“Well, we seem to like to come in second a lot.”

Head wrestling coach Keith Sholders said this while reflecting on his team’s most recent meet at Northern High School Jan. 8-9. The Atoms finished second out of twenty teams and had four wrestlers place second in their individual weight classes.

“The team wrestled really well over the weekend,” said junior Jon Le, who was the runner-up in the 119 lb. weight class. “We’ve been working hard because districts is around the corner and this weekend was another step to take us closer to our goal of being Patriot District champs.”

It was not all second though, as sophomore Dane Harlowe and senior Ricky Adams each placed first in their weight classes. Other second place finishers included sophomore Andy Weber and seniors Jack Velazquez and Stacey Anderson.

The next meet for the Atoms is tomorrow night, Jan. 20, at home against Lake Braddock on the annual “Pack the Pit” night. The wrestling starts at 7 pm and the fans are asked to wear white to create a “white-out” in the stands.

“[Pack the Pit] is the main event that the kids look forward to in the year,” said Sholders.

“Pack the Pit is when we get to show the school how strong our team is,” said junior Yari Mizouri. “We work hard at every practice and we will make sure we’re ready to compete.”

The team has this meet and four after it to prepare for the Patriot District tournament. The Atoms record currently stands at 9-3.

“We need to have the kids wrestle past their potential and to keep working hard in order to fulfill our goal of Patriot District champions,” said Sholders.