By Jonathan Canas (@jonathancanas_) – Spear Reporter
Group photo of the SJSU wrestling team. | Photo courtesy of Manreev Cheema
Under the bright lights and hardwood of the Provident Credit Union Event Center, SJSU’s Wrestling Club is alive and well.
After only competing in one to two tournaments a year, club president Francisco Borjon and head coach Alexis Santana-Quintana lead the team into the next stages.
SJSU removed wrestling as a Division I sport in 1986 before it transitioned into being a club. The team currently competes in the National Championship Wrestling Association (NCWA) and in the West Coast Conference in the second division.
While wrestling doesn’t get the same attention as basketball and football, club president Francisco Borjon sees the rise and recognition coming back slowly to SJSU.
“In the past year it’s been growing a lot but in general, it hasn’t gotten the recognition it should,” Borjon said. “I do see a silver lining with UFC, people are recognizing that these great champions have had wrestling backgrounds and a lot of prospects look for wrestling as an experience.”
Four wrestlers from SJSU were able to advance to the 2023 NCWA National Wrestling Championships in Puerto Rico through competition and with help from the school.
Within the last three years, the team competed in tournaments in Fresno, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Texas and Virginia.
In the past, the team has had to come up with some of the budget themselves in order to send their wrestlers out to compete. So the coach is happy to see the program flowing in the right direction.
“As of last year it was student funding through fundraising or people paying their dues, but this year we actually got some money from the school so they helped out a lot,” Santana-Quintana said.
After practicing twice a week in the past the team now trains three times a week, allowing more time to train in techniques like takedowns and defense, followed by drilling those techniques until it’s second nature.
Borjon even takes into his own hands to find practice options outside of campus and mentions the local Sunnyvale Wrestling Club, which has youth and adult programs.
“So there’s high schools that have adult clubs around the Bay Area,” Borjon said. ”Fremont High School has random adult clubs that hold training I like to go to.”
The team goes up against other clubs like Fresno State, who train up to 5 days a week, so every second of practice counts.
“Their club teams are not full teams but they’re definitely the other side whereas they practice every single day and are competitive teams,” Santana-Quintana said. “We definitely would be able to grow with them and kind of grow our program into that.”
In 2020, the Spartans were in their first competition in three years.
Fast forward three years later, with the efforts of Borjon, Santana-Quintana and SJSU, the team will be hosting the San Jose State Invitational on Dec. 2 at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
Coach has been taking advantage of the extra day of practice to push his wrestlers in order to prepare themselves for the long winter season. After getting the basics down in practice it’s time to go live, which is considered sparring for wrestling.
“Once you get the basics of wrestling, you really drill and figure out how to do it,” Santana-Quintana said. “I guess I’m more on the aggressive side of trying to do things.”
But the training goes beyond the mat room. Nutrition and dieting are key to being prepared for upcoming duels. During the season Borjon meal preps and eats on a schedule to discipline himself.
Borjon also sees the mental health benefits of participating in wrestling.
“After a long day of school and you go to a wrestling practice and you get beat up and you beat someone else up, it’s a really good way to de-stress yourself,” Borjon said.
Santana-Quintana said he is happy to see the hard work his wrestlers put in pay off. There are 78 Division I wrestling teams in the country and don’t get as much coverage compared to other sports, let alone at the club level.
“I think it’s important to have this program here so people can have the option to wrestle in college,” Santana-Quintana said. “If you compete and you’re doing well you can go to nationals and it gives people the opportunity to wrestle at a higher level.”
It’s safe to say Borjon and Santana-Quintana have already established a new and gritty mindset within the new crop of wrestlers. Freshman and newcomer, Thomas Caballero, is excited for his first collegiate season.
“Six minutes by yourself there’s no one to help,” Caballero said. “It’s just you and the person in front of you, that tenacity is something I chase and seeing your hard work pay off at the end is great.”