Central Valley’s varsity boys wrestling team made program history by claiming the overall title at the 53rd Ceres Invitational on Saturday at Ceres High.
“That’s the first time we’ve won an invitational tournament,” said coach Rob Beckhart. “We’ve been close before.”
The Hawks racked up 174 points at the 20-team event.
Crosstown-rival Ceres High (131) placed third.
Livingston (165), Hilmar (119) and Enochs (115) took second, fourth and fifth, respectively.
“We’re in a tough league. We have a long way to go.”Coach Rob Beckhart
“Just because we won this tournament, it doesn’t mean we’re where we want to be,” Beckhart said. “We’re in a tough league. We have a long way to go.”
The Hawks had four individual champions, including Moises Galeana, Ryan Palecek, Juan Lezama and Ruben Valenzuela.
Nataneal Lezama, David Martinez, Thomas Carrillo, Kyle Hendrix, Eric Rivera and Davian Lemus medaled as well.
“We had guys in the finals from 160 pounds all the way up to heavyweight,” Beckhart said. “That was neat to see.”
Moises (3-0), Ryan (3-0), Juan (3-0) and Ruben (4-0) took first at 285, 195, 182 and 170 pounds, respectively.
Galeana collected victories against Deer Valley’s Kobe Leylya (forfeit), Livingston’s Porfirio Valencia (pin, 1:09) and Ceres High’s Elias Saldana (decision, 11-7).
Palecek collected victories against Beyer’s Adrian Schrippers (pin, 0:36), Mariposa’s Kyle Young (pin) and Hilmar’s Mark Labass (decision).
Juan Lezama collected victories against Downey’s Ian Carson (decision, 8-1), Deer Valley’s Frank Tirado (pin, 1:50) and Sonora’s Carson Dambacher (decision).
Valenzuela collected victories against Enochs’ Marcus Rosseto (pin, 3:57), Deer Valley’s Zachariah Mustar (pin) and East Union’s Trinidad Diaz (pin).
Natanael (2-1) and David (3-1) took second at 220 and 160 pounds, respectively.
Thomas (4-1) took third at 220 pounds.
Kyle (3-2) took fifth at 145 pounds.
Eric (3-2) and Davian (2-3) took sixth at 145 and 120 pounds, respectively.
Central Valley’s Joseph Ocanas (160s, 0-2), Elijah DeLeon (138s, 0-2), Juan Melgoza (126s, 0-2) and Nicholas Genasci (106s, 0-2) did not place.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Beckhart stated. “I can’t say enough about how they attacked and pushed the tempo during every match. They were focused.”
Central Valley exceeded its head coach’s expectations by placing first at the Ceres High tournament.
“That wasn’t the goal,” he said. “The kids stepped up.”
