Wrestler of the Year: South City's Hiba Salem

“Going into CCS, winning it for the third time, honestly it was very sweet,” Salem said. “I was very happy because everyone around me was happy. Winning my final year, it’s something I will remember forever.”

For her efforts, Salem is the Daily Journal’s Wrestler of the Year.

Salem’s tenacity on the mat stems from how hard she fought merely to wrestle in the first place. Because she is Muslim, she kept her aspirations to wrestle secret from everyone except her mother. The youngest of 11 siblings, even her brother Falah didn’t know she landed a spot on the team as a freshman.

“It was just a lot of freedom for someone from my culture and religion,” Salem said. “And it just wasn’t accepted. It was an uphill battle.”

When Salem emigrated from Jerusalem as a young child with her mother and brother, she didn’t have any athletic ambitions. Settling into life in South City, her brother was a standout high school wrestler who peaked as a senior by capturing fifth place at the CCS playoffs in the 160-pound weight class.

Salem was first introduced to the sport by attending her brother’s matches. And she quickly grew enamored with the excitement of the wrestling arena. Fortunately for Salem’s future aspirations in the sport, her mother also grew to appreciate the thrill of attending those matches.

“She loved it when my brother was wrestling,” Salem said. “She was always looking forward to him going to tournaments and stuff.”

So, when Salem arrived at South City as a freshman in 2012, the idea of joining the team — which requires parental consent — was a relatively easy sell when she asked her mother. But the secret was kept solely between the two of them.

“Going into my freshman year, nobody knew,” Salem said. “It was just me and my mom. The problem started even before that. … (Before I was in high school) I went to a practice with my brother. I knew I wanted to do it, but no one would let me.”

Salem wasn’t an instant hit. Her freshman year was her first season belonging to an organized sports team. And the growing pains were, admittedly, something fierce.

“I sucked,” Salem said. “It was new to me. I was still awkward. I didn’t know … certain things I had to do. But the only thing that kept me going was that I loved it and that I wanted to do better.”

Upon her return as a sophomore though, Salem quickly made her mark in the CCS ranks. Wrestling in the 98-pound weight class as a sophomore, her first inclination of being on par with varsity competitors was taking sixth place at a tournament in Napa.

“I thought if I get sixth place at a tournament like this, I must be doing something right,” Salem said.

That was just the beginnings of greatness. Later that year, Salem went on to capture her first CCS title. After moving up to the 101-pound class as a junior, she embarked on a remarkable streak of sweeping through two years without yielding a single point to an opponent in a CCS playoff match.

And Salem’s career isn’t over yet. Later this month, she will attempt to qualify for the national championships at the March 26 regional qualifier.

“She went from being a kid who fought off her back and didn’t get pinned … to this fantastic little wrestler,” said South City wrestling head coach Steve Matteucci. “Now we’re talking about national championships.”

Matteucci said he wouldn’t be at South City anymore if it wasn’t for Salem. On the verge of completing his 11th year at the helm of the Warriors’ wrestling program, Matteucci had planned to relocate to Palo Alto High as an assistant coach after the 2014 season. But then he made a promise to Salem’s mother to stay at South City throughout Salem’s time there.

“The plan was to go to Palo Alto,” Matteucci said. “I would have been there this past year, but the reason I stayed was because of the relationship I formed with Hiba.”

Salem said her brother learned of her wrestling during her underclassmen years. At first he disapproved but has since come around to acceptance, she said. But while fighting through her own guilt that she was betraying her faith as a girl taking part in the male-dominated sport, finding inspiration to return to the mat year after year came down to one essential thrill.

“Winning,” she said. “It was a crazy rush because by my senior year, I’d walk into the room, everyone knew me … and I was climbing higher and higher.”

Now she holds a legacy among the all-time greats. South City has 12 all-time individual CCS titles; and she is the only one in program history to own three.

“As a female, I look at her as probably the best wrestler, as far as decorations, to come out of South City,” Matteucci said.