Prep wrestlers from across the Central California Athletic League came together Friday at the campus of Pitman High School for the annual individual conference championships. This year’s CCAL Championships were dominated by the Pitman and Turlock high school programs, who combined to claim a whopping 20 titles between the varsity boy’s and girl’s divisions.
The Pride, this year’s CCAL dual champions, were able to claim the best team scores on Friday, with the boys posting a collective score of 295 to clear runner-up Gregori by 112 points and the third-place Bulldogs by 120.5 points. Pitman’s girls won the team title with 253.5 points, besting second-place Gregori with 188 points, third-place Downey with 108.5 points and the fourth-place Bulldogs with 108 points.
VARSITY BOYS
In the boy’s competitions, the Pride had nine grapplers stand atop their respective podiums, led by their dominant collection of heavier weights.
Pitman’s top heavyweight at 287 pounds, Troy Ceja, earned a fall over Turlock’s Freddy Luna midway through the second period of the title match. At 217 pounds, teammate Jeremiah Mora clinched his title against Turlock’s Levi Cook with an 18-3 technical fall. Carter Vannest defeated Turlock’s Conner Ashbough in the 192-pound title match. Mason Ontiveros, a reigning two-time state finalist, collected his 177-pound crown with a pin of Downey’s Alonso Sanchez after a minute of action in the championship clash. Xadian Padilla claimed the 167-pound title with a pin with 20 seconds remaining in the first period against Julian Cisneros of Enochs.
Down in the lighter weights, the Pride’s Isaac Padilla was victorious at 159 pounds with an 18-1 technical fall over Gregori’s Nolan Moffett. At 152 pounds, the Pride’s Mika Ontiveros pulled out a high-paced 13-3 majority decision over the Bulldogs’ Jack Locke. Edward Sheeran secured a pin in under a minute to defeat Modesto’s Phoenix De La Cruz at 146 pounds. Ethan Loped earned a second period pin over Gregori’s Cole Lima to win it all at 140 pounds.
Turlock’s lone champion in the male competitions was Cole Cronan at 134 pounds. After earning a 19-4 technical fall against Gregori’s Gavin Hill in the semifinal round, Cronan muscled an 11-9 decision over Pitman’s RJ Wilharm in the title clash.
Cronan, a junior coming off a trip to the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters, has now won his third CCAL, but is approaching this year’s postseason with a much different mindset.
“In other years, I was somewhat happy to advance to each event, and I’d always think in the back of my mind that certain guys were better than men,” Cronan said. “Not this year. I just think I’m the best. In this division, I feel like I’m just better now.”
VARSITY GIRLS
The Bulldog had greater success in the girl’s competitions, leaving the Pitman High campus with three champions — Aliah Bertalotto, Emilia Montes and Liah Marshall.
Like Cronan, Bertalotto’s mindset is a bit different for her senior year, as she tries to qualify to the state meet for the third straight season. Many wrestlers she has faced in previous years have grown and added weight to move up divisions, while she has maintained her physique to continue wrestling at 102 pounds, the lightest weight.
On Friday, Bertalotto earned an 18-1 technical fall over Pitman’s Emily Martinez in the 102-pound title match.
“I feel like I have a pretty good shot at going all the way this year,” Bertalotto said. “The path is looking better this year compared to others just because of how people move around. It makes everything familiar, like weight cutting, I know how hard to push myself, how hard I can go.”
One of the grapplers moving up a division was Pitman’s Lily Dizon, coming off two state appearances. Now at 107 pounds, Dizon earned a 17-1 technical fall against Modesto’s Odette Santana. Dizon was one of seven Pride girls to stand atop a podium.
At 112 pounds, Bella Serrano took the crown via forfeit of teammate Melanie Delgado. In the semifinal, Serrano earned a first period fall against Turlock’s Robin Cook. On the other side of the bracket, Delgado pinned Modesto’s Olivia Duran in under a minute. It was also all Pride at 117 pounds, with Patricia Bray pinning teammate Isa Fuentes midway through the second period of the title match.
At 122 pounds, Ava Velasquez pinned Gregori’s Deliliah Housh 44 seconds into the title match. Leila Avalos also earned a fall at 127 pounds at the midway mark of the second period of the final against Aubriana McDonnell of Gregori. Alexis Rivas also won by pin in similar time at 157 pounds against Gregori’s Emmyliah Vaisau. The final Pitman win came at 192 pounds as no schools had a grappler to face Milly Santos.
For the Bulldogs, Montes won at 172 pounds with a title pin in the second period against Gregori’s MaeLynn Holder. In the 237-pound heavyweight title clash, Marshall pinned Pitman’s Nathalia Magallon 30 seconds into the second period.
“It’s just the result of a lot of early mornings working out,” said Marshall, who advanced to Masters as a freshman last year. “The mindset now is to just keep going, pushing yourself until you physically can't. There are a lot more heavyweight girls now compared to last year, but the mindset stays the same. I learned from my dad, who got me into wrestling, that it's a mental game, so I’m determined.”
DIVISIONAL AND REGIONAL ROUNDS SET
This Friday and Saturday will bring local wrestlers one step closer to the Masters tournament.
From Lincoln High School in Stockton will be the boys divisionals, where the top eight grapplers in each weight division will advance to the final Sac-Joaquin Section event of the year and battle for a spot at the CIF State Championships. As for the girls, South Regionals will be taking place from Central Valley High School in Ceres, where the top eight finishers per division will also earn a ticket to the Masters.
Action from each tournament this weekend will begin at 9 a.m.
