On Friday, January 17th, Morro Bay High School hosted the statewide 66th Annual Sam Boyd CIT Invitational Wrestling Tournament where wrestlers competed throughout Friday and Saturday. Out of the 81 teams that competed, Pittman High School won first place for cumulative team points, Righetti in second, and Servite in third. Morro Bay placed 37th. This large event is held every year, rain or shine, in the two gyms. Despite the large amount of construction already taking up space on campus, classes were still held and hundreds attended the event.
Walking inside the gym, an even bigger picture unfolds, as the halls were filled with people and merchandise, the gym floors covered in mats and sweaty bodies. For MBHS wrestler, Ben Reid, this was a familiar tournament scene for his second time at CIT. Although their home was hosting one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the state, the team dynamic was not impacted. “It’s all teamwork, really. It’s all teamwork, we all help each other.” The challenge was getting through the long days. Ben states that CIT is “very tedious and takes a lot of time.”
For competitors from other schools, CIT differs from the typical tournament. For Mariposa County High School wrestler, Joey Williams, it takes four and a half hours to travel to Morro Bay, and a couple stays overnight, before he finally leaves on Sunday. Joey states that the tournament differs from others he attended because “the competition compared to all the other places is a lot harder.” For Don Martinez of Reedley High School, the tournament is just as exciting. “This is my first time here at the CIT tournament, but so far I’m liking it. I’m hoping I can make it tomorrow so I can wrestle again.” Most wrestlers all shared a common goal, perfectly said by Ben Reid. “I think everyone’s goal is to win their weight class.”
With so many people on such a small campus, space was compromised. Parking was even more of a challenge amongst students and staff. Sophomore, Taylor Dewey, states that this is one of her least favorite things about CIT. “It can be more of a hassle when it comes to parking, especially as a student driver. It’s hard as far as parking, but once inside campus it was not as difficult.” The already restricted student parking added with less parking space was the most common complaint amongst students, either driving, or getting dropped off.
