Tiger wrestlers crush the competition at annual Deliddo Tournament in Lemoore

As a team the Tigers demolished the large wrestling field, amassing a tourney-high 201 points, clearly outdistancing second-place Selma’s 139 points.

“We are really wrestling well at this point in the season,” said Tiger Coach Marcio Botelho, “and hopefully this will carry us into league.”

The Lemoore High School Girls' wrestlers finished third in the Sierra Pacific Wrestling Classic held Thursday in Hanford.

The Tigers have at least two more tournaments left before taking on the rest of the West Yosemite League. On Jan. 6 Lemoore takes part in the prestigious Doc Buchanan Tournament in Clovis and then drive to Arroyo for the Arroyo Classic on Jan. 7.

The Tigers open their league campaign when they host Redwood High School on Jan. 11.

As expected, Lemoore’s top wrestler, Gary Joint, easily defeated Reedley’s Salvador Soto in the finals 22-9, which helped earn him the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. After an opening round bye, Joint dispatched Sierra Pacific’s Rashad Wilson before knocking off Kerman’s Daniel Soto to get into the finals.
The wins didn’t stop with Joint. The Tigers opened on a high note with 106-pounder Sabien Jones. The senior lightweight beat Sanger’s Sebastian Rocha in the opener and then cruised past Parlier’s Mike Garza for the tournament title.

Next up, Joe Romero at 145 pounds, who defeated Madera’s Angel Guizar in the finals for Lemoore’s third title of the tournament. At 152 pounds, Greg Guzman made a big contribution to the team effort with a win over Reedley’s Sam Arroyo.

Other winners include Imonal Collins at 170, who dispatched Parlier’s Noah Collazo, and Angel Solis, notching yet another victory, this time a 5-1 decision over RFK’s Christopher Velez.

Lemoore’s heavyweight, Noah Wright, quickly got past Tulare Union’s Brian Wendt in the final.

Other finishers included Jacob Gonsalves, a 220-pound junior who took second, and Jose Lara, who at 220 pounds, finished fourth.

In other action, Lemoore’s girls’ team turned in an impressive performance at the Sierra Pacific Tournament on Thursday, finishing third overall with 83.5 points. The winning team, Selma, turned in a solid performance, amassing 196 total points. Nipomo finished second with 109 points.

“I’m really proud of our lady Tiger wrestlers,” said Botelho. “They are improving each week and today was just another good performance.”

Lemoore’s top wrestlers were senior Gracie Clark, at 143 points, who finished second, and sophomore Caroline Gonzales, also a second-place finisher at 150 pounds.  At 160 pounds, Lemoore junior Ariel Ziabange took third as did senior Angelita Sanchez, at 111 pounds.

Junior Dulce Magana finished four at 117 pounds as did Kayla Rodriguez a junior wresting at 189 pounds.