THREE TIGERS WIN AT HOME TOURNEY
Four Tokay High wrestlers walked onto the mat for the championship round of the Rod Gaines Invitational with one thing on their minds — win.
Three of them did just that inside The Jungle on Saturday afternoon, with wins from Carter Bozovich, Trenton Edalgo and Matt Cooper.
That resulted in a high team finish for the Tigers at the second annual tournament. Out of the 20 high schools that competed, Tokay took fourth place with 116 points. Vista del Lago was third at 125 points, followed by Lincoln, second at 129.5 and winner Oakmont of Roseville with 134.5.
Two of three Tokay champions are ranked in the top 40 of their respective weight classes. Leading the way was Carter Bozovich, at 172pounds who is ranked 16th, according The California Wrestler’s website. The senior faced Oakmont’s Brennan Bruegger in their title match, both 2-0 prior to their meeting.
Using upper body attacks for leverage on Bruegger, Bozovich racked up points to hold an 8-0 lead after the second period. Then he recorded four take downs for a 16-0 major decision win.
“Starting off the tournament, I was a little nervous because I started to catch the flu,” said Bozovich, who is 25-4 on the season. “My body felt drained all day. But my matches prior to the championship were very fast.”
Bozovich won his first two matches of the tournament by pins in the first round against Yosemite’s Sean Miller and Franklin’s Chris Jacobo. Bozovich pointed out that the wrestlers he’s faced in the center of the mats have tough ones.
“We’ve been to some big tournaments this year, and seen great competition outside of the Sac-Joaquin Section, and I’ve done well so far and have placed at every tournament,” said Bozovich, who has earned two, third place and fifth place finishes at three tournaments this season. “Good to get some more mat time and clean some things up before (the Tri-City Athletic League meet, which will also take place at Tokay on Saturday, Feb. 10), and before our last dual matches (Tokay competes at Lincoln on Thursday, and host rival Lodi on Tuesday, Jan. 30).”
Tokay coach Ed Carlos said of Bozovich, “He’s put on 20 pounds of muscle. He’s put in the time; now he’s ranked in the state. He just wants to keep everything going in a positive direction.”
Trenton Edalgo (140), who is ranked 37th in California per The California Wrestler, was the second Tiger who won the crown of his weight class. He went three periods before he pinned down Yosemite of Oakhurst’s Nicolas Guynn.
“Trenton has always been
a gamer,” said Carlos of Edalgo. “Seeing him win is nothing new. Now it’s just about getting ready for (post-season) and qualifying for state.”
Before his title bout, Edalgo defeated Monta Vista of Danville’s Patrick Sherry by an 11-1 decision and Isaiah Rodriguez of Venture Academy, this time by major decision at 15-1.
Matthew Cooper (197) grabbed the Tigers’ third individual team title at the tournament with a pin over Yosemite’s Rocky Lapham in the second round. Cooper used two take downs for a 4-0 lead before taking down Lapham.
“Matt has become a real work technician,” said Carlos of Cooper. “He’s put in a lot of hard work into getting where he’s at; he went from winning a match his freshman and sophomore years, by junior year, placing in tough tournaments. I’m real happy for him.”
The Tigers’ fourth wrestler, Joseph Valdez (160) squared off against Oakmont’s Joseph Mintmier, who pinned Valdez in the second round.
“Joseph is a hard worker for us,” said Carlos of Valdez. “To make it to the finals of this tournament, and show what he was made of, we’re real proud of that performance.”
Along with host Tokay and Lincoln, TCAL foes St. Mary’s and Tracy also competed at the invitational. St. Mary’s was 17th at 19 points and Tracy 11th place with 39 points.
The invitational is named after Rod Gaines, who was Tokay’s third wrestling coach in the program. Tokay High became Lodi’s second public high school when it opened its doors in the early 1970s.