Palisades’ Eric Smith-Williams (top) throws Birmingham’s Kevin Barragan to the mat for a 30-second pin in last Tuesday’s dual meet. The reigning City champion Patriots won, 43-30.
Wrestlers Tussle with City Champion Birmingham
When he took over the Palisades High wrestling program last year, Mike Lawlor’s bar was set pretty high. For the last two years, Birmingham has been the team to beat in the City Section and Lawlor knows that the road to the title runs through Lake Balboa.
Palisades learned how far it has to go to win the program’s first section title last Tuesday despite a 43-30 loss to the back-to-back City champions.
Palisades’ Parsa Pourmoula looks for an opportunity to shoot in his match at 152 pounds in last Tuesday’s dual meet. Photos by Steve Galluzzo
Eric Smith-Williams scored a 30-second pin at 145 pounds, Parsa Pourmoula got a first-period pin at 152 and Erinn Jackson followed with an early pin at 160 to close the gap to 31-27.
“Win or lose today our goal is to take the next step,” Lawlor told his team. “You have to keep chipping away. It doesn’t happen overnight. They’re the hunted, we’re the hunters. That’s a good position to be in.”
