Teams get valuable mat time at duals

Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune

Madera’s 220-pounder Julian Flores tries to score more points from Liberty’s Marcus Manzo during Saturday’s Mad Ranch Duals at Liberty High School. Flores went 4-1 in the duals while recording three pins.

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Early in the season, most wrestling coaches want their athletes to get time on the mat to gain experience.

Madera, Matilda Torres and host Liberty received the maximum five matches during Saturday’s Mad Ranch Duals at Liberty.

Madera had the most successful run before losing to Mission Oak-Tulare in the Silver division championship.

However, the goal for the day was to get mat time for many of the team’s wrestlers.

Unfortunately, teams weren’t able to fill out their teams for the duals. Liberty had 10 of the 13 weights fiilled, but Madera only had six wrestlers and Torres fielded seven.

Madera Coyotes

The Madera Coyotes werestling team won two dual meets Saturday.

They tied with Liberty, 36-36, and had to go to the fifth tiebreaker to determine Madera the winner of the match. The determining factor was most wins by falls.

The win over Liberty sent the Coyotes into the Silver Division after a 30-21 loss to Porterville and a 57-12 loss to Clovis West.

In the Silver Division semifinals, Madera defeated Golden Valley-Bakersfield, 39-36, to advance to the Silver Division championship match.

However, Mission Oak-Tulare defeated Madera, 46-27, to take home the Silver division title.

Liberty Hawks

The Hawks found themselves in a tough pool with Clovis West, Madera and Porterville.

Liberty took Madera to a fifth tiebreaker before getting the loss and was sent to the Bronze Division.

They defeated the Matilda Torres Toros, 45-30, in their only match in the Bronze Division.

Matilda Torres Toros

After losing its first four matches of the day, the Toros closed the day with a 30-24 victory over Kerman in the Bronze Division.

The Toros lost to both Golden Valley of Bakersfield and Merced to open the tournament. However, they battled tough with Central-Fresno before losing, 36-30.

In the Bronze Division, they lost, 45-30, to Liberty, but bounced back with a win over Kerman.