North Coast Section
Boys: De La Salle’s dynasty rolls on
De La Salle won its eighth straight NCS team title — and 13th in the past 15 section championships — on Saturday at James Logan. Its team score of 302.5 points was close to double that of second-place Ukiah (159). The Spartans had four division winners and five total qualifiers for this weekend’s California Interscholastic Federation state championships. “This is a really special group,” De La Salle coach Jonathan Clark said. “They are really close-knit. … They’re really good friends.” … The closest match of the finals involved De La Salle. The Spartans’ Atri Feizi outlasted Granada’s Jayson Victoria 3-2 in double overtime in the 138-pound final. All the points were produced by escapes. Victoria tied the score at one in the third period, then knotted the score again at two in overtime. But Feizi scored the final points of the eight-minute, 30-second match. “I knew no one could hold me down,” Feizi said about his ability to produce escapes. Feizi was second at 132 last year. He didn’t compete this season until Jan. 20 due to an injury. … One of the most intriguing finals matchups occurred at 152 as Dublin’s Henry Baalman, last year’s 138 champion, faced De La Salle’s Gavin Fernandez, who is ranked fifth in the state in the 152 division according to thecaliforniawrestler.com. Baalman scored the match’s first point with an escape, but Fernandez led 2-1 at the end of the first period and 6-3 at the end of the second on his way to a 7-3 victory. He won despite dealing with a bloody gash on his tongue for much of the match. …
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One of the biggest celebrations occurred when Liberty freshman David Calkins Jr. jumped into his father’s arms after winning the 195-pound title 9-0 over Kennedy-Fremont’s Jayden Tadeo Gosal. “With my coaching and my family, everyone’s very supportive,” said the 5-foot-11 Calkins, who achieved first-round pins in his first four matches of the tournament before the final. … Other local winners included De La Salle’s Manuel Martir (103) and TJ Arvizu (160), Benicia’s Ryan Espurito (126) and Foothill’s Maxwell Wise (145). … Last summer, the NCS found out that it would have one less qualifying position per weight division in the boys state championships (two instead of three). In September, the NCS Wrestling Management Committee came up with an idea to try to ensure that the best two wrestlers in each division advanced. It proposed a second-place match that would pit the loser of the championship match against the third-place finisher, but only if the two wrestlers had not already faced each other in the tournament. The winner of that match would be the second NCS qualifier for the state tournament in that weight division. The proposal was passed by the NCS Board of Managers in January, and six weight classes met the criteria on Saturday. The second-place matches were held after all of the other matches had concluded. Liberty’s Tanner Bartonico (106) won the historic first match, taking an 8-0 lead on his way to a 15-5 victory over Del Norte’s Chulh-ts`a Bates. The next second-place match winner was Victoria, who bounced back from his marathon match against Feizi to pin Casey Jackson of Kennedy-Fremont at 1:46. Other local second-place match winners were Granada’s Erik Anderson (170), Freedom’s Jayden Loehnig (182) and Berean Christian’s Phillip Ren (285), who won by injury forfeit.
Girls: James Logan captures team title
After falling just four points short of the NCS girls wrestling team title last year, James Logan turned the tables and earned the team championship on Saturday at Albany. The Colts produced a score of 137, five points better than second-place Windsor. James Logan’s division winners were Mikayla Garcia (111), and Carmella Foley (126.). Both also won section titles last year, Garcia at 106 and Foley at 116. … Other local division winners were Granada’s Lauren Nguyen (101), Clayton Valley Charter’s Abbi Cooper (106), Benicia’s Chloe Solla (116), Monte Vista’s Mason Harsch (121) and Liberty’s Sophia Yurkovich (160) … The top four placers in each division qualified for the CIF state championships on Thursday through Saturday in Bakersfield.
North Coast Section boys
Team scores (top five)
De La Salle 302.5, Ukiah 159, Granada 157.5, Del Norte 131, Liberty 114.
Championship results
106: Manuel Martir (De La Salle) p, Chulh-ts`a Bates (Del Norte), 1:07
113: Kekoa Madayag (Novato) 5-0 d. Dakota Sanders (Arcata) 9-2
120: Joe Hubbard (Stuart Hall) d. Mason Evanow (Fortuna) 9-5
126: Ryan Espurito (Benicia) d. Carlos Vasquez (De La Salle) 4-1.
132: Josh Hannan (Arcata) d. Vincent Rodarte (Benicia) 9-2.
138: Atri Feizi (De La Salle) d. Jayson Victoria (Granada) 3-2, 2 OT
145: Maxwell Wise (Foothill) d. John McKenzie (Archie Williams) 17-0 TF
152: Gavin Fernandez (De La Salle) d. Henry Baalman (Dublin) 7-3
160: TJ Arvizu (De La Salle) d. Kaeden Timmons (Windsor) 11-6
170: Logan Bruce (Maria Carrillo) p. Erik Anderson (Granada) 3:28
182: Brandon Guiducci (Justin Siena) d. Jayden Loehnig (Freedom) 4-2
195: David Calkins (Liberty) d. Jayden Tadeo Gosal (J.F. Kennedy-Fremont) 9-0.
220: Joe Ellis (Vintage) d, Rayhan Jaleel (Vallejo) 3-2
285: Gerard Marshall (Hoopa) d. Jose Ortiz (Concord) 5-2
North Coast Section girls
Team scores (top five)
James Logan 137, Windsor 132, American Canyon 110, Granada 95, Castro Valley 94.5.
Championship results
101: Lauren Nguyen (Granada) d. Savannah Talmadge (Northgate) 6-4
106: Abbi Cooper (Clayton Valley Charter) d. Rehmat Gill (James Logan) 6-0
111: Mikayla Garcia (James Logan) p. Svea Gonzalez 3:51
116: Chloe Solla (Benicia) d. Cassady LopezHernandez (Vintage) 2-1
121: Mason Harsch (Monte Vista) d. Myia Weiler 10-0
126: Carmella Foley (James Logan) p. Mikayla Marquez (Castro Valley) 3:50
131: Maddy Young (Upper Lake) d. Hannah Ripper 4-3
137: Kayla Zidler (Casa Grande) d. Jasmine Vo 21-9
143: Luana Stathopoulos (Novato) p. Lyla Kondrashoff (San Marin) 3:40
150: Alexis Peregrina (Upper Lake) d. Mahlyah Sao (Newark Memorial) 19-5
160: Sophia Yurkovich (Liberty) d. Sophia Jetton (Amador Valley) 7-1
170: Jolette Torres (Windsor) p. Kira Bjornson (John F Kennedy -Fremont) 0:54
189: Rawni Self (Windsor) p. Jessye Wood (Napa) 5:31
235: Aiyanna Beanne (American Canyon) p. Brendalyn Cunningham (Jesse Bethel) 1:22
Source: www.mercurynews.com