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Six-peat for De La Salle
The Spartans won their sixth straight NCS team title (and 11th in the past 12 years) with 298 points on Saturday, but it was achieved with a younger squad than in the past.
Two of the three De La Salle champions were underclassmen, and only two of the Spartans’ seven finalists at James Logan were seniors. “The kids came through,” said De La Salle coach Mark Halvorson about his squad.
All three of De La Salle’s championship victories occurred in a row in a scrambled championship schedule. First, sophomore Bobby Cuevas never trailed on his way to a 6-1 victory over Petaluma’s Nick Trave in the 106-pound final.
Then Bradley Moore, a junior, came back from a 5-0 deficit to pin Vintage’s Dominic Smith at the 3-minute, 36-second mark of the 220 championship match.
“I wasn’t going to give up so easily. I was going to make sure I was going to wrestle the whole six minutes,” Moore said. “The guy just didn’t have the same fire I did.”
Finally, freshman Gavin Fernandez also achieved a second-period fall to win the 132-pound title at the 3:21 mark. “They went out and took care of their business and did a good job,” Halvorson said.
De La Salle’s other finalists were Lance Hackett (195), Ben Roe (285), Darin Guerrero (160) and Mario Franco (152). Granada placed second in the team race with 207 points.
De La Salle’s Bradley Moore talks about winning the 220-pound title at the NCS wrestling championships. @dlsathletics @DarrenSabedra @VytasMazeika @leftwich @calUSAwrestling pic.twitter.com/cQtkSfQriD
— Phil Jensen (@JensenPhil) February 23, 2020
Emotional win for Northgate’s Sanchez
Moments after winning the 152-pound title, Cole Sanchez kneeled on a corner of the mat with tears of happiness running down his face. The senior said he will not be wrestling in college. “I’ve been doing this sport for 12 years,” Sanchez said. “This is it for me, and to just have something like that at the very end is awesome.”
After a scoreless first period against Franco, Sanchez fell behind by allowing an escape but took the lead for good at 2-1 later in the third period. He eventually won 3-1. “If I could come out of the first period at least 0-0 if not up, I knew I would be o.k.,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez, who will be competing in the California Interscholastic Federation state championships this upcoming Thursday through Saturday at Bakersfield’s Rabobank Arena, won his first four matches of the NCS tournament either by fall or technical fall.
Favorites rule in the finals
Kudos to the NCS seeding committee. In the 14 boys weight divisions, there were 10 matchups in the finals between No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, and there was only one finals participant who was seeded lower than third.
The No. 1 seeds who won their championship matches were Granada’s Carter Bailey (120-pounds, by pin at the 3:24 mark), Dublin’s Julian Victoria (126, 4-3), Benicia’s Basil Othman (138, 15-0 technical fall), Livermore’s Timothy Cowan (145, 10-5), Windsor’s Trent Silva (160, 19-3 technical fall), Las Lomas’ Tate Bossert (170, pin at 5:13), California’s Daniel DeSoto (182, 11-3 major decision), Ukian’s Frankie Polilia (195, 8-6 OT), Casa Grande’s Jack Faris (285, 10-5), Northgate’s Sanchez, and De La Salle’s Cuevas, Fernandez and Moore. It was Bossert’s second straight 170-pound section title.
The only No. 2 seed who won his championship match was Maria Carrillo’s Jose Sanchez (11-3, 5-4).
Victoria was involved in one of the closest title matches. He was tied 2-2 with James Logan’s Anthony Bernardo at the end of the second period. After Bernardo took the lead on an escape, Victoria came back to win 4-3.
That Clayton Valley Charter wrestler’s name sounds familiar
Clayton Valley Charter’s Casey Strand Jr. is headed to the state championships for the first time after placing third in the 138-pound division.
That name will perk up the ears of longtime local wrestling fans. His father, Casey Strand, is the two-time state champ from College Park who is in the California Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“I’m super-excited,” said Strand about his third-place win. “I lost earlier in the tournament to an unseeded person and I wasn’t feeling good, and then I came back today and I decided I want to work my hardest to place and go to state.”
Strand, a junior, said that he started wrestling in eighth grade. In the third-place match against Casa Grande’s Ryan Naugle, Strand entered the third period with a 2-0 lead, and eventually won 6-0. The top three placers in each weight class qualified for the CIF state championships this week.
Logan edges Castro Valley for girls team title
Championship victories by Lizette Rodriguez (101-pound division), Carmella Foley (116 by a 2-0 score) and Alisha Narvaez (126, pin at 1:40) led James Logan to the NCS/Oakland Section girls championship team title on Saturday at Albany. The Colts finished with 184 points, just four more than second-place Castro Valley.
Other NCS champions from the Bay Area included Artemisia Matera of Head-Royce (111, 5-0), Mikaela Troche of Newark Memorial (121, pin at 2:20), Antioch’s Desirea Tauluuluu-Spadini (131, 7-6), Joanna Qiu of Albany (137, 11-2 major decision), Newark Memorial’s Ariana Pereira (160, 12-4), Liberty’s Samantha Calkins (170, 8-2) and Arroyo’s Alia Abushi (189, 9-2).
Qualifiers for the CIF state championships
NCS boys
106 final: Bobby Cuevas (De La Salle) d. Nick Trave (Petaluma) 6-1. 3rd: Jonathan Fredrickson (Windsor).
113 final: Jose Sanchez (Maria Carrillo) d. Jaden Ramos (Redwood) 5-4. 3rd: Atri Feizi (De La Salle).
120 final: Carter Bailey (Granada) p. Caleb Waller (Heritage) 3:24. 3rd: Sean Pamintuan (James Logan).
126 final: Julian Victoria (Dublin) d. Anthony Bernardo (James Logan) 4-3. 3rd: Casey Aikman (Ukiah).
132 final: Gavin Fernandez (De La Salle) p. Dylan Pilger (Dublin) 3:21. 3rd: Andre Dargani (Clayton Valley Charter).
138 final: Basil Othman (Benicia) d. Jackson Morgan (Granada) 15-0 tech. fall. 3rd: Casey Strand (Clayton Valley Charter).
145 final: Timothy Cowan (Livermore) d. Skyler Moore (Del Norte) 10-5. 3rd: Alex Monela (James Logan)
152 final: Cole Sanchez (Northgate) d. Mario Franco (De La Salle) 3-1. 3rd: Rylan Matheson (Granada).
Final 160: Trent Silva (Windsor) d. Darin Guerrero (De La Salle) 19-3 tech fall. 3rd: Angelo Esposito (Northgate).
170 final: Tate Bossert (Las Lomas) p. Isaac Morris (Castro Valley) 5:13. 3rd: Adrian Alvarez (Ukiah).
182 final: Daniel DeSoto (California) d. Ian Richardson (Granada) 11-3 major decision. 3rd: Andrew Hamant (College Park).
195 final: Frankie Pomilia (Ukiah) d. Lance Hackett (De La Salle) 8-6 OT. 3rd: Callan Ivy (San Leandro).
220 final: Bradley Moore (De La Salle) p. Dominic Smith (Vintage) 3:36. 3rd: Xavier Williams (Livermore).
285 final: Jack Faris (Casa Grande) d. Ben Roe (De La Salle) 10-5. 3rd: Caleb Hunter (Freedom).
NCS/OS girls (top four qualify for state)
101 final: Lizette Rodriguez (James Logan) by forfeit. Third-place match: Jalen Bets (Granada) p. Maylin Reyes (Vallejo) 2:07.
106 final: Carmen Perez (Windsor) d. Marisol Rodriguez (James Logan) 2-1. Third-place match: Athena Barajas (Washington) p. Liv Villanueva (Northgate) 2:24.
111 final: Artemisia Matera (Head-Royce) d. Mia Bonotan (Benicia) 5-0. Third-place match: Ajayzee Zaballos (Castro Valley) d. Jadyn Wilson (Liberty) 7-5.
116 final: Carmella Foley (James Logan) d. Carlia Ott (Castro Valley) 2-0. Third-place match: Natalie Scott (Vintage) d. Reyna Solis (Arroyo) 5-2.
121 final: Mikaela Troche (Newark Memorial) p. Hallie Evans (Arroyo) 2:20. Third-place match: Witney Lam (Dougherty Valley) d. Gurleen Bhullar (Albany) 2-0.
126 final: Alisha Narvaez (James Logan) p. Tamsin Urbas (Albany) 1:40. Third-place match: Grace Hodge (Clayton Valley Charter) p. Ruby Duncan (Foothill), 4:51.
131 final: Desirea Canopy-Spadini (Antioch) d. Mari Johns (Las Lomas) 7-6. Third-place match: Logan Pomi (Petaluma) Mr. Sonoma Arcilla (Benicia) 0:59.
137 final: Joanna Qiu (Albany) d. Beyonce Garcia (James Logan) 11-2 major decision. Third-place match: Lea Navales (Heritage) p. Leilani Frazer (Vintage) 0:27.
143 final: Arora Vieira (Casa Grande) d. Kelli Johnston (Eureka) 6-2. Third-place match: Gabriella Tuttle (Benicia) d. Samantha Garcia (Castro Valley) 10-6.
150 final: Hannah Ricioli (El Molino) p. Miku Barberi (Newark Memorial) 1:15. Third-place match: Olivia Ott (Castro Valley) p. Kendall Branchaud (San Leandro) 4:24.
160 final: Ariana Pereira (Newark Memorial) d. Francesca LoPresti (Albany) 12-4 major decision. Third-place match: Brianna Abrica (Arroyo) p. Jolette Torres (Windsor) 4:22.
170 final: Samantha Calkins (Liberty) d. Lilly El-Masri (San Marin) 8-2. Third-place match: Helena Rogers (Eureka) p. Natalia Perez (Castro Valley) 2:48.
189 final: Alia Abushi (Arroyo) d. Aracely Rendon-Gomez (Eureka) 9-2. Third-place match: Hollie Espinoza (Rancho Cotate) p. Emma Lopez (American Canyon) 2:41.
235 final: Danika Scott (Del Norte) p. Lilly McCoy (Casa Grande) 1:30. Third-place match: Tatianna Herrera (James Logan) p. Xuan Nguyen (Oakland) 2:26.
