Freakshow Frenzy

Kyra McGath • January 1 , 2026

The Peninsula wrestlers competed in Freakshow 2025, which took place at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Oct. 18-19, featuring over 6,000 wrestlers from across the United States competing for glory. Although it was a tough competition, Peninsula had multiple wrestlers place in the top five: senior captain Leila Witzerman placed third, junior Gianna Lopez placed fourth, and senior captain Efosa Osayande placed fifth. Including the three, every Peninsula wrestler did exceptionally well in their brackets, placing high with a positive win rate. Peninsula has competed in this tournament before, with the entire wrestling team attending each year. Freakshow is a national wrestling tournament that occurs every October in Las Vegas. It is one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the country, open to anyone who registers online, since there are no qualifiers. At Freakshow, the wrestlers compete in folk style, which is a match consisting of three two-minute periods. In each period, the wrestlers must score the most points.

When signing up for Freakshow, wrestlers must enter their age division and weight class. The event began on Friday, Oct. 17, with official weigh-ins to confirm everyone’s class before the competition. The actual wrestling started on Oct. 18 and continued through Oct. 19, with wrestlers competing in large brackets against athletes from all over the United States of America. Each bracket is usually set up in a double-elimination format, meaning a person is not eliminated until they have lost two matches. The exact number of matches a wrestler ends up competing in depends on how far they advance in the bracket and how many participants are in it. Each bracket usually has 128 or more wrestlers. So, wrestlers typically end up competing in four to eight matches per day. To handle the intensity of the competition, wrestlers focus on more than just technique. Sophomore Victor Rueda explained how he prepared for a tournament.

“I prepare myself for a tournament by eating right two days before and being in a good mindset,” Rueda said. “I also try to stay focused, disciplined and trust myself and block out distractions so I can perform my best no matter who I’m going up against."

When Peninsula wrestlers knew an important competition, such as Freakshow, was coming up, they upped the intensity of practice. Practice usually begins with a warm-up and stretching period. Then the team moves into drilling with a partner, while focusing on technique, which makes up the bulk of the practice. Practice then ends with live wrestling, where the wrestlers go full speed and try to apply everything they’ve been working on in real match situations. These consistent practices not only helped the team feel confident going into Freakshow but also set the goals they have for the rest of the season. While focusing on their goals, kept in mind the things that inspire them to work hard. For Witzerman, watching her sister train to be a better athlete inspired her to do the same.

“[My sister] just started wrestling two years ago and she's already really good, and I want to push myself as hard as she does,” Witzerman said. “[My sister] inspires me to work hard so I can [compete] in the semi-finals at State this year.”

In order for a wrestler to become a medalist or an All-American, like Witzerman, wrestlers must have won every match back-to-back. To make sure that as many Peninsula wrestlers as possible achieved such a high ranking, strong leadership was essential when the team was preparing and practicing for the tournament, like Freakshow. Thankfully, Peninsula’s team was not lacking in such leadership. Coach Ryan Faintich emphasized the importance of leadership within the team, especially during preparation for high-level tournaments like Freakshow. He highlighted how a strong work ethic and internal competition help set the standard in the wrestling room.

“[Witzerman] is a great role model, in terms of setting the tone with work ethic. Her goal is to outwork everybody in the room,” Coach Faintich said. “[While] guys like Efosa make it hard for her. Efosa wants to be the hardest worker in the room, too, and so to have both of those people in a room together, you really have wonderful leadership.”