Stallions capture CMAC title
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera South 140-pounder Jaime Garcia gets his Sanger opponent into a pinning position. He got the pin with one second left in the first period in Wednesday’s dual match victory.
With 10 match wins in its dual against the Sanger Apaches, the Madera South Stallions recorded a 52-18 victory to finish an undefeated duals run to capture the County/Metro Athletic Conference championship on Senior Night.
The Stallions had 11 seniors honored on Senior Night and helped the Stallions win the CMAC title. In all, Madera South won 11 of the 14 matches on Wednesday to finish 10-2 in duals and 3-0 in the CMAC.
“It wasn’t me,” co-head coach John Petty said. “We had a whole bunch of help. These guys have been working towards it. We have bigger goals. It’s good to see their work rewarded. These guys have been through a lot. Me coming in and joining Sal, we just want to build from it.”
“This is part of our culture at Madera South and at Madera to win league titles,” co-head coach Sal Gonzalez said.
The Stallions will stay at home for next week’s Div. III Championships on Friday and Saturday. Originally slated for Morro Bay, the tournament was moved to Madera South earlier this week.
“We’ll find out next week how good we are when we host the Div. III Valley Championships,” Gonzalez said. “That’s where it will be to set a different tone. League titles are great, but how many do you have to win before you can get a division title, valley titles. This team can win a Valley title. That’s the bar we are setting. If we don’t set that bar, why are we coaching. We should be competing for it and it falls in our hands. It’s going to come down to the kids. They have to do it for themselves to be a part of something. Hopefully, they can be a Hall of Fame team to get inducted by the Madera FAN.”
“Madera hasn’t had a Valley Championship in 32 years,” Petty said. “That’s our goal to set and we’ll see how many kids we can get to state.”
The only Stallions wrestler to have an easy night was 108 pounder Andrew Moreno, who received a forfeit.
At 115 pounds, Rafa Santiago led 5-0 at the end of the first period, extended the lead to 7-1 at the end of the second and earned the decision with an 8-2 win.
Luis Mejia recorded five takedowns in a 15-4 major decision at 122 pounds.
Diego Jaimes had a relatively easy match at 128 pounds. He recorded a takedown and nine near fall points in the first period. After recording a takedown five seconds into the second period, he secured the technical fall with a near fall with 55 seconds left in the second.
Daniel Avila recorded three takedowns in the first two periods to open a 13-5 lead. After getting an escape, his Sanger opponent got him into a pair of takedowns, but Avila held strong for a 15-9 decision.
Jaime Garza recorded a takedown 14 seconds into the 140-pound match. He added a near fall with 25 seconds left in the first. However, he fell victim to a reversal nine seconds later. Garza immediately reversed the hold and got his opponent into a pinning position. Garza received the pin with one second left in the first period.
Ruben Marines recorded the fastest pin of the night. He got a takedown 22 seconds into the match and then got his 147-pound opponent’s shoulders to the mat to record a pin 47 seconds into the match.
Joseph Irelan, at 154 pounds, suffered a takedown 27 seconds into the match. He fell victim to a pin with 24 seconds left in the first period.
Johnathan Spraggins recorded a takedown and two near fall points in the first three minutes of his 162-pound match. He recorded a reversal three seconds into the third period, but fell victim to a reversal a minute later. Spraggins closed the match with another reversal for a 12-4 major decision.
Isaiah Garza recorded a takedown 48 seconds into his 172 pound match. He got his opponent into a pin with 34 seconds left in the first.
Jackson Smith battled through a low scoring bout at 184 pounds. He got a takedown and an escape in the first two periods. He was called for stalling in the third period, but held on for a 3-1 decision.
Angel Castellanos recorded a takedown and a reversal at 197 pounds. He got his opponents’ shoulders to the mat for a pin with 44 seconds left in the first.
After a Madera South forfeit at 222 pounds, Robert Navarro faced Tomas Takeda in the 287-pound match. Navarro fell victim to a takedown 22 seconds into the match. Takeda then got Navarro into a bear hug and pulled him down with his shoulders to the mat. Takeda got Navarro’s shoulders down for a pin 52 seconds into the match to close out the evening.
Girls wrestling
Madera South recorded three victories out of five contested matches against the Sanger girls wrestling team.
Evangelina Mejia fell behind 5-2 after the second period at 118 pounds. she got a takedown and then rolled her opponent to a pin with 37 seconds left in the period.
Viridiana Cedillo dominated her 133-pound opponent. She took a 5-0 lead into the second period. She recorded a reversal and three near fall points in the first minute-and-a-half. She got a pin with 13 seconds left in the period.
Janitza Lopez-Valle recorded a takedown in the first period of the 237-pound match. Her opponent got a takedown in the second period. Lopez-Valle recorded an escape 17 seconds into the third period and held on the rest of the time to record a 3-2 decision.
Anahi Sanchez was pinned at 113 pounds. Cassandra Quintana fell victim to a second period pin at 162 pounds and Elizabeth Rojas-Ramos was pinned with 12.5 seconds left in the third period at 191 pounds.
