The Hollister High School wrestling room is full of athletes again after almost three years of on-and-off practices and meets. And, as always, it is remarkably hot and humid inside as Head Coach Steven Salcedo takes his team through their paces
“Wrestling is hard enough as it is,” Salcedo said. “But when it’s hot, you must go to a different mental place to keep pushing through. You sweat more, and the fatigue increases as it gets hotter.”
The wrestling season has just begun, and with few returning seniors, Salcedo is starting with many untried yet promising athletes. But, he said, just because he is working with a young team doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t ready for competition.
“I don’t feel like it’s a ‘wait till next year’ kind of thing,” he said. “I never like to set expectations and say we’re going to do well because I like the kids to have their own goals and work toward them. But I am looking forward to this season.”
There was a good turnout for places on the team this season, which Salcedo attributes to the students wanting to be more active after the pandemic shutdowns.
“As much as COVID kept us out of a lot of things,” he said, “it also made people recognize, ‘Man, I sure miss playing.’ I think kids were sitting on the couch who realized that they felt left out and that they would have a lot more fun if they were involved in something.”
The Baler squad has around 80 wrestlers this year, including 10 girls. Salcedo said he was lucky in not having to cut any of those who tried out, allowing attrition to define the size of the team.
“I think wrestling is a really tough sport, and not everyone has been able to try it out before,” Salcedo said. “They come out, and they realize, ‘Well, this is not exactly as easy as I thought it would be. I thought I was going to kick everybody’s butt.’ There’s a lot of technique involved, which takes time to learn and master, and a lot of focused energy, too.”
Salcedo is putting hope on two returning wrestlers this year—Arthur Parra and Aaron Rodriquez—who competed in the Central Coast Section (CCS) finals last year.
“Art and Aaron have been around the block,” he said. “Art is our top performer coming back. He took fourth at CCS and almost made it to the state championships. Aaron wrestled up a weight class last year, and he was still going out there, dominating and doing some really good wrestling. I expect a lot from those two guys this year.”
This is the second year on the team for Parra, a 16-year-old junior who transferred to Hollister High from Modesto in his sophomore year and has been wrestling for most of his life. He was introduced to it by his father.
“I like that wrestling is an individual sport,” Parra said. “I like beating someone—I get joy out of it. I love to go to tournaments and just have fun with the team. And I like the coaching here—they’re really motivational, and they’re just really good people to be around.”
Parra counts his victory at last January’s Mid-Cal tournament against Gilroy High’s Daniel Glenn, who was in the top 20 in the state, as his most impressive victory. Parra went 6-1 at that event and even though he has only participated in two varsity meets so far this year, he is already 3-0 in his matches.
“I just like to be mentally positive about it,” he said. “I put my music on and get in a good mindset before I go out there. Sometimes, when I am losing a match, I get down about it, then in the last round, I push myself and just do better.”
This is also the second year on the varsity team for 15-year-old sophomore Rodriquez, who made it through two rounds of the CCS finals before he was eliminated. He has been wrestling since he was four years old, beginning with the Hollister Warriors.
“I tried a couple of other sports, but my parents put me into wrestling and I liked it the most,” he said. “I like the competitiveness of it, I guess, and now it has become just an everyday thing. I don’t have any brothers, so it’s a whole brotherhood thing. So, I grew up with a bunch of guys like that and began introducing my friends to it. It brings you closer.”
He and Parra are friends, and he credits his winning performances in part to their working relationship.
“Art and I really push each other, and we like to just wrestle hard,” he said. “We have both been wrestling a long time, so we are used to it. But when I am wrestling, it is just like second nature to me. I just start moving, and I don’t realize how I have done until after the match.”
The Balers have two upcoming home matches for the boys team on Jan. 10 and 31, and will be hosting a girls tournament on Jan. 28. While it is much too early to know how the team is going to do this year, Salcedo is going to stick with the same simple plan that has produced success for him over the years.
“The goal is to qualify as many kids for CCS as possible,” he said. “We usually try to get all 14 guys qualified, and, no, it doesn’t always happen. But we will work to place as high as we can as a team and then try to get a couple of state qualifiers. I am looking forward to the season and to watching how these kids grow. There will be some growing pains, I am sure, but the future is still good here.”
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