Buena’s wrestling teams have pinned their way into division 3 CIF. Both boys and girls had an outstanding performance at their PVL championships at Channel Islands High School. 11 out of 13 wrestlers from the boys team andall three wrestlers from the girls team qualified for CIF, the first round having been Saturday Feb. 10-11.

Four of the boys wrestlers earned medals at the CIF championships, including first place and CIF champion Jonathon Miller. Miller went an impressive 5-0 in order to qualify for Masters the following weekend in Bakersfeild. 

Jon has been a Varsity wrestler since his freshman year, but he has been wrestling since he was six because of his family’s interests. Last season he went 6-0 during his season, but due to Covid-19, there was no CIF. This season his goal was to make it to Masters, which he was able to achieve. 

Gallery • 2 Photos

Abrielle Kiel

Miller wrestling his was to CIF.

During the regular season he went 22-2, with the two losses being to state ranked athletes. But the highlight of his season was beating a friend in a tough match to win the league. “I was down in the second match that we wrestled, and I came back and pinned him,” Miller said.

Heading to play in the CIF championships, Miller found out that he was the first seed, making him feel “euphoric” and “happy”. He does his best to keep a positive mindset going into every match.

Despite a 5-0 result at the CIF championships, Miller said the second match he was thrown on his back by an opponent who he underestimated, which was a first for this season. 

“I just had to stay calm. That’s something I’ve gotten a lot better at this year is staying calm while I wrestle,” Miller said.

After being crowned as CIF champion, Miller headed to Masters where he went 2-2. Unfortunately he did not qualify for State this year, but he still has his senior year to reach that goal.

“I feel like my biggest inspiration has been coach Johnny. He has really taken me under his wing ever since my freshman year,” Miller said when describing where he gets his support. “He kind of helps me out with every aspect of my life, not just wrestling. Just my biggest motivator in every aspect of life.”

Miller has had an already impressive wrestling career, but he still has one more season with Buena to go.

“It’s going to be hard. It’s always going to be hard. There’s always going to be someone better than you, but you always kind of have to push through it, learn where you went wrong, you can’t get frustrated, you got to try and stay calm throughout everything,” Miller said.