The underdog story in sports is a classic tale. Whether it’s the Cinderella school winning a national title during “March Madness” or a longshot fighter pulling off an upset victory over his opponent, most sports fans love a true underdog story. According to City College wrestling coach David Pacheco, that’s exactly the position the Panthers were in heading into the state championship at Fresno City College last December.

“Going in, I thought that Fresno [City College] would be the favorite, and we would be kind of a [dark horse] with Cerritos,” he said.

Nonetheless, Pacheco had confidence. “I truly felt we could win it,” he said.

The City College wrestling team won its second state championship in three years Dec. 13. The team also won a state title in 2013, but Pacheco said this time around the circumstances were different.

According to Pacheco, the team built a solid lead over the competition after day one of the tournament but faced some adversity doing so. Wrestler Isiah James Smith Jr. broke his foot and tore a ligament during his second session victory and lost in the semi-finals. Still, Smith managed a comeback, even with a severely injured foot and won his consolation match to help the Panthers extend their lead.

“It was really painful and completely unstable. I went to take a shot on it, went to plant on it, and it just stuck,” Smith said.

Despite his injury Smith wanted to help his team win any way he could.

“Not wrestling wasn’t really an option for me. I knew our team could be the next state championship team, so I didn’t want to let them down,” Smith said.
If you are shy about the whole issue in general, then you can also purchase cialis cheapest price substitutes on-line. An individual must store the get viagra no prescription pill well to avoid wastage. How are age and erection health connected? Scientifically, erection is blood hydraulic effect cialis cialis uk that seems to be fine only when penile area receives proper blood-volume. Everything you need to take knows is for one to know the ED drug market viagra tadalafil online and then going for the best.
Then, four Panthers wrestlers lost their semi-finals matches. During the second day of the tournament Kaleio Romero, the team’s No. 1  ranked wrestler at 154 lbs, had his first loss of the season.

City College had three wrestlers going in the tournament finals. Trevor Wright lost his match at 174 lbs. In the 165 lbs finals two Panthers faced off against each other. No. 1  ranked Dylan Forzani defeated teammate Derek Lee Loy for first place in the division. However, the win brought about mixed feelings, according to Forzani.

“I would’ve rather faced someone else just because it would’ve made the victory a little more sweet,” Forzani said. “But I’m still glad that if anyone made it to the finals, it was him.”

The Panthers held onto their lead, beating top-ranked Fresno City College 154-129 for the state title. In addition to a state championship, City College coaches David Pacheco and Walter Ulrich were also awarded Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year. It is the third time Pacheco has won the Coach of the Year award. He downplayed the achievement.

“That award says ‘Coach of the Year,’ but in reality it’s ‘coaches’ and team of the year,” Pacheco said. “You can’t get that without everyone being on the same page and everyone buying in to what you’re working on.”

The 2015 state championship is the City College wrestling team’s third state title in the program’s history. However, the school’s athletic director Mitch Campbell said winning championships isn’t the only thing that makes the athletic programs at City College successful.

“I think the icing on the cake is the success on the mat, on the court and on the track,” said Campbell. “But our success is the quality of student athletes that come through our program and their achievements. We hope we helped them achieve these goals, namely furthering their education.”