All parts of the student body came to the gym on March 25th to watch their teachers and administrators desperately attempt to grapple with the CIF Championship wrestlers. Downey’s faculty did surprisingly well but lost with a final score of 67-3. These matches weren’t just an excuse for the faculty to wear a singlet in public, it was a fundraiser as well. Some of the proceeds went towards the Champions’ CIF rings.

Both sides of the gym’s bleachers were packed with excited students and with all the flashy entrances and costumes, it was evident that this wasn’t going to be a regular wrestling match. Attendees had a great time and it wouldn’t be a night they’ll forget anytime soon.

Prior to the match, some of the teachers believed they had a chance of beating their opponents.

“Of course,” history teacher Ms. Bell said, “Otherwise I wouldn’t put myself in a potentially embarrassing situation.”

Ms. Bell decided to wrestle junior Jabine Negos in a gorilla jumpsuit. She looked like the pseudo-primate who belonged on a street corner advertising a used car sale instead of center court of the gymnasium on a Thursday night. The charade was all in good fun and allowed Bell to get pinned in 54 seconds in modern zoo-animal style.

English teacher Mr. Johnson entered the court sporting a black, spandex trench coat and a white feather boa. It appeared that the majority of the faculty that wanted to stand out decided to make a fashion statement. Drama teacher Mr. Hansen made his introduction wearing a royalty get-up, equipped with a crown, luscious fur cape, and some sort of death mask, while Steven Johnson, Mr. Hansen’s opponent, wore a thin, semi-transparent, blue robe that resembled a picnic table cover, but the goofy escapades weren’t limited to the faculty as Steven Johnson also threw baby powder into the air to mimic NBA player LeBron James.

“It was fun and I liked it,” Steven Johnson said.

Junior David Andrade was wheeled to the court inside his very own makeshift cage and broke free of his prison just before wrestling economics teacher Mr. Glasser. Andrade got the idea for his spectacular entrance from his coach.

“My coach was making comments about me being ferocious on the mat,” Andrade said.

Andrade believed the match was all in good fun and he hopes to wrestle another teacher next year.

The staff members remained scoreless until science teacher Mr. Young entered the ring. Mr. Young faced-off against senior Kenneth Lee in the 189 lb. division. Both players were neck-and-neck the first two rounds of the match. Neither athlete could truly overpower the other, until the last round when suddenly Mr. Young scored on Lee. This gave the faculty points on the scoreboard but most importantly, kept them from getting completely shutout.

The night’s main event, Tom “Hit Man” Houts vs. Robert Chism, was the fastest defeat of all the matches preceding it. The first round started and in 44 seconds, Mr. Houts was on his back with 285 pounds of sophomore laying on top of him.

The 67-3 defeat to the wrestling team wasn’t a total failure. The fact that the faculty even got on the scoreboard proves they’re better than some high school teams that crossed paths with the hometown champs. The wrestling team earned bragging rights for the remainder of the year, but they might have some extra homework to do over the weekend.