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Tigers win another WYL title, send 14 wrestlers to Yosemite Divisional in Bakersfield
Lemoore won its 21st league championship in 23 years, convincing the Tiger faithful that they’re back on track after last year’s minor blip.
The Tigers had six individual champs amid nine athletes who made it to the WYL finals on Thursday afternoon. Lemoore finished with a whopping 262 points to outdistance second place Hanford’s 223 points. El Diamante finished third with 197 points while Golden West was fourth with 161 points.
“Our guys had a great effort,” said Tiger Coach Marcio Botelho, a former state wrestling champ himself. “They wrestled well and they put in some hard work. I’m also very proud of our younger guys, because they really came through for us. We had three freshmen (Jaden Avina, Jesse Gayton and Traeton Stinger) in our lineup and all three took fourth. They picked up a lot of points for us and definitely helped us win the league championship.”
Botelho said that the Tigers will have nearly their entire lineup at Bakersfield on Friday. “We have 13 athletes out of the 14 weight classes, one of them is an alternate … but it looks like we’re going to Bakersfield with 14 guys. We could be a top five team down there,” he said. “We’re also competing with Clovis, Buchanan, and Bakersfield. We could be right in the hunt.”
As expected, Lemoore’s top grappler, Gary Joint, an obvious favorite to challenge for a state title, easily earned a spot in the finals and defeated Hanford’s Ronnie Reyes, pinning the Bullpup in 58 seconds.
Angel Solis won the WYL title again by beating El Diamante’s D. Mota, and at 195 pounds Jacob Gonsalves turned in an impressive string of victories in winning the league championship.
At 138 pounds Joe Romero beat C. Villegas (El Diamante) with a 52-second pin to win a league championship, and Greg Guzman beat Hanford’s Jeronimo Cardoso in the finals 6-1 to add to Lemoore’s championship totals.
Derek Meno turned in an impressive string of victories before dropping the title match to Golden West’s Pablo Gonzales, but the Tigers’ Manny Collins won the 160-pound match to win a title.
Another Tiger earning a spot in the finals, John Panduro, lost to Hanford’s Isaiah Corona when the talented Bullpup won with a pin, and Lemoore’s heavyweight, Noah Wright nearly pulled off the upset of the night, taking the undefeated Armando Barcenas to overtime before losing in the finals.
Next week’s Yosemite Divisionals will determine which athletes continue to the Masters, to be held at Clovis High School Feb. 24-25. The top finishes there will go to the state finals.
