Burlingame's Kyle Botelho: Boys' Wrestler of the Year

“I tried to mimic that,” Botelho said.

That he did as the senior from Burlingame captured his fourth straight Peninsula Athletic League championship in his fourth different weight class. It was just one highlight of a season that saw him shine in his final season of high school wrestling, earning him the Daily Journal Boys’ Wrestler of the Year honor for the third time in a row.

“It was a memorable season. It was my last season (in high school),” Botelho said. “I felt like I put everything out there.”

Botelho, who wrestled in the 138-pound division, finished the season ranked second in the Central Coast Section and 18th in the state by CCSrank.com. He compiled a record of 35-4, winning his first 20 tournament matches of the season and finishing the regular season with a record of 33-1. He won the title at the following tournaments: Peninsula, hosted by Half Moon Bay; Fremont-Sunnyvale’s Webber Lawson; The Bianchini at Cupertino; Christopher’s Bert Mar; and the Overfelt Classic.

In the most prestigious regular-season tournament, the Mid Cals hosted by Gilroy, Botelho finished sixth, suffering his only regular-season loss.

“I definitely wanted to win every single tournament,” Botelho said. “I got injured at Mid Cals in the semis. That kind of ruffled me up a little bit. I just got stuck in a sticky situation.”

Botelho opened the postseason with a win at the PAL championships and followed that with a runner-up finish to top-seeded Henry Porter of Gilroy in the CCS championship match. Things didn’t go as well at the state tournament, as Botelho went 0-2.

While disappointed, he was philosophical about it.

“I wasn’t satisfied about how I performed at state,” Botelho said. “But when people ask me, ‘How did you do at state?’ I lost to the guys who finished third and fifth.”

While many base the success of a season on how one performs at CCS and the state tournaments, true wrestlers are simply wanting to do the best they can with the work they put in. And on that front, Botelho accomplished everything he wanted.

“He definitely took the season into his own hands. He trained extra hard, going to more workouts,” said Eric Botelho, Burlingame’s head coach and Kyle’s father. “Every year, he always built off of what happened … last year. I think this year, he definitely peaked. He wrestled, by far, his best season this year.”

With the goal every year of winning every match, along with CCS and state titles, Botelho’s goals were a lot more generalized than most. His task was simply: be at his best every time he took the mat. To that end, he gave up running cross country this past season to get in the best wrestling shape of his life. Everything he did was designed to have him firing on all cylinders all season long.

“(My main objective is) probably just to grow as a wrestler. Just becoming an all-around better wrestler. Being a better wrestler going into every match with the mindset of I have to try my hardest. Everyone I had to wrestle equally and wrestle at my level and not their level,” Botelho said. “I gave up cross country this year. … so I could stay in wrestling shape all season. Getting on the mat as much as possible.”

Added Coach Botelho: “His main objective was to place (top 8) at state. We just reminded him before every dual meet, before every tournament, you have to wrestle like you want to place at state. He really took that to heart.”

With that being said, Botelho went about accomplishing his goals. Wrestling since the age of 6, Botelho knows what it takes to work because no one works harder than a successful wrestler.

“I started (wrestling) really young. It was kind of built into me,” Botelho said. “You have to be a certain person to want to enjoy the grind and put in the hours.

“But at the same time, wrestling is for everybody. Wrestling does not discriminate against anybody, which is what I love so much about it.”

And that part about being a student of the game?

“I’m really big into promoting the sport,” Botelho said. “I have a project for English (class) and I’m doing wrestling. Year-long project, 12-page paper. It shows I don’t know everything about wrestling, but I want to know everything about wrestling.”