The start of a new winter sports season is the beginning of Lenis Brown’s career at our school as the new head coach of the wrestling team.

Despite his first experience coaching being last year for the JV team at Los Altos, wrestling throughout his collegiate career has given him a deep understanding of the sport, Brown said. 

“I have love and admiration for the sport,” Brown said. “It’s both a team and an individual sport, and it’s great for conditioning. In an odd way, the opportunity to wrestle encouraged me to go to college, despite not originally intending to. It ended up being the gateway to a degree [for me], which is fantastic.”

Brown said he hopes to pass down his deep respect for the sport to returning wrestlers who impress him with their wide range of skills as well as the new members who show great potential.

Moreover, the departure of last year’s wrestling coach led many of last year’s wrestlers to quit the sport, presenting coach Brown with a challenge: coaching a team mostly made up of new, inexperienced players, co-captain Colin Liu said. 

“We did really well last year, which is why we moved up into the upper league this year,” Liu, a senior, said. “But now it’s gonna be really difficult for the freshmen to wrestle [those] from the upper division because [there’s] a big skill gap.”

Despite the need for more refined skills, freshman Isaac Mills said he believes he is learning fast with Brown since he physically demonstrates each move and helps them learn in a structured way.

Additionally, Brown is focused on bringing everyone up to speed, demonstrated by his fast-paced coaching style that contrasts with last year’s coach who only taught a few techniques per practice, co-captain Alfredo Villaneuva said.

“Because [Brown] is constantly teaching us new forms, we don’t get bored of the sport, Villanueva, a junior, said. ”We have a lot of weapons to pull from our tool shed, but speeding through coaching to cover more ground also means he [can’t go in depth] into each move.”

Despite these challenges, having a relatively small team means players receive more opportunities to improve, Brown said. The individuality of the sport lets everyone contribute not just towards the team’s growth, but their own as well, Brown said.

“I want to encourage a personal best growth mindset,” Brown said. “It doesn’t matter where you start. It matters that you grow and that you work hard. [Wrestling] is not an easy sport, but the satisfaction comes from persevering in that type of environment.”