Coyotes christens mat with win
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Hulise Santiago works his Bullard opponent into a pin during the 222-pound match in Wednesday’s dual meet victory.
Wrestling on a new mat led to the same results for the eight-time County/Metro Athletic Conference champion Madera Coyotes wrestling team in a dual meet against the Bullard-Fresno Knights.
The Coyotes got key pins from Alex Vaca at 197 pounds, Hulise Santiago at 222 pounds and Gio Madrigal at 115 pounds in the 40-25 victory over the Knights in Joe Flores Gym on Wednesday.
“I figured it would be close,” head coach Joe Romine said. “We had nine wins out of the 14 matches and that’s what I figured we would do. Their two best guys, we got a decision and a major against us. Our fight against their top two guys was important. I tell our guys win big, lose small and we did that tonight.”
The two teams traded forfeits with Alex Carillo getting a win at 184 pounds.
Madera started off the evening with three straight wins.
Jonathan Solorio, at 126 pounds had a back-and-forth match. He suffered a takedown a minute into the match. He then got an escape and a reversal for a 3-2 lead in the second period. However, his opponent got an escape to tie the match. Solorio opted to let his opponent escape to open the third period, but got a takedown 19 seconds later and held on for a 5-4 victory.
Rudy Paredes was 31 seconds away from posting a shutout at 132 pounds. He got a takedown 20 seconds into the match and held a 5-0 lead at the end of the first. He got a reversal and a near fall for a 10-0 lead heading into the third. After a takedown, he allowed an escape a minute later. Paredes ended the scoring with a takedown with 13 seconds left for a 14-1 major decision.
Apololonio Ordaz was tied at two after the first period of his 138 pound match. He recorded an escape, takedown and near fall in the second period for an 8-2 lead. Neither wrestler scored a point in the third for a win for Ordaz.
At 145 pounds, Bruce Robledo trailed 5-0 at the end of the first and fell by pin 33 seconds into the second period.
Oscar Ruiz faced one of the top wrestlers at 152 pounds in the state. He fell by a 17-3 major decision and stayed away from getting pinned or getting a technical fall.
Bullard received a forfeit at 160 pounds and opened a 16-10 lead.
In the 170-pound match, Isaac Pacheco took a 7-2 lead with a reversal and near fall in the second period. He suffered a reversal with five seconds left in the match, but came away with a 7-4 win.
Madera received a forfeit at 184 pounds to claim a 19-16 lead it wouldn’t relinquish
. Vaca recorded a takedown 17 seconds into the 197 pound match. He followed that with a near fall 40 seconds later. Vaca worked his opponent into a pin with 26.2 seconds left in the first period.
Santiago recorded a takedown quicker than Vaca — 13 seconds. He then recorded a pin 50 seconds into the match.
After a scoreless first period, 285-pounder John Cook fell victim to a takedown and a near fall for a 4-0 deficit into the third period. However, neither wrestler scored in the third.
Leslie Reyes lost her 106-pound match 1:45 into the first period for the final Bullard win of the night.
Madrigal held a 4-0 lead in the 115-pound match after the first period. He got a takedown and near fall in the second period before getting a pin with 35 seconds left in the period.
Christian Solorio got a quick takedown at 122 pounds and two near falls in the first period, but was subject to a reversal at the end of the first period.
He got a takedown two seconds into the second period, but fell victim to a reversal. He recovered for a takedown at the end of the second period for a 12-4 lead.
He fell victim to a reversal and two stalling violations in the third period, but still recorded a 12-7 victory for the final points of the night.
“Christian was just cleared Monday from concussion protocol,” Romine said. “He hadn’t wrestled since the Chukchansi. When you’re in the protocol, you can’t even practice. He did what a senior is supposed to do. He won in a tough situation.”
