blackwell have wrestled for Royal for the past four years.

Shaun Jones

"They’ve progressed really well over the four years," said head coach Paul Mole. "We’re looking for each one of them to place in CIF this year. And Kevin Dunn is going above and beyond . . . He’s beaten five guys in state who were ranked. We’re hoping he’ll place in state this year.

Royal won the Newbury Park Tournament, placed second at the Estancia Tournament, third at Upland, fourth at Rosemead and 10th out of 70 schools at Morro Bay. All were solid tournaments, according to the coach.

"We were basing our strength against how well we did against Thousand Oaks last week when we beat them 59-12," Mole said. "So we feel pretty confident going into the duals that we should at least make it to the finals. From there, it’s just who doesn’t get pinned."

After completing the league dual meet schedule yesterday against the Simi Valley Pioneers, the Highlanders will be at Simi Valley High tomorrow for the Marmonte League finals.

Adam Rundgren

Following that, Royal’s wrestlers are looking forward to the federation’s Team Duals, Feb. 12; Division Finals, Feb 18-19; Masters, Feb 25-26; and the State Finals, March 4-5.

Rundgren said that the team has learned from each other:

"I’ve learned a lot, a lot of technique from Kevin Dunn and Eric Blackwell," he said. "My work ethic I got from Jon Quezada. When everyone else works hard, it makes everyone else around us work hard."

Sardoni said he’s had to work a lot on his technique this season and began by attending summer wrestling camp.

Ben Sardoni

"I’m just trying to keep focused, especially since it’s my senior year," Sardoni said. "It’s kind of hard to help keep the team focused. As a team captain you have to do that so that everybody else follows and does their best."

Jones appreciates the cam-araderie and how it has kept the Highlanders on task.

"We’ve really come together over the last year," Jones said. "We all know each other and we’re all good friends. The work is contagious. It goes around the room. You see the people next to you working hard and you just work harder."

Blackwell said that the team has lived by the motto ‘Don’t let the Team Down.’

"That was Coach Mole’s idea," he said. "He just wants everyone to come together as a group. If everyone puts out their best effort there’s no way that there’s going to be a break in the link of our team. Everyone’s putting out a lot harder than they did in previous years."

Dunn sees a wrestling tradition beginning at Royal.

"I think we’re just going to keep getting better in the years to come," he said.

"We have great coaches here and all the kids here work hard. We have great conditioning to finish the close matches. I think we’ll just keep getting better as we keep going."

And as the season winds down to its final weeks, the coach said he is pleased with how the Highlanders, ranked No. 1 in Div. V by CIF, have held together and supported one another throughout.

"The team seems to be quasi-family," Mole said. "They hang out together all the time. They’re really a tight-knit group of kids."