The night of Tuesday, January 14^th Tempe Prep held a girls wrestling jamboree at Benjamin Franklin High School. The top performers, Isabella Goldman ('26) and Hannah Goldman ('26), each had four matches, Bella going 3-1 and Hannah going 2-2. This was a good challenge for Bella as she works hard at keeping a consistent mentality throughout the matches. She stated, "Losing means getting in your head and winning means sometimes getting egotistical." Showing little to no emotion and staying focused on the process is the goal the Valley Christian girls wrestling team strives to achieve this year in the hunt for state.

On Wednesday, January 15^th, the boys team wrestled at the Blue Ridge Multi-Meet, where they performed very strongly against fierce competition. Senior Carson Groff was undefeated against Blue Ridge, Miami, Mogollon, and even Joseph City. Another star on the team, junior JuanErnesto Alverez did very well, sweeping all three of his matches. Both boys said they were proud of their performance and are glad they were able to represent our school so well.

Friday, January 17^th brought another challenge for the boys at the 4^th Annual Desert challenge Tournament, hosted by San Tan Foothills. The schools at the meet included Crimson High School, Hayden High School, and Santan foothills High School. Again the team performed so powerfully that all opponents were overwhelmed. Carson got first place, going undefeated once again in all three of his matches. He shared about the tournament, "although all the teams had strong competitors, we came out on top because of our sheer willpower, and the amount of practice that the team puts into their sport." Senior Jake Rockafellow got 3^rd in his weight class, and so did JuanErnesto Alverez. The girls met the next day, where Bella Goldman went 2-1, representing the Trojans very well.

The Trojan wrestling team was looking forward to the San Pasqual Multi Meet, expecting a powerful team performance; however, just a few days before the expected date of January 21^st, the meet was unfortunately cancelled.
Prior to this year, the Trojan wrestling team had not had a home meet since 2014, but this year they hosted two! Wednesday, January 22^nd brought lots of excitement and enjoyment to the sport of wrestling at Valley Christian. The two main contributors on the team, Carson Groff and Jake Rockafellow, dominated their two matches of the night. Carson and Jake were 2-0 in their divisions, then Jake lost in the exhibition against higher competition. Jake commented on the night, saying, "It was exciting to compete in front of friends and family watching."

One of their last matches of January was the Anothy Robles Eastside Invitational on January 24^th. The JV wrestling team performed well at the meet, with every performer taking home a win. The main contributor and leader for the JV team, JuanErnesto Alvarez ('26), brought home a win in his weight division. Freshmen Jacob Miner and Ewan Flowers followed him with wins of their own, making it a very eventful night for the Valley Christian Trojans. This concluded the second JV meet of the season, giving the boys confidence because of the preparation for the rest of the season. They have worked very hard and look to continue their dominance the rest of the year.

Make sure to cheer on the Trojans as they finish out the regular season and prepare for state!