Central Valley High School’s boys wrestling team totaled 84.5 points en route to a ninth-place finish at the Morning Star Invitational on Dec. 18 in Los Banos.
Fremont (191), Grace Davis (145.5) and Clovis (129) took first, second and third, respectively.
“I’m proud of them,” Hawks’ head coach Rob Beckhart said. “There were some tough kids there. Anytime you can get kids experience, I think it’s a positive. Wrestling isn’t an easy sport.”
Central Valley’s Isaac Harkrader, Anthony Malagon, Nick Genasci brought home individual medals.
“I’m happy for them,” Beckhart said. “We’ve always known Isaac had the potential to be a good wrestler. Anthony has pretty high expectations for himself. He’s a super strong kid and athletic. Nick is starting to grasp all the stuff we’re starting to throw at him. He works hard He’s there every single day. He’s one of our team leaders. We expect Nick to do well.
Harkrader accounted for 24 of Central Valley’s team points.
He placed second with a 3-1 record in the 170-pound weight division.
Harkrader lost by pin (1:14) to Fremont’s Eduardo Cedillo in the finals.
He collected wins against Clovis’ Jordan Molina (pin), Lincoln of Stockton’s Luke Weber (pin) and Fowler’s Pedro Alonzo Mondragon (pin).
Malagon (19 points) placed fourth with a 3-2 record at 195 pounds.
He collected wins against McNair’s Ivan Larios (pin), Grace Davis’ Samuel Lourenco (pin) and Fowler’s Christian Jones (pin).
Malagon lost to San Benito’s Abraham Solorio (pin) and Los Banos’ Raymond Fernandez (pin).
Genasci (17 points) placed fourth with a 2-2 record at 113 pounds.
He collected wins against San Benito’s Matthew Duran (pin) and William C. Overfelt’s Matt Gomez (pin).
Genasci lost to Clovis’ Raymond Novoa (pin) and Clovis’ Dario Petrucelli (decision).
Adan Garcia placed eighth with a 2-3 record at 138 pounds.
He collected wins against Bullard’s Lewis Saldivar (decision) and Gilroy’s Giovanni Choto (pin).
Garcia lost to Grave Davis’ Demarcus Turner (pin), Downey’s Luis Morales (pin) and San Benito’s Noah Nelson (pin).
Roman Vargas, Juan Melgoza, Joey Zuniga, Enrique Gonzalez, Glen Valenzuela and Elijah Lee did not place in Los Banos.
Vargas compiled a 3-1 record at 285 pounds.
He collected wins against Coalinga’s Osvaldo Negrete (pin), Grace Davis’ Jakob Garcia (pin) and Denair’s Zackary Duffy (pin).
Vargas lost to Downey’s Ian Sharples (pin).
Melgoza compiled a 3-2 record at 152 pounds.
He collected wins against Coalinga’s Kaiden Peters (pin), Bullard’s Diego Manza (technical fall) and Clovis East’s Albert Adams (pin).
Melgoza lost to William C. Overfelt’s Josiah Becerra (pin) and Los Banos’ Alexis Rodriguez (decision).
Zuniga, Gonzalez, Valenzuela posted identical 0-2 records at 126, 132 and 182 pounds, respectively.
Zuniga lost to Clovis’ Robert Ornelas (pin) and Fowler’s Ayden Lopez (decision).
Gonzalez lost to Clovis’ Vinyard Griffith (pin) and Cupertino’s Christopher Espitia-Alvarez (pin).
Valenzuela lost to Fowler’s Fidel Cortez (decision) and Cupertino’s Aditya Nair (decision).
Lee finished 0-3 at 145 pounds.
He lost to Los Banos’ Larry Borelli (pin), Cesar Chavez’s Effren Quinones (pin) and Livingston’s Anthony Maldonado (decision).
Central Valley competed shorthanded at the Morning Star Classic as Ruben Valenzuela attended the Zinkin Classic at Buchanan High School and Andrew Torres spent part of his winter vacation at Disneyland.
Valenzuela won two of three matches at 182 pounds in Clovis.
He pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
He was seeded second.
“He’s been dealing with it all year,” Beckhart said. “It got aggravated during his third match. Hopefully, he can recover.”
Valenzuela ranked sixth in the state prior to competing in the tournament.
“It’s disappointing,” Beckhart said. “I wanted to see him get a match against Joseph Martin of Buchanan. He’s the No. 1 ranked kid in his weight class.”
GIRLS RESULTS
Central Valley’s girls wrestling program had 10 individuals compete at the 20th Annual Castro Valley High School Classic on Dec. 18.
The Hawks tied for 43rd place with Tracy in the varsity division.
The tournament features 63 teams.
“It’s a tough tournament,” Beckhart said.
Mia Mendoza took sixth with a 1-3 record at 160 pounds.
She beat Acalanes’ Olivia Banks (pin).
Mendoza lost to College Park’s Haley Joseph (pin), Oceana’s Shannon Cleary (pin) and Redwood’s Alexus Chavira (pin).
Soriah Corona, Aliyah Badillo and Savannah Gomez had identical 0-2 records at 101, 121 and 170 pounds, respectively.
Corona lost to San Leandro’s Angelieve Penales (pin) and Amador Valley’s Graciela Caro (pin).
Badillo lost to San Marin’s Kaia Ring (pin) and Tracy’s Virginia Metge (pin).
Gomez lost to San Ramon’s Melody Tootian (pin) and Willits’ Ava Etherton (pin).
Yahaira Torres was Central Valley’s top finisher during Castro Valley’s junior-varsity tournament.
She finished second with a 1-1 record at 116 pounds.
Torres topped Castro Valley’s Grace Xu (pin).
She lost to Vintage’s Elysiana Medina (pin).
Kylie Maines finished fourth with a 2-2 record at 111 pounds.
She topped Campolindo’s Natalia Kalas (pin) and Lowell’s En Yu Cen (pin).
Maines lost to Kalas (decision) and Las Lomas’ Katherine Lum (pin).
Jayden Corona finished fourth with a 1-2 record at 106 pounds.
She topped Hayward’s Rosalie Cordova (pin).
Corona lost to Casa Grande’s Maliyah McCoy (pin) and San Leandro’s Isela Paz (pin).
Keilany Torres finished fourth with an 0-2 record at 101 pounds.
She lost to Bear Creek’s Denise McCall (pin) and Vintage’s Ava Handy (pin).
Cintia Martin (111s) and Marianna Carranza (126s) both finished 0-2 in their respective weight classes.
Martin lost to Dublin’s Hana Nguyen (pin) and Maria Carrillo’s Tiffany McFarland (decision).
Carranza lost to San Ramon’s Kathryn Burpee (pin) and Castro Valley’s Adriana Lopez (pin).
