Royal grapplers show no fear





WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers COME GET SOME—Royal High's Matt Rulon, left, battles teammate Sergio Cortez during practice Wednesday at RHS. The Highlanders expect to push for a berth at the state meet this season.

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers COME GET SOME—Royal High’s Matt Rulon, left, battles teammate Sergio Cortez during practice Wednesday at RHS. The Highlanders expect to push for a berth at the state meet this season.

Expectations are just a little higher with the Royal High wrestling program.

When asked what his individual goal was for this season, Royal senior captain Matt Rulon boldly stated, “I want to compete in Masters.”

For most grapplers this is a reasonable, if not lofty, goal. Not for the Highlanders.

Upon hearing Rulon’s statement, captains Sergio Cortez, Michael Dumelle and Blake Ginsburg calmly shook their collective heads as if Rulon had just failed a test.

“What?” Cortez sighed. “Masters? That’s it? Come on.”

Head coach Rich Carrillo had the same reaction.

“He should expect to do better than Masters,” Carrillo said. “He beat a state qualifier last year, so he has that potential.”

The Highlanders have dominated the Marmonte League by winning five straight league titles. Royal also had six individual league champions last year, including Rulon, Dumelle and Cortez.

“We want to leave a legacy here,” Ginsburg said. “We want future generations of wrestlers at Royal to look back and remember this team.

“When we first started at Royal, we idolized the 2005 squad, but now we realize we’re past them. We’re an even better team than that one was.”

Carrillo agrees.

“I’m extremely excited about this year’s team,” Carrillo said. “We are just loaded up with seniors who’ve put in a lot of hard work for years in preparation for this season specifically.

“I believe Westlake may have sent three guys to the state championships a couple years back, but I think we can top that this year. If everything goes according to plan, we could have as many as five guys making the trip.”

Cortez said he’s already looking forward to the CIF State Wrestling Championships. Royal is 1-0 in league play and is 5-3 overall in dual matches.

“To me, league is already done with,” Cortez said. “In my mind, we’ve already won league. I want to do well at CIF, and I want to go to state.”

Ginsburg wasn’t as confident as Cortez, but did share the same goals.

“Our ultimate goals are in the future, but we always take each match seriously and never look past anyone,” Ginsberg said. “We’re always thinking of the task at hand.”

Dumelle said the team has made a lot of sacrifices to be successful year after year.

“I’m a completely different person during the wrestling season,” Dumelle said. “I don’t see my friends as much, and I basically have no home life.

“I went to a lot of wrestling camps with Rulon and Cortez in the offseason, and we really bonded there. We’re like a family.”

Ginsburg said one of his fears is letting teammates down.

“When I see one of my teammates win a match, it pumps me up, but it also makes me want to win my match more than ever,” Ginsburg said. “I don’t want to have them win when I lose.”

Royal will win a lot of matches in league because of its middleweights, which could be the strongest in the Marmonte.

Ginsburg competes in the 140pound class, Dumelle in the 145, Cortez at 152 and Rulon at 189.

From top to bottom, Carrillo believes the Highlanders are even better than last season’s squad.

“Experience has helped us a lot,” Carrillo said. “We have a lot of guys that could place in tournaments last year that now win those tournaments.”

Other top grapplers for RHS include sophomore Dean Skidmore (103), senior Brett Wilson (112), junior Edward Ruiz (119), senior Erick Pahua (130) and heavyweight Tyler Genovese.

Carrillo said the talented lineup will deliver on its potential.

“My goals as a coach are always team goals,” Carrillo said.

“Someone once said, ‘Wrestling is a team sport, but it takes a lot of individual effort.’ That’s the same with this team. We have a very good chance of doing well at the dual meets and the individual ones.”

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