The Bakersfield College wrestling team has opened the season on rough footing, going 1-3 at the Sept. 21 tournament at Mt. San Antonio College.

BC suffered losses in the first and second round, against Cerritos College 30-20, and Santa Anna College 39-9, but came around to beat Rio Hondo 24-18 in the third before a fourth-round loss to East L.A. 24-21.

While head coach Bill Kalivas was disappointed with the team’s overall performance, he was pleased with several of the individual matches.

Heavyweight Josh Davis went undefeated at 4-0 as did Jowayne Fambrough (149 pounds). Jonathan Gomez (157) only lost one match, taking three for BC.

With a team comprised mostly of freshmen, Kalivas wasn’t too surprised at the outcome, as he had noted before the tournament: “We’re a fairly young team, and in seven of the 10 weights we’re untested. I’m trying to put in these feelers, but I have no idea what’s going to happen.”

Being a freshman dominated team wasn’t his only concern, the team had only started practicing in early September due to  “new protocols … from the administration,” that had put the team a few weeks behind schedule, and Kalivas felt that the missed time hurt them.

With the first tournament out of the way and a new feeling for the team’s capabilities, Kalivas is already preparing for BC’s home tournament on Sept. 28.

“We’ve got a week to try and shore some things up and help [the guys] improve,” he said.

Kalivas knows it’s still too early to tell how far this team can go, but he knows it will certainly be a hard road. BC stands in one of the toughest conferences, and will have to compete with other colleges that don’t have to share local talent with a four-year college.