A different kind of wrestling match

The dual featured 15 high schoolers representing Team USA, including East County high schoolers Anthony Anderson, David Caulkins Jr. and JD Farage from Liberty High School, LaShawn Craig from Antioch High School, Jesse Briggs from Heritage High School and Xavier Arceneaux from Deer Valley High School, along with other students from Alameda and Contra Costa County.

Liberty High School and MDWA wrestling coach Alex Encarnacion-Strand was excited about the dual as it happens only every two years. In 2023, a USA team will be sent to Japan from June 20-July 3. “So next year we’ll send a group out to Japan and we’ll do the same thing,” he said. “After they’re done with us, they go to the Fairfield area, and then they go to another place for a few days, then they fly out.”

Tod Blank welcomed Team Japan and their coach Hideto Tanaka, who was also the coach for the exchange in 1998. After a short speech from Tanaka, each participant met, shook hands, and exchanged a small gift with their opponents. Team USA gave their Japanese counterparts T-shirts that commemorated the event.

Before the beginning of the matches, the introduction ended with the playing of the Japanese and American national anthems while representatives from each team held their country’s flags.

The dual included 19 matches across the 51-(112), 55-(121), 60-(132), 65-(143), 71-(156), 80-(176), 92-(202) and 125-(275) kilogram/pounds weight classes, and after the matches, the teams shook hands again and took a group photo to commemorate the event.

Encarnacion-Strand said he enjoyed the event and felt it was impactful for the other coaches and his team.