Another league title for Shadow Hills? You read it here first
Four years ago, when the Shadow Hills girls wrestling team was winning its first of four consecutive Desert Empire League titles, the Knights started “Champions Read,” a program where the team donated new books and a “reading buddy” (stuffed animal) to every student at a local elementary school.
When head coach Jody Davis was working on her teaching credential, she noticed that the kids LOVED when she read to them.
“I’d be really animated and not really read the book, but tell the story,” she explained.
Davis learned that, in her area, many, many kids don’t have their own books at home. She got to work raising money by writing some grants; then found an amazing organization out of Arizona that now provides most of the funding.
“We take a morning, and not only hand out books and stuffed animals, but we also read to each classroom and talk about the importance of reading and how it has impacted our daily lives,” Davis said.
This year, Champions Read expanded to include two elementary schools. Over four years, Shadow Hills has donated nearly $60,000 worth of books and stuffed animals.
“It’s a lot of work on the backside, and I almost stopped doing it,” Davis explained. “But at Senior Night, all of the seniors said, ‘My favorite high school wrestling memory is being part of the Champions Read program.’ Champions read will continue. When state qualifiers highlight ‘Champions Read’ over a state trip, it makes all of the work worth it!”
The “Big One” also a close one!
You wouldn’t know it by the final score of 35-15, but the dual a week ago Wednesday between Buchanan and Clovis, known as “The Big One,” was incredibly close.
Most of the 14 matches were very competitive. One match was decided in sudden victory. There were only two falls, Anthony Garza of Clovis at 105 and Leo Contino of Buchanan at 157.
Buchanan hasn’t lost “The Big One” since 2015 and leads the all-time series 20-10.
“I was very pleased with our kids overall,” said Buchanan coach Troy Tirapelle. “We made some mistakes, but you can put up with those, as they are fixable. I thought our effort and toughness were the highest it’s been all season. Good timing for it, too. If we can replicate this type of ‘caring’ for the rest of the season, we will be in great shape for a memorable postseason run.”
News and notes
Gilroy both hosted and won the 142-team Midcals over the weekend. The Mustangs outpointed second-place Tuttle from Oklahoma, with California schools Del La Salle, Frontier, and Folsom completing the top five.
Six Gilroy wrestlers won their brackets, Moses Mendoza at 123, Isaiah Cortez at 129, Daniel Zepeda at 147, Travis Grace at 160, Kaleo Garcia at 168, and heavyweight Cody Merrill.
The 135-pound bracket went to Central Catholic sophomore Victor-Alex Gutierrez. Gutierrez edged returning state champion Elijah Cortez of Gilroy, 2-1, avenging his only loss of the season at the Reno TOC. Gutierrez improved to 30-1 with the win, while Elijah Cortez suffered his first loss of the season.
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Millikan won a dual with Lakewood, 44-25, a week ago Thursday. The win clinched the Moore League title for the Rams for the 14th consecutive season, the longest championship streak in the history of the Moore League dating back almost 60 years.
Logan Stouvenal (126), Benjamin Garcia (175), and Tannor Costello (215) won their matches by fall for the victors.
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Jagger French won the final bout, 23-8, to give Del Oro of Loomis a 35-30 win over Folsom in a Sierra Foothill League dual a week ago Wednesday. The win assured the Golden Eagles of the league title. Last year. Del Oro also defeated Folsom in the last match of the day.
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French placed third at 144 pounds a few days earlier at the Temecula Valley Battle for the Belt. The senior was the highest placed for Del Oro, which finished fourth overall in the team competition, behind Poway, Vacaville, and Bakersfield.
Poway, perhaps the best team in the nation this year, won the team event by an overwhelming margin. The Titans had six individual champions, Edwin Sierra (120), Billy Townson (126), Gavin Navida (138), Paul Kelly (144), Laird Root (157), and Adam Farha (285).
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Last Saturday, Poway took on Arizona’s top-ranked wrestling program, Sunnyside, and prevailed, 47-15. The Titans prevailed over the Arizona squad, which has won 36 state titles, including the past two seasons; by winning 10 of the 14 bouts.
Root set the tone with a first-round pin at 155 pounds in the second match of the day. The Titans also got pins from Angelo Posada (178), Robert Platt (218), and Arseni Kikiniou (109).
Poway heads to Buchanan on Saturday to duel the Bears in a dual. Buchanan, the seven-time defending state champions, won duals over Poway in 2022 and 2023.
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Buchanan won the 5 Counties Invitational over MLK Weekend. The Bears prevailed over 80 other teams. St. John Bosco was second and Fountain Valley placed third. All three teams are ranked among the top 10 statewide by CalGrappler.
St. John Bosco had the most individual champions, with five. Buchanan and Fountain Valley had three champions each. FV senior Ryland Whitworth (215) and Bosco junior Nicholas Sahakian (285) impressed in capturing their brackets. No wrestler pinned his way through a bracket.
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The CIF Southern Section released its dual meet polls on Tuesday, Jan. 16. The top five teams in Division 1 are as follows:
1. St. John Bosco
2. Fountain Valley
3. Hesperia
4. Palm Desert
5. Roosevelt
Chaminade, Etiwanda, and San Clemente top Division 2. Lakeside, Chino, and Cerritos are No. 1 in Divisions 3 through 5, respectively.
Northview, which finished eighth at state a year ago, is No. 1 in the girls’ poll, followed by Corona. Those teams were 1-2 in the Southern Section duals a year ago.
Northview’s leading wrestlers this year are Faith Bartoszek and Ysabella Hinojosa.
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Northview edged Hillcrest to win the Dick Morris Big Kahuna Girls Memorial over MLK Weekend. The Vikings won without an individual champion.
Samantha Sachs of Glendora won the 125-pound bracket and is now 22-1 on the year.
Isabella Sosa of Schurr, Eduarda Butista of Newport Harbor, and Alex Perez of La Costa Canyon also impressed in winning their respective brackets.
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South High of Bakersfield edged Bakersfield and Kingsburg to win the 80-team California Invitational wrestling tournament hosted by Morro Bay High School last weekend.
South scored 168 points. Bakersfield and Kingsburg both had 156. Each had one bracket champion. Senior Junior Bojorquez won at 165 for South, senior Michael Murrillo captured the 215-pound bracket for Bakersfield and senior Alex VanBebber topped the podium at 138 for Kingsburg.
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Firebaugh wrestlers enjoying a little beach time in Morro Bay
Firebaugh’s wrestling team attended the CIT at Morro Bay last weekend, tying for 59th as a team. This year’s finish isn’t notable, but what is notable is that the Eagles, led by venerable coach Bill Magnusson, have now attended the CIT for 28 years!
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Speaking of Firebaugh, a few days after the CIT, Coach Magnusson’s Eagles traveled up Highway 33 to meet rival Dos Palos in a dual. The schools once were one, but split 44 years ago. Since then, there has arisen a fierce rivalry between the communities northwest of Fresno. I’ll let Coach Magnusson complete the story:
“I have been coaching and teaching at Firebaugh HS for 39 years. We call our part of the world, ‘The Westside.’ Highway 33 is our common artery out here on the Westside. The battles fought between our West Sierra League Rivals (Mendota, Coalinga, Avenal, Tranquility, and Dos Palos) have been true toughness tests for all involved.
“Last night's dual meet was legendary as the Firebaugh Eagles, led by pins from Alex Rosa, Isaac Ceja, and Jordyn Fuentes, went into the final match behind 34-33. After one minute of fierce hand fighting and leg attacks, Firebaugh’s Corbin Diedrich (177) hit a cross cradle at the 1:30 mark of the first round. With 11 seconds left on the clock, Hall of Fame Referee Corky Napier slapped the mat, called the fall, and the gym erupted. The Eagles won 39-34.”
“Congratulations to second-year head wrestling coach at Dos Palos HS, Adrian Marufo, for bringing a well-prepared, young, talented squad to wrestle last night. Two years ago the Eagles won 12 out of 14 weight classes. Last night it was 7 to 7. For those of us who wrestle we know the influence that this sport has in our lives. Coaching matters.”
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Hunter Casteel (178) and Ricky Kiser (218) won their brackets at the Armijo Invitational on Jan. 13 for Nevada Union, which placed fourth in the 24-team competition. Las Plumas was the highest California finisher, in second place.
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Pacifica of Oxnard won the Thunderclap Tournament at Thousand Oaks behind titles from Gavin Cortez, Robert Ramirez, Nathaniel Moreno, Ayden Segovia, Julian Villegas, and Eduardo Arevalo.
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Anderson’s Isabella Wyatt not only won her bracket at the Corning Invite on Saturday; the sophomore was named the event’s Outstanding Wrestler.
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Charlie Lind is the first-year head coach at Calabasas.
Lind came over from Harvard-Westlake, where he was a boys’ assistant and girls’ head coach. Lind, who was driven back into coaching in 2020 following the birth of his daughter, took over the Calabasas program in September. Whereas he used to coach five girls, he now has 40 wrestlers under his charge. He also has started a youth program and the non-profit Grow Girls Wrestling.
“I am trying to build and implement a winning culture and make a positive impact on the wrestling community,” he said. “It’s not easy, but we are well on our way.”
Undefeateds
In this recurring category, we list wrestlers with 15 or more wins who are currently undefeated on the season.
39-0 -- Ronnie Ramirez, Sr., Walnut, 113
35-0 – Dulcy Martinez, Fr., Central Catholic, 125
34-0 – Jill Wells, Jr., Central Catholic, 100
33-0 – Isabella Marie Gonzales, Jr., Clovis East, 115
19-0 – Anaya Falcon, Sr., Walnut (105)*
* 101-0 over her HS career
Legends of the fall
In this section, we list wrestlers recording pins this season in under 10 seconds.
Six seconds
Berlyn Davis, Sr., San Clemente, 145, Goddess of Olympia, Dec. 16
Eight seconds
Gabriela Bonilla, Fr., Millikan, dual v. Lakewood, Jan. 18
100 % COMMITTED!
In this section, we identify those wrestling high school this year who have made commitments to wrestle in college.
Andrew Barbosa, Sr., Palm Desert, 157 – Rutgers
Abram Cline, Sr., Granite Hills (El Cajon), 125 – Maryland
Grigor Cholakyan, Sr., St. John Bosco, 157 -- Stanford
Diego Costa, Sr., Palm Desert, 184 -- Princeton
Avangeline Turner, Sr., Davis, 155 – Grand View University
Miguel Estrada, Sr., Frontier (Bakersfield), 157 -- Iowa
Jagger French, Sr., Del Oro (Loomis), 149/157 – Cal Poly SLO
Collin Guffey, Sr., Granite Hills (El Cajon), 174 -- Stanford
Lorelei Hartman, Sr., Santa Ana, 235 -- Frostburg State
Branson John, Sr., Buchanan, 165 -- Maryland
Paul Kelly, Sr., Poway, 141 – Cal Baptist
Sonny Kling, Sr., Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley), 197 – Cal Baptist
Bryce Luna, Sr. Saint Francis (Mountain View), 133 – Army
Brock Mantanona, Sr., Palm Desert, 149 -- Michigan
Cody Merrill, Sr., Gilroy, 197 – Oklahoma State
Moses Mirabel, Sr., Gilroy, 149 -- Brown
EJ Parco, Sr., Los Gatos, 149 -- Stanford
Laird Root, Sr., Poway, 157 – North Carolina
Isaiah Quintero, Sr., El Dorado (Placentia), 133 -- Purdue
Thomas Sandoval, Sr., Vacaville, 184 -- Brown
Alek VanBebber, Sr., Kingsburg, 149 – Cal Poly SLO
Hercules Windrath, Sr., Fountain Valley, 141/149 – Cal Poly SLO
Commitments to add? Email jtawa@cifstate.org.