For the first time since 2009, Cal High’s wrestling program was represented at the CIF State Wrestling Championships.

Senior Gerrik Labra advanced to the state championships March 4-5 in Bakersfield, where he won his first two matches before a third-round exit. He was recognized as an honorable mention performer at the state tournament.

“It gives me an overwhelming sense of surprise and exhaustion,” said Labra. “I’ve never gone this far as a winner before, and it’s hard to put it into words.”

Labra advanced to state by placing third at the NCS Championships in the 220-pound weight class on Feb. 27. Senior Demetri Georgiades was the only other Cal wrestler to place at NCS, finishing seventh in the 180-pound weight class.

As a whole, it was an incredibly successful season for the Grizzlies. For the second straight year and third time since 2008, the squad sent wrestlers to the NCS championships.

Cal finished the regular season at a mark of 5-1, good for second place in EBAL behind Amador.

“We’ve been getting better every year,” said second year head coach Chris Chamberlain. “We lost a couple of key guys from last year, but we continued to wrestle well all of this year.”

The Grizzlies overcame a lot of adversity along the way.

“Unfortunately, we had a number of injuries,” said Chamberlain. “In spite of that, we have about 50 guys on the team. If one guy got hurt, we just put someone else into the lineup.”

Cal enjoyed yet another strong showing at NCS, a year after sending 13 of their wrestlers to the section championship meet.

This year, a total of nine students made their way to James Logan High School Feb. 26-27.

NCS participants included seniors Connor Bartlik, David Curley, Marc Chamberlain, Labra, and Georgiades, juniors Blaine Nye and Colton Rettig, sophomore Jonah Perez, and freshman Cole Waskey.

There was no shortage of standout, dominating performances throughout the year for the Grizzlies. Bartlik, Curley, and Georgiades all had at least 20 individual victories. Nye went undefeated in all of his dual meets and won his weight class at the EBAL championships.

Cal wrestling has really been trending upward lately, after several disappointing seasons.

“The biggest difference the last couple years is that our leadership is improving and the level of seriousness about doing well and winning has really increased,” said Nye.

“We’re going to be a young team next year, but I think we can do really well,” added Chamberlain. “I expect that for the foreseeable future, we’re gonna be the top two or three in the league every year.”

Women’s Soccer

For the first time in two years, the varsity women’s soccer team advanced to the NCS playoffs.

The girls reached the quarterfinals before losing 1-0 to Liberty on Feb. 20. Cal won its first-round game with a 1-0 win against Heritage in a soaker at home on Feb. 17.

The varsity women’s soccer team, coached by Lee Munson, had a solid season this year, going 10-7-4 overall, 4-6 in league.  The team recorded 35 goals and 23 assists this season.

The Grizzlies were led offensively by senior Morgan Taylor with nine goals, and juniors Kaitlin Groleau and Ashley Ward with seven and five goals, respectively.

In the goal was a trio of junior Ashley Siwik, and seniors Taylor Ritter and Rylee Akins. Siwik was 7-5-3 with six shutouts, Ritter was 2-1 with two shutouts, and Akins was 4-2 with four shutouts.

The team is built with a very solid core of girls from seniors to sophomores. The good mix of grade levels shows the talent at the sport and ensures a very successful future.

“It was really fun,” said sophomore Abby Pokrzywinski, a second-year varsity player. “The NCS games get a lot harder and more stressful because it is so competitive, but they are also really exciting”.

Siwik agreed about NCS.

“Playing in NCS for the first time on varsity was nerve racking but exciting,” she said. “I’m very proud of the team for making it into the second round of NCS, and for a great season”.

– Kyle Tucker

Men’s Soccer

The men’s soccer season came to a close on Feb. 17, after an unfortunate loss to Clayton Valley in the first round of NCS.

Regulation time ended in a 1-1 tie after a goal from senior captain Joey Holden. But Cal was defeated in penalty kicks 4-3 to close out the season.

Cal entered NCS as the 11th seed and nearly upset the sixth-seeded Ugly Eagles.

“We knew it was going to be hard,” said senior Trevor Koehne. “We gave it all we had but unfortunately came up short. I can’t help but be proud.”

Cal had an overall solid season with a record of  9-7-6, finishing fifth in the EBAL with a 5-5-4 record.

“This season was the most fun I’ve ever had on the soccer field,” said Koehne.

Cal was led by seniors Garret Meyer with 13 goals, and Jimmy Houlihan with eight. Meyer finished  second in league for number of points, a combination of goals and assists.

One of the most intense games this season for the Grizzlies was their match-up against De La Salle. Not only was it the last league game of the season, but it also marked the last time the seniors would ever play at home.

The game ended with a 2-0 victory for Cal, with goals by Holden and senior Adeeb Haidari

“All season we had the odds stacked against us,” said senior Armando Gonzalez. “But we knew we had a chance to win that game, so we did.”

Even though the team will graduate 13 seniors, they remain optimistic for the future.

  – Sydney Finkel

      Women’s Basketball

Cal High women’s basketball team had a memorable season, winning the most games in several decades.

The team finished 17-10 overall, and 8-6 in league and reached the NCS playoffs.

Unfortunately No. 9 Cal lost 42-35 in the first round of NCS at No. 8 Foothill on Feb. 23. Despite the loss, the girls couldn’t help but be proud of what they had accomplished.

“I’m so proud of all my sisters for giving 110 percent and fighting through every game,” said senior Albina McIntosh. “We stayed as a team through everything.”

The team was led by senior captain and point guard Grace Peng, who stands at just 5-feet. Peng averaged 8.3 points per game, almost doubling the national average, according to Maxpreps.

Assistant coach Jessica Melvin described Peng as the “heart and soul of the offense.”

“She’s a stud,” said Melvin.

The team had a big win at Granada on Jan. 5, coming out on top 52-44. Later that week, Cal beat Foothill 58-42.

Although the team will be losing some talented seniors after this season, Melvin remains confident in their future success.

“We have a ton of really good shooters and high skill players,” said Melvin. “Definitely a ton of potential for the upcoming seasons.”

– Sydney Finkel

Men’s Basketball

For the first time since 2010, the men’s basketball team advanced to the NCS playoffs.

The team finished the 2015-2016 season with an overall record of 13-13, with a 5-9 mark against league opponents.

The Grizzlies entered the postseason as the No. 15 seed, but suffered a frustrating first round defeat at the hands of  No. 2 Dougherty Valley on Feb 23.

It has been a year of tremendous growth and progression for the Grizzlies, in just their second season under head coach Anthony Khoo and his staff.

The team almost doubled their win total from last year, when Cal won seven games.

“The players really bought into our long term goals and have helped accelerate us in what was only our second year with this coaching staff,” said Khoo. “The guys that we inherited were mature enough to embrace those goals.”

One of the highlights of the year for Cal was its tournament victory at the Aztec Holiday Classic. The Grizzlies traveled to San Diego at the end of December and captured the title with four consecutive victories.

“The San Diego tournament really helped set us up and get us ready for league play,” said Khoo.

Junior guard Ryan Kwong added, “Winning the championship over winter break was really fun for all of us. It  was cool to spend a lot of time with my teammates down there.”

Another high point of the season was Cal’s sweep of Granada, highlighted by a 22-point victory in the EBAL home opener. In the rematch, they beat the Matadors by 19 points before a local TV audience.

The Grizzlies received a fair share of impressive, breakout individual performances from some of their players this season. Senior team captain and forward Liam Steigerwald was a consistent playmaker, as the team’s leading scorer.

Fellow forward Mitchell Briggs was the leading scorer in several contests as well, to go along with some huge games from guard Justin Catson and center Nick Friedel.

In addition, Kwong shocked everyone with a Stephen Curry-type performance against Hercules, scoring 30 points with nine three-pointers.

Some keys to success for the Grizzlies this year were an outstanding leadership presence from the seniors.

“I think everyone played a leadership role on this team, so we all motivated each other to do better and keep progressing throughout the year,” senior captain Deron Washington said. “We couldn’t have done it without the varsity guys from last year, who really laid the foundation for us, and we just built on it.”

There is no doubt that the future is very bright for Cal.

“Each year we’ve gotten better as a team and I think we are gonna do really well next year,” said Kwong.

– Brendan Ogburn