With a 15-5 win-loss record as of January 5th, Erfanullah Andar, a Mt. Eden junior, stands out as a competitive wrestler during his first year on the Mt. Eden wrestling team. Andar immigrated from Afghanistan over two years ago. He lived in Texas before moving to California and Mt. Eden.
Andar joined the Mt. Eden wrestling team this year after participating in a multitude of sports including bodybuilding, soccer, taekwondo, and gymnastics. “I thought it would be fun to [join the team],” he said when asked about his history with wrestling. He has been on the team for one season. Andar plans to finish his high school career on the team and pursue the sport in college.
Compared to the other sports he has done, he stated that, “wrestling is the most competitive,” since it “has the hardest conditioning and hardest practice because… it’s all physical.” He mentioned wrestling consists of all types of workouts like mat conditioning and cardio. According to Andar, wrestling is sorted by weight classes. Besides training their body physically, wrestlers like Andar must maintain a specific weight in order to participate in a group with opponents that have the same physical size.
Andar mentioned mental health and self-discipline as equally important aspects to growing yourself as an athlete. The sport relies more on your own abilities rather than the team as a whole. “You gotta do it everyday,” he said. In his eyes, to be an excelling athlete, commitment is essential in every sport: “If you don’t go to practice… you can’t win.”
However, despite believing commitment to a sport is important, Andar still prioritizes school since he takes two AP classes—APUSH and AP Psych. Although he mentions it is difficult handling a sport and AP classes, he said he does his homework after practice. Andar said there may not be time for social media and similar activities, but there will always be time for studying.
Andar also praises the school wrestling team’s excellence: “They’re all pretty good… even in their academics and… their own self.” He said they will continue to strive to improve their performances. Andar advises other athletes to “be consistent, practice hard and [center] your mind—don’t think you’re going to lose [and] be well focused…”.
