Pitman High varsity wrestling hosted their first ever Central California Athletic League dual meet on Thursday afternoon when they took on Gregori High, and it couldn’t have gone any better.
In their second league dual meet of the year, Pitman was still able to handle another opponent as they won in convincing fashion in a 79-0 shutout.
“They were excited to be home and we had a great crowd… starting to get a following and it’s nice,” said Pitman head coach Adam Vasconcellos.
Pitman won 11 matches via pin, two by tech and one decision.
The overall dual meet didn’t last even 40 minutes as Pitman handled Gregori.
“We are grinding, these kids, that is the thing. We work with our JV kids as much as our varsity kids and so we have guys trying to get back, we are still not at full strength yet, but we have a month to get back to where we need to be,” said Vasconcellos.
Pitman’s Lily Freitas also got a taste of wrestling in her home gym after she won via fall.
Freitas handled Gregori’s Savannah Van Natta winning via fall at 1:16 in the first period.
“Lily Freitas wrestled a varsity girl, top girl from Gregori and has placed in multiple top tournaments and good for her to get out here in the home crowd and let everyone see her talent,” said Vasconcellos. “She took the girl down, two to three times and then got the fall before the first was over, she dominated and was pumped to be wrestling here at home.”
Of the 14 wrestlers for Pitman, two freshmen at 106 and 113 came away with big pins.
Gabriel Tellez (106) and Enrique Guzman (113) managed to both win via fall, giving their team 12 points combined.
“Our two lighter weights came out and battled and got two pins for us at the lower weight classes, which is tough,” said Vasconcellos. “They got out there and don’t worry about varsity titles, they just wrestle. All four of our freshmen who wrestled today won via fall.”
After the winter break, the Pride travel to Aptos and then compete in the Doc Buchanan Tournament —one of the toughest tournaments in California.
