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CHS wrestlers edge CV, earns crosstown bragging rights
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Ceres High School's varsity wrestling team erased a 22-point deficit and escaped with a 38-28 road win over crosstown-rival Central Valley last Wednesday.

"They gave us a little scare in the beginning," Bulldogs' 220-pounder Ruben Sanchez said. "I knew it would be a close match. They're a tough team. We stepped up when we had to. We seized the moment. It was a great team effort."

Second-place Ceres High improved to 4-1 in the Western Athletic Conference dual-meet standings.

Fifth-place Central Valley dropped to 1-3 in the WAC.

"We needed this win to improve our chances of going to team sections," Sanchez said.

The Bulldogs dug themselves a 22-0 hole four matches into the dual meet.

Austin Moore lost by pin (1:25) to Central Valley's Anthony Centeno during their 160-pound tilt.

Dustin Palacek lost by pin (1:10) to Rick Brown at 170 pounds.

Eric Bejaran lost by pin (3:22) to Jorge Canales at 182 pounds.

Rudy Gonzalez lost by major decision (15-2) to Adrian Vizcaino at 195 pounds.

"We knew they'd come back," Vizcaino said. "They have some pretty good wrestlers at the lower weights. We made some mistakes and they won."

Ceres High won eight of the final 10 matches.

Sanchez's third-round pin (5:26) of Central Valley's Jordan Sales cut the deficit to 22-6.

Armando Morales won by pin (1:02) over Cesar Yepiz at 285 pounds.

Joey Bettencourt lost by decision (2-0) to Michael Manzur at 106 pounds.

Gabriel Balderas won by pin (1:32) over Aaron Page at 113 pounds.

Brandon Christeson won by pin (5:11) over Rose Moore at 120 pounds.

The Bulldogs grabbed their first lead when Nick Santibanez won by decision (9-3) over Raul Godinez at 126 pounds. Ceres High never trailed the rest of the way.

Erick Garcia won by decision (7-6) over Louis Gonzales at 132 pounds.

Moses Gomez lost by decision (1-0) to Cristian Garcia at 138 pounds.

David Cisneros won by major decision (14-4) over Eddy Nunez at 145 pounds.

Central Valley would have forced a tiebreaker had it won the night's final match by pin.

Ceres High team captain Nick Moran avoided a huge letdown with a 15-1 major-decision victory over Josue Hernandez at 152 pounds.

Moran played the role of hero against Livingston the previous week.

"There was added pressure," said Moran, who climbed to No. 4 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Rankings for 145-pound grapplers earlier this month. "It gave me more motivation to win. He (Josue) was strong. He was determined. But I knew my drive was more than his and my technique would outlast."