Ceres High School's varsity wrestling team battled back from a nine-point deficit and defeated Pacheco 48-30 during Thursday's Western Athletic Conference dual-meet opener in Los Banos.

The Bulldogs (1-0) won eight of 14 matches against the Panthers (0-1).

"We fell behind early," head coach Steve Festa said. "After that, we went on a run and won some tough matches. We turned out to be the tougher team. Our hard work is paying off."

John Alba's pin versus 152-pounder John Huerta gave Ceres High an insurmountable 36-18 lead.

Luis Camarillo won by pin versus Miguel Barrera at 113 pounds.

Aiden Moore won by pin versus Aroon Sarwari at 126 pounds.

Nick Santibanez won by pin versus Martin Perez at 138 pounds.

Diego Diaz won by pin versus Johnny Del Rio at 170 pounds.

Michael Vargas, Daniel Raya and Jonathan Rodrigues won by forfeit at 106, 145 and 195 pounds, respectively.

Jose Arita lost by decision to Joseph Coronado at 285 pounds.

Bruno De la Torre lost by decision to Christian Grijanlua at 132 pounds.

Abel Morales lost by pin to Nick Vermillon at 220 pounds.

Roman Acosta lost by pin to Aaron Jamie at 120 pounds.

Ceres High also gave up forfeit wins to Marcus Azevedo (160s) and Javier Gonzalez (182s).

The Bulldogs beat the Panthers despite competing without Cameron Thatcher, Jorge Sandoval and Brian Quintanilla. They were on vacation.

"We had a thin lineup," Festa said. "No matter what, we're going to wrestle our best with who we have. We're not making excuses for ourselves."

Ceres High will compete at Los Banos today at 6 p.m.