Torres captures Div. IV crown

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

The Matilda Torres Toros boys tennis team celebrates with the Central Section Championship plaque after winning the Div. IV title Tuesday. They also honored Rafael Barragan Donan, who was a member of last year’s team and passed away last fall.

---

While the Madera South Stallions boys tennis team made history, the Matilda Torres Toros boys tennis team made its own history across town. 

The top-seeded Toros dominated third-seeded Foothill for an easy 5-1 victory to win the program’s first Div. IV Central Section championship. 

“I can’t describe the feelings. It’s unbelievable to me that we did it. I’ve been waiting for this since I came to Torres,” said head coach Mark Melchor, who started the program when the school opened. “I had these senior boys when they were freshmen, and I knew we could make it happen. Once these kids turned to juniors and seniors, it was a matter of when could they do it.”

The Toros also dedicated the victory to Rafael Barragan Donan. He was a member of the tennis and football teams at Torres before passing away in a motorbike accident last fall. 

“The boys have been through a lot,” Melchor said. “The kids had to overcome that on their own. But, that motivated them. They kept telling each other and reminding each other who they were playing for. If Rafael was here, we would have been dominating. He was a big part of the team. The boys felt like they were honoring him, and we needed to go all the way. They made it happen.”

The win gave Madera two Central Section boys tennis championships in the same year. At the same time, the Madera Coyotes were a No. 4 seed in Div. III, and advanced to the semifinals, and Liberty was a No. 4 seed in Div. V before losing in the quarterfinals. 

“This sport is coming up in the city,” Melchor said. “That was the big goal when I came into coach. We wanted to make tennis big in Madera. Tennis doesn’t come to mind when people thing of athletes or sports Madera does well in. That was the goal; to get tennis up in the school and the city. The other schools do a good job of making tennis known in our community and city.”

The Toros opened the match with three tight wins in doubles that set them up to cruise in the singles matches. 

The No. 1 doubles team of Jonathan Carmona and Cade Pender had to hold on for an 8-6 win to open the match. 

Ivan Lara and Oziel Gonzalez were first off the court with an 8-4 win in No. 2 doubles. Sahib Singh and Jonathan Hernandez had to play a little longer before pulling out a 9-7 win in No. 3 doubles. 

“It was really tight, but the boys made it happen,” Melchor said. “Going up 3-0, took off a lot of pressure. Going into singles, the odds are in our favor. I told the boys that we just needed to win two. It’s a huge advantage going into singles.”

With the three victories in doubles, the Toros needed just two wins in singles to clinch the championship. 

Gonzalez got the Toros within one in No. 5 singles. He won the first set, 6-2, but dropped the second set, 5-7. However, he won in super tiebreaker, 10-4, to get the Toros close to the title. 

“Once we got that, I knew we had it in the bag,” Melchor said. “We were up on another court. Ivan, my No. 3 was up a set. We were up, 3-1, so if Ozziel could get that, I knew Ivan would seal it away. Oziel’s was a very big match.”

No. 3 singles Lara came through with the title-clinching win. He won his first set, 7-5, and then won the second set, 6-2 to give the Toros the title. 

No. 1 Carmona lost his match in straight sets, but it was a moot point. 

No. 2 singles, Pender, was tied after two sets, and playing in the tiebreaker when Lara won, and the match ended. No. 4 Abraham Melgoza was up a set, and No. 6 Francisco Cruz Mejia was also up a set when Lara won his match.

The Toros celebrated the title, and gave Melchor the traditional Gatorade dunking. 

“They got me good,” Melchor said. “One of my guys were telling me how thankful they are of me, and he dumped water on me. It was cold, but I was honored it happened. You don’t forget moments like that.”