Valley has strong showing at state
In the grand state of California, the Imperial Valley may be a small mark on the map but a handful of young wrestlers made their Valley known as they won and placed at this year’s California USA Kids Folkstyle Championships on Sunday at Selland Arena in Fresno.
Local youth wrestling clubs from Brawley, El Centro, Imperial and Holtville made the seven-hour drive for a chance to return home with some prized awards.
Overall the Imperial Valley was represented with five champions and 12 placers.
The Brawley Gladiators had three champions as Matthew Gutierrez won the Intermediate Boys 112-pound division, Alan Carrillo won the Middle School Boys 160-pound division and Savannah Gomez won the Middle School Girls 117-pound division.
Also for the Gladiators, Daryn Leon placed fifth in the Bantam 60-pound division and Jose Gutierrez placed fifth in the Middle School Boys 140-pound division.
The Imperial Jr. Wrestling Club notched the other two local champions as Noah Larios won the Bantam 75+ division and Adam Avila won the Intermediate Boys 103-pound division.
Also for Imperial, Diego Esquivez placed seventh in the Bantam 40-pound division, Ryen Adame took second in the Bantam 75+ division, Iris Meono took second in the Novice Girls 70-pound division and Paul Ortiz finished seventh in the Middle School Boys 132-pound class.
The T.U.F. Wrestling club, based out of El Centro, had a total of five placers with Anthony Juarez taking eighth in the Bantam 60-pound division, Carlos Zaragoza finished fifth in the Bantam 65-pound division, Xamian Muñoz-Salazar placed fifth in the Intermediate Boys 50-pound division, Delarie Juarez took seventh in the Novice Girls 75-pound class and Alexus Espinoza finished sixth in the Middle School Girls 95-pound division.
The Holtville Takedown Club rounded out the Valley placers as Jackson Irungaray placed eighth in the Intermediate Boys 75-pound division.