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Bulldogs improve to 7-2 overall, 1-0 in the WAC
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Ceres Highs Daniel McElwain (pictured right) pinned Pattersons Abraham Espinosa in the first round of their 285-pound matchup. - photo by Contributed to the Courier

Ceres High School's varsity wrestling team traveled to Patterson for a Western Athletic Conference dual-meet opener this past week.

The Bulldogs won the first 10 matches of the night and cruised to a 63-15 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday.

"We were prepared for a tough match," Ceres High head coach Steve Festa said. "We ran them out of their own gym. It was really impressive. We're not satisfied. We know we have more work to do."

The Bulldogs improved to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in the WAC standings.

"We're going in the right direction," Festa said. "Every practice and match, we get better. We want to have a special season. It would be really great for our program to have the same success as Central Valley."

The Bulldogs built a commanding 57-0 lead during their annihilation of the Tigers.

Brian Becerra won by pin (0:26) over Sean D'Ocampo at 132 pounds.

Jaden Cooper won by pin (0:07) over Francisco Duran at 138 pounds.

Brandon Ramirez won by pin (5:49) over Marcus Tuker at 145 pounds.

John Alba won by pin (1:18) over Israel Hernandez at 152 pounds.

Aiden Moore won by forfeit at 160 pounds.

Spencer Nelson won by pin (1:21) over Cameron Fredricks at 170 pounds.

Diego Diaz won by forfeit at 182 pounds.

Tyree Williams won by decision (10-9) over Jerry Arredondo at 195 pounds.

Conner Johnson won by forfeit at 220 pounds.

Daniel McElwain won by pin (1:15) over Abraham Espinosa at 285 pounds.

Shanald Lal won by pin (0:42) over Mokbel Obeina at 120 pounds.

"We were confident but didn't overlook Patterson," Festa said.

Ceres High will battle host Central Valley (Jan. 12) and visiting Pacheco (Jan. 13) this week.

Central Valley posted perfect 6-0 records in WAC dual-meet action the past two years.

The Bulldogs won four of six duals while finishing in a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings last season.

"This is one of the best teams I've coached in the nine years I've been here," Festa said. "We're confident but we know we got to perform. We're going to keep pushing every day to get better. We're not going to underestimate any of our opponents. Anything can happen."