They’ve been called underdogs, undersized, inexperienced. And for the most part, that has been true.

The varsity wrestling team has only one coach, has suffered a heavy loss in members after graduating 16 seniors including three All-City champions and has no heavyweight wrestlers. The tiebreaking nail-biting match on Feb. 20 against Galileo, which determined whether Lowell would take the second or third standing in the AAA, was too late for press.

“It’s been a fight,” senior co-captain Adrian Ho said. “With no heavyweight wrestlers we don’t have a full team, so our wrestlers are competing with much heavier guys than they’re used to dealing with during practices. Everyone must do their best and work harder to make up for that.”
The hard work paid off when the team started off the season on Jan. 29th destroying a less than impressive Lincoln Mustang team, 57-18.  
The Cardinals’ warpath continued on Jan. 23 when Lowell beat an underrated O’Connell team 36-24.   

With high hopes, the team then entered its first test of the season on Jan. 15 against Washington, only to be manhandled by an embarrassing, demoralizing score of 4-67. Senior Jason Jee was the only Cardinal to win his match.

The team responded with an especially hard and vigorous practice the next day. Wrestlers had no sign of defeat or low morale in their faces, and the same positive attitude appeared in their next match.

“We’ve had our share of ups and downs this season,” senior Vincent Chen said. “But we’re working as hard as we can, and we’re going to make the best out of the rest of the season.”  
On Jan. 29th, the Cardinals rebounded and made a mockery of Balboa, defeating the Buccaneers by an astounding score of 52-18. Not only was the victory another tally in the win column, but it showed the team had heart.  

This year’s varsity team is very senior-heavy — only five wrestlers will return next year. Chen, however, has nothing but praise for and faith in the novice-dominated team. “They are learning fast and they have a lot of potential,” he said. “They will be good and ready for next year.”

As for what is left of this year, the current seniors still have the All-City tournament on Feb. 23at McAteer High School. The Cardinals may be underdogs, but they will not let this faze them at the tournament. “We’ve always done well and we always place at least second at the All-City as a team,” Jee said.  

Ho also has high expectations for his team. “I expect most of the team to place at all-city,” Ho said. “I expect them to have fun, too.”