Coming into the 2020 winter season with fresh legs and new faces, the Diamond Bar High School wrestling team has two goals in their minds: reaching CIF for the experienced veterans and improving the spirits and skills of the younger athletes.

“This year’s team is young, and they need to learn what it means to have heart,” head coach Andre Bonafe said. “All I can do is teach them what hard work is.”

Since most of the team are inexperienced, Bonafe wants the new members to understand how to be great competitors. He has matched them based on their advantages early into their season because he wants the new wrestlers to experience their first win.

“Every match they get under their belt will build more and more confidence,” Bonafe said.

 The team faced early  competition at the Carter High School match on Nov. 22. Junior Ryan Wong found a place among the top wrestlers at the tournament, earning  seventh place.

“The biggest struggle for me was to be consistently aggressive. I could’ve placed better in the tournament.” Wong said.

After the break, the team also attended their first tournament of the season. At Mater Dei, they played schools such as El Dorado and South El Monte. Brothers senior Dylan Wong and Ryan Wong both competed at the semi-finals, but only Ryan moved on into the finals, where he lost by a pin. Dylan and Ryan placed in the Top 3, with Dylan in 3rd and Ryan in 2nd in their respective weight classes. Even without a placement from every member, Bonafe is content with the team experiencing their first tournament.

“After our first tournament, … the kids are now seeing what I’ve been talking about. When on the mat, the person facing you wants to win and they will not give up without a fight.” Bonafe said.

Like previous seasons, Bonafe has placed a heavy emphasis on working with the wrestlers’ stamina and conditioning. Instead of mainly focusing on learning new techniques, he pushes his wrestlers to become better athletes in the long run.

“With always having conditioning, my athletes never have the excuse that they lost because they were tired,” Bonafe said. “In my mind, that is the worst way to lose, just because you were tired and couldn’t perform.”

With this new team, Bonafe will be focused on getting everyone involved and improving the team’s confidence.

“Our goal this year is to gain as much experience as possible and have everyone improve as much as possible,” Bonafe said.

The wrestlers’ schedule will be filled with more games, including the 3 day stretch against Montclair and against Servite High School. Additionally, the wrestlers can’t catch a break, since they will be spending their winter at the Brea tournament.

Over the course of the rest of this month, the team will be met with hardships, with Bonafe leading the squad to a successful 2020 season.

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