Central Valley High School's varsity wrestling program is enjoying its best season to date.

The Hawks improved to 10-1 on the year and 4-0 in the Western Athletic Conference dual-meet standings following their sweep of Central Catholic and Ceres High last week.

"This is where we expected to be," Central Valley head coach Rob Beckhart said. "The kids are working hard and responding. It's nice to see them grow as a team. It's been fun to watch."

The Hawks edged the Raiders 36-29 at Central Catholic on Jan. 21.

"It was pretty intense," said Beckhart, whose team last beat CC during the 2010-11 school year. "We deserved to win. We knew it was going to be close. It could have easily gone the other way."

Luis Torres, Rick Brown, Cesar Yepiz, Ethan Rotondo, Christian Oliver, Michael Manzur, Jose Castillo and Abel Garcia collected individual wins versus the Raiders.

"A lot of teams were worried about Central Catholic in the WAC," Beckhart said. "After we beat them, it gave us a target on our backs. Other coaches are taking notice. Nobody is going to take us for granted."
Torres won by decision (7-0) against Luke Navarro at 154 pounds.

Brown won by decision (3-2) against two-time WAC champion Ga-Lhiel Dillard at 172 pounds.

Yepiz won by pin (0:50) against Austin Cook at 222 pounds.

Rotondo won by pin (3:48) against Jerry Nicholson at 108 pounds.

Oliver won by major decision (12-2) against Tiana Jackson at 115 pounds.

Manzur won by decision (7-6) against Steven Abbate at 122 pounds.

Castillo won by pin (2:24) against Cole Montgomery at 134 pounds.

Garcia's forfeit victory at 140 pounds gave the Hawks an insurmountable 36-26 lead.

Central Valley defeated Ceres High's youth-laden squad 55-15 on Thursday at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

Brown won by pin (0:43) against Brian Quintanilla at 172 pounds.

Adrian Badillo won by pin (1:01) against Jonathan Rodriguez at 184 pounds.

Manzur won by pin (1:07) against Alexis Zuniga at 122 pounds.

Rotondo won by pin (1:32) against Michael Vargas at 108 pounds.

Gabriel Martinez won by pin (2:32) against Diego Diaz at 162 pounds.

Cristian Garcia won by pin (2:34) against Jorge Sandoval at 147 pounds.

Cesar Yepiz won by technical fall (15-0) against Tyler Cazares at 222 pounds.

Oliver won by technical fall (15-0) against Luis Camarillo at 115 pounds.

Severo Vazquez won by decision (8-5) against Aiden Moore at 128 pounds.

Adrian Vizcaino won by decision (3-1) against Abel Morales at 197 pounds.

Castillo won by decision (6-5) in overtime against Daniel Raya at 134 pounds.

Abel Garcia lost by pin (4:37) to Ceres High's Nick Santibanez at 140 pounds.

Jose Medina lost by pin (2:40) to Jose Arita at 285 pounds.

Torres lost by decision (9-8) to John Alba at 154 pounds.

"We won as a team," Beckhart said.

Central Valley will accomplish both of its goals with wins against host Los Banos (Jan. 28) and visiting Patterson (Feb. 5).

The Hawks are trying to win their first-ever conference title.

The top two programs in the WAC advance to team sections.

"That's our expectation," Beckhart said. "It's not going to be easy. We still have a lot of work to do. We'll see what happens."