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02/07/2018 11:00 PMVictor Garcia has come a long way since joining the wresting team during his freshman year at East Haven High School. Victor just wanted to try out a new sport when he started high school and came across wrestling after speaking with Yellowjackets’ Head Coach Lou Rivellini and assistant Mark Tolla. Now a junior, Victor is having an excellent season in the 113-pound weight class with a record of 24-2 for the Easties.
“I was going to try football, but as a freshman, I figured I was too little. I was only 105 pounds as a freshman,” says Victor. “I ended up meeting Coach Rev and Coach Tolla, and they told me to try it. So I did, and I loved it.”
Victor promptly earned a spot in East Haven’s varsity lineup in the 106-pound weight class in his freshman year. Victor felt a little discouraged after getting out to a slow start, but he received a big boost of encouragement to stick with it, and put in the work to get better.
“Most freshmen do JV, so being on varsity was definitely great. It shaped me to be a great wrester,” Victor says. “Varsity is higher competition, and the losses I took made me better. I actually lost my first four matches and wanted to quit, but Coach Tolla convinced me to stay. I put in a lot of work, because losing isn’t a great feeling.”
Victor progressed quickly and started collecting some wins throughout his freshman season. Shortly after Coach Tolla convinced him to stay, Victor recorded his first career victory.
“It took me until my fifth match. It was against Guilford and I was facing a kid with four years of experience, and I beat him by two points,” says Victor. “I was put in a lot of tough positions and faced adversity. With that match, I saw my potential in wrestling.”
This season, Victor competes in the 113 division and is currently the top-ranked wrestler in Class M. He’s also the fifth-ranked wrestler in the state in his weight class with his mark of 24-2. Victor has earned first-place finishes at the Plainville Tournament, the Shoreline Scuffle in Branford, and he continues to get better. Victor credits a lot of his improvement to Team Tugman and the J Robinson Intensive Wrestling Camp.
“I did this Team Tugman offseason training and then, at the end of sophomore year, coach told me about J-Rob Intensive Camp, and I went to that for 14 days,” says Victor. “That had the biggest impact on my wrestling. I built four to five pounds of muscle, and I got mentally tougher. It helped me have this great season that I’m having so far.”
Coach Rivellini is happy to see how hungry Victor is on the mat and notes how he leads the team in take-downs this year. Victor made it to the State Open Championship as a sophomore last year, and Rivellini says that he’s determined to get back there and do even better this season.
“Victor has worked incredibly hard this offseason, attending an intensive camp over the summer. He has always shown a passion for the sport, and we knew from his first day stepping on the mat as a freshman that if he committed himself to the sport, he could easily end up being one of the best wrestlers ever to come out of East Haven,” says Rivellini. “Victor has always held high standards for himself on the mat, even after having great success as a first- and second-year wrestler. He was not satisfied. He was one of the few guys to make it to the State Open last year, but to him, simply making it there isn’t enough. His goal is to win.”
Victor is prepared to win as he gets ready for the postseason. Victor says that’s the only thing he wants to do when he’s out there on the mat.
“This year, my expectations are to win Class M. I also want to make it to New Englands,” says Victor. “I expect to go down as a good East Haven wrestler. I hope to finish strong and have an even better next year.”