3 Panthers place at regionals
Porterville High School boys wrestling had three athletes place at the CIF Central Section Division I championships at Clovis North High School on Friday and Saturday.
The team’s highest finisher was Hector Nava (154), who placed eighth. Nava won his first match with a 3 minute, 36 second pin but was pinned in 2:50 in the quarterfinals by eventual champion, Jace Luchau of Selma. In consolation, Nava won his first match with a 9-2 decision but lost in the quarters in a 4-2 decision. In the seventhplace match, Nava was pinned in 1:07 by Central’s Julien Gaeth.
David Ayala (184) lost his first match than won his second in consolation by forfeit. In the matches for ninth place, Ayala won the first by a 9-6 decision and the final one by a medical forfeit.
Clarence Harmon (287) lost his first match by decision but then won his first match in consolation by an 8-6 decision. He lost the match before the consolation quarterfinals in a 4-3 decision. Competing for ninth, Harmon won his first match by a 3-1 decision but lost the ninthplace match by pin in 3:30.
DIVISION III
MHS take second, GHHS 12th By just half of a point, Monache High School boys wrestling missed out on a first-place finish at the CIF Central Section Division III championships held at Santa Maria High School on Friday and Saturday.
Monache finished second with 220 points while Arroyo Grande placed first with 220.5. Also from the area, Granite Hills placed
12th with 78 points.
For the Marauders, 10 of a possible 12 wrestlers placed in the top eight with seven in the top three and two being crowned champions. Monache’s two champions were Jose Flores (140 pounds) and Mark Cardwell (172).
In his matches Flores pinned Independence’s David Vasque, Chowchilla’s Zayne Shallberger and Sunnyside Andrew Cardona, respectively, to reach the championship match where he won by decision over Caruthers’ Angel Flores.
To win his divisional championship Cardwell pinned every single opponent, including Ridgeview’s Justin Spainhoward in the championship match.
Francisco Perez (128), Hunter Avila (154) and Taven Avila (287) all placed second for the Marauders. Perez pinned his way to the first-place match where he lost by a 6-4 decision to Cesar Chavez’s Anthony Bartolme. Hunter Avila won every match by fall before losing by pin to Caruthers’ Jake Prudek in the championship match and Taven Avila also won every match by pin before losing by a 9-3 decision to Garces’ Emmanuel Castro.
Taking third for Monache were Anthony Estrada (147) and Hunter Weimer (222). Estrada made it to the semifinals of the championship rounds where he lost by an 11-3 major decision to AGHS’ Levi Fray. In the consolation semis, Estrada won by a 21-8 major decision and then by an injury default in the third-place match. Weimer won by pin in his first two matches but was pinned in the semis. In the consolation semis, Weimer won by decision to reach the third-place match where he pinned Washington Union’s Jordan Nutt.
Also for the Marauders Joshua Newsom (184) went 3-2 and placed fourth, Salvador Garcia (197) went 4-2 and placed fifth, and Adrian Galvan went 3-3 and placed eighth.
Six wrestlers placed from Granite Hills with Steven Jacuinde (162) leading the way with a second-place finish. Jacuinde pinned his way to the semis, where he beat Santa Maria’s Nicholas Quang by a 6-0 decision. In the championship match he lost by a 10-7 decision to AGHS’ Andrew Fragoso.
Taking third for the Grizzlies was Vincent Velasquez (287), who made it to the semifinals but lost by an 8-0 major decision to Castro from Garces. In the consolation semis, Velasquez won by forfeit then pinned AGHS’ Rivaldo Arellano for third.
Shane Christie (172) went 2-2 to place fifth while Victor Castillo went 1-2, beating WUHS’ Joel Gonzalez by pin to place seventh. Placing eighth for the Grizzlies was Tommy Ensaldo (184) and Johan Cervantes (222), who went 2-3 and 1-2, respectively.
DIVISION IV
Strathmore’s Matthew Espinoza placed sixth at the Div. IV championship tournament held Friday and Saturday at Sierra Pacific High School.
Espinoza went 3-3 and lost the fifth-place match to Highland’s Eliseo Lira by an 11-10 decision.
GIRLS WRESTLING
MHS' Kouyoumtjian and Rodriguez take first Monache High School’s Charlotte Koyoumtjian (118 pounds) and Anitzia Rodriguez (172) both placed first at the CIF Central Section Southeast Area girls wrestling tournament at Mission Oak High School Thursday.
In the 113-pound rounds Kouyoumtjian, received a first round bye then pinned her way Golden West’s Amelia Janiak and Mira Monte’s Jennifer Garcia in 35 and 31 seconds, respectively to the finals. For the championship, Kouyoumtjian defeated Foothill’s Araina Juarez by decision.
In the 172-pound rounds, Rodriguez also had a first round bye to start. For her first match she pinned North’s Haylee Adams in 5:43 then pinned FHS’ Daniela Castro in 5:29. For the championship she pinned South’s Camarie Patrick Boone.
Monache’s Rhiannon Racca (123) pinned Desert’s Kristina Bausler in 4:35, then beat West’s Ja’mae Barnes 4-0 before losing 3-0 to Mira Monte’s Yazmine Perez in the championship quarterfinal rounds. In consolation, Racca defeated Marina Vasquez of GWHS in a 1:36 pin but lost 2-0 to Barnes in the third-place match.
From Porterville, Athena Padilla (103) went 3-2 in the tournament to place seventh while teammate Dorothy Steenbergen (191) went 0-3 and placed eighth.
Out of Strathmore, Mykah Garcia (103) went 2-3 and finished eighth.