Nearly 229 boys attending Santa Maria’s high schools during the 2016-17 school year signed up for wrestling—a higher turnout than both soccer and basketball, and second only to football. Yet the Santa Maria-Bonita School District doesn’t offer a wrestling program in its elementary or junior high schools.
Now, after years of work and planning, Justin Bronson’s dream of creating such a program is coming to fruition. In partnership with California USA Wrestling, Bronson and roughly 15 other local coaches are launching a free wrestling league for all seventh and eighth graders.
When Bronson first moved from the Midwest to the Santa Maria Valley eight years ago to teach and coach at Ernest Righetti High School, he was shocked to find separate school districts running different grade levels in one town.
While it’s not unusual for districts in California to operate as they do in Santa Maria—elementary and junior high schoolers attend the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, while high schoolers attend the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District—Bronson said that’s not how it works in many other parts of the country, where one district serves its students from kindergarten through high school.
The separation of districts here impacts both academics and sports, Bronson said, which he discovered once he became the Righetti boys’ wrestling team head coach.
Over the years, Bronson noticed that students who join the high school wrestling team without prior exposure often get overwhelmed and quit early on. Those with even a small amount of experience tend to hang on, he said.
Santa Maria-Bonita’s schools offer many sports—including track, flag football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and cross country—but the only wrestling options for younger kids are through club teams, and Bronson said those are notoriously costly.
Guadalupe City Hall: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 6 to 7 p.m. Contact: Ivan Rodriguez (805) 631-7366, Stephanie Rodriguez (805) 867-3667.
Pioneer Valley wrestling room: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 5 to 6:30 p.m. Contact: Kent Olson [email protected].
Righetti High School wrestling room: Monday 4 to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday 4:30 to 6 p.m., Thursday 4:30 to 6 p.m. Contact: Justin Bronson [email protected].
St. Joseph High School wrestling room: Tuesday, Thursday 5:30 to 7 p.m. Contact: Armando Gonzalez [email protected].
“Club sports really don’t fit Santa Maria that well because it’s pay to play,” Bronson said. “The lack of organized junior high stuff doesn’t allow those kids to have buy-in or pride in their schools.”
Bronson’s ultimate goal is to set up wrestling teams at each of the Santa Maria-Bonita junior high schools, and in the meantime, he and his staff will provide free training for the next 2 1/2 months at four locations: Guadalupe City Hall, Pioneer Valley High School, Righetti, and St. Joseph High School.
There is no limit on the number of seventh and eighth graders who can join, and kids will sign up at the first practices during the week of March 25. Participants will get memberships with California USA Wrestling, a nonprofit organization that promotes amateur wrestling and is working with Bronson to make the Santa Maria Valley league possible.
Participants will compete in tournaments, but Bronson said the league is really about having fun, learning the sport, and staying out of trouble—regardless of socio-economic status.
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash writes School Scene each week. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, fax, or email at [email protected].
