The Pride varsity wrestling team began Central California Conference play with a strong 46-21 victory over Golden Valley in Wednesday's road league opener.
The victory also marked the 11th straight CCC win for the Pride and head coach Adam Vasconcellos.
“We have beat Golden Valley three years in a row which is a pretty big accomplishment because they have always had a good dual team,” said Vasconcellos.
Trey Peacock (106) won his match via pin and Julien Barrera avenged a loss over Cortland Morse last year to outright.
Joseph Larosa (152) of Pitman also won his match 10-5 to help the Pride win 10 of the 14 matches for the night.
Pitman's junior varsity team also defeated GV for the second year in a row.
“It helps that our JV team was the league defending champs,” Vasconcellos added.
The next dual meet for the Pride will be at Merced High against the Bears at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Turlock falls to Buhach Colony in varsity wrestling, 33-27, to begin league
Buhach Colony opened Wednesday's first league dual meet of the year with confidence and a senior heavy team when they met Turlock High who was looking to move past their dismal season a year ago.
With a must-win to secure the victory in the final match of the evening, Uriel Villasenor (160) of Turlock needed to come out victorious but instead sustained a shoulder injury in the second round after going up 5-1 and from there he eventually lost the match to give Buhach the 33-27 win.
“We started off well and we knew they would be strong and it might come down to the last match and it did — just didn't end well for us,” said Turlock head coach Anthony Gonzalez. “On paper they were senior heavy and we only have four so we felt they escaped with the win over us since they were the favorites.”
Buhach won 8 of the 14 matches to Turlock's six match wins for the evening.
Andy Orozco (152) and Breck Jeffus came out with victories via pins and Chris Silva (182) along with Brady Egleston (138) managed to come away with wins.
Alex Ceja (132) also won his match and Michael Marquez (113) was out so freshman and first year wrestler William Ashman stepped in and nearly pulled off the upset but still fell 19-14 after a high scoring match.
“For William to step up like he did was big for us because he impressed us all and he pumped us up even though we still lost,” said Gonzalez.
“We will be in contention and the kids know it, when it comes down to the last match like it did, we know its fuel for the kids moving forward,” Gonzalez added.
Turlock's next dual meet will be at home against Atwater at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Hilmar wrestling loses to Ripon in Trans-Valley League opener, 55-16
The Trans-Valley League wrestling season is underway, beginning on Wednesday with a league matchup between Ripon and Hilmar High.
Although Hilmar has youth on their side there were some upsides against a much tougher and experienced Ripon team starting with the four wins for the Yellowjackets.
Much to the 'Jackets misfortune, the Indians won 10 of the 14 matches and came away with a big 55-16 win to begin league 1-0 and force the 'Jackets to drop early 0-1.
“The boys are making some good improvement but injuries are keeping some good talent on the bench. Our younger kids are working hard so the future should be good,” said Hilmar head coach Steve Vieira.
Hilmar's Justin Rentfro (160) defeated Diego Moreno in a convincing 12-1 win. Gabe Aguilar (182) followed it with a win in the third match after topping Bryce Kinsey 5-1.
Only Gavin Azevedo (106) and Wyatt Carter (120) won for Hilmar in the remaining 11 matches to give the Indians a huge victory.
Hilmar's next dual meet will be against Mountain House on the road at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
