These kids had the type of coaches who always found a way to do more, like raising money on a GoFundMe page to cover expenses and order those fancy jackets. The message they sent the team was clear: be kind, do your best, and represent the Eastie Jets with pride.
“Once you’re in the match, you forget about everything that’s around you,” said Christian Figueroa, a 15-year-old sophomore. “It’s just you and your opponent.”
East Boston’s newest high school sport comes from a partnership with Beat the Streets, a nonprofit whose mission is to bring wrestling to vulnerable youth. The school and the nonprofit share costs and coaching responsibilities.
To make this first year special, assistant coach Jimmy Giardina, who works for Boston Public Schools, raised $2,000 through that GoFundMe page. The custom jackets didn’t arrive in time for the tournament, but the wrestlers didn’t seem to mind.
These partnerships and creative fund-raising efforts are crucial for communities like East Boston, where the vast majority of students come from low-income, immigrant families, Giardina said. Historically, these students haven’t had access to as many sporting opportunities as their peers in wealthier suburbs.
Last school year, fewer than one in four East Boston High School students played sports, according to data from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Athletic participation was much higher at many of the other schools competing in the wrestling tournament. At South Hadley High School, for example, nearly nine out of 10 students played sports.
Local spending helps set priorities. South Hadley’s athletic budget dedicates about $311 per student. Boston spends less than half of that per capita, allocating $111 per student for athletics the most recent year.
East Boston school leaders hope that adding more sports will increase participation, which studies have shown improves overall attendance and grades.
“We want to have everything that everybody else has,” said East Boston High School Headmaster Phillip Brangiforte.
Brangiforte said he is not against joint teams among two or more high schools, but it’s important for students to have their own.
“If kids go to East Boston High School, they should be wearing a uniform that says East Boston High School, not O’Bryant or Boston Latin,” he said. “Nothing against those schools, it’s just that we take pride and we want to have our own stuff.”
The pride is spreading among students excited about the idea of new sports teams. The school has already added boys’ and girls’ tennis, and some have asked for a golf team, which the headmaster seemed open to.
“Let’s get tennis off the ground,” Brangiforte said. “If we get enough golfers, then we start golf.”
On that Saturday in February, the wrestling team was excited and nervous for the tournament in Holliston. They arrived with empty bellies because they had to step on a scale first thing to determine their weight class. And then head coach Scott Woodward knew just what they needed.
Woodward held up a cardboard box filled with rice cakes, harvest peas, and GoGo squeeZ. The students devoured the snacks, stretched their limbs, and jumped up and down to get their bodies warmed up. Some prayed quietly to themselves.
After a pep talk from Woodward, it was time to compete.
“One, two, three, Eastie!” the team shouted, lifting their hands up in the air. “Four, five, six, Jets!”
Jets, their mascot, is a reminder of the airport that sits less than two miles from their school.
Two Eastie High wrestlers had the best chance of making it to states.
Christian, the 15-year-old sophomore, competed at the 113-pound weight category. He had been struggling with a knee injury.
Since taking up the sport, Christian had become aware of the importance of nutrition and its relationship to his performance. He wants to wrestle in college while studying nutrition or exercise science.
Following a tough fight, Christian won his first match, then lost his second.
After the defeat, he looked up his opponent on a wrestling app that lists all the athletes participating in the tournament. He learned he had been vanquished by a more experienced senior.
“He only lost eight matches, bro!” Christian told his teammates. “Out of 50.”
He won his next contest, before ultimately losing the match that would have qualified him for states.
Then there was Pedro Acosta, a freshman with a 4.0 GPA who was competing in the 132-pound weight category. He had wrestled in middle school, but his parents don’t quite understand the sport. They would rather he work after school to help support the family.
Christian Figueroa, left, and Matthew Valencia Soto, cheer for teammate Pedro Acosta.
Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Pedro Acosta struggles to keep his shoulder off the mat during a match.
Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
For every tournament Pedro attended, his parents had to be convinced to let him go. The coaches helped explain wrestling to his parents, stressing that it could create college opportunities for the teen.
During his first match, Pedro picked up his opponent and threw him on the ground. The move knocked his knee cap out of place. After intense struggle, he lost by one point.
When Pedro headed to his second match, his face couldn’t hide the pain.
“Pedro won,” a teammate soon said from the sidelines. Another chimed in, “But at what cost?”
As Pedro recovered on a bench, a mom from another team saw blood dripping from his mouth.
“Make sure you ice that lip,” she told him. He got another bag of ice.
In Pedro’s third match, as the pain and swelling got in the way, he lost to a wrestler from Holliston High School.
“At least I pushed myself to the limits,” said Pedro, who could barely walk by that point. “I am proud of that.”
As the students grappled with their defeat, the coaches urged them to reflect on the season.
Just months ago, they were timid, but they had learned discipline and perseverance, and became more confident.
This first season was, Woodward told his wrestlers, only the end of chapter one.
“The hurt feelings, let them sit for a while. But use it to motivate you going forward,” Woodward said before they boarded the bus back to East Boston. “Be proud of what you did. Don’t stop wrestling.”
Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at marcela.rodrigues@globe.com.
