It comes as no surprise to hear that the wrestling team, The Grappling Atoms, came out with major success at the very last Patriot Conference Tournament. The excitement all took place on Friday, Feb. 3,  in Annandale in the gymnasium. Wrestling Coach Derek Sweet and Mike Scott both worked with the young men to help them train extensively for this tournament.

The gym was closed off for the Conference, which started at 10 a.m., and continued all day.

The championship tournament had eight wrestling teams from the nearby FCPS high schools such as Lake Braddock and Mount Vernon. With each loss, there is a win, and for our Annandale teams, wrestling has proved us proud.

Each weight class had the top four wrestlers who took home the trophy, and brought great pride to their schools. Two of those champions were Annandale’s own.

Junior Allen Kokilananda came into the Patriot Conference Tournament a two time winner and earned his third victory this year.

At 138 lbs,  Kokilananda’s hard work paid off through his defeat of Woodson’s Logan Baird by a longshot of 11-3.

“I was nervous as always, but confident in my training”, said Kokilananda.

Another Annandale champ who had came in first in their division was freshman Sayed Yassir. He had fought his way to first, and made major Annandale history in being the third freshman to win wrestling districts ever, making friends, family and coaches proud.

“The second guy I wrestled was said to be the best around, but I knew I could defeat him when he started to slow down, and barely made shots at me”, said Yassir.  

He practiced non-stop, and even when he had the desire to give up what he was doing, he had a whole support system right behind him that continuously rooted him on until the end. Yassir defeated his opponent 12-5,

“I was so happy that I won, the crowd went crazy, this was so far the most memorable part of my high school career”, said Yassir.

It could not have been easy for either of them to have made their way to where they are now, but with determination, patience, and extensive practice, these pro wrestlers took the spotlight.