SALINAS VALLEY — Last Wednesday the King City High varsity boys’ wrestling team got off to a great start, picking up dual victories over Soledad (48-36) and North Salinas (48-30).
Angel Becerra, Deandre Esparza, Armando Villasenor, Nate Vargas and Jden Hernandez all picked up a pair of wins for the Mustangs.
The King City girls battled hard against a tough Alisal team. Makayla Montoya, Sophia Garcia and Sofia Patino managed to pick up wins.
On Saturday, the Mustang girls showed resilience, bouncing back from the tough dual meet with Alisal to finish in sixth place out of 26 teams at the La Manzanita Tournament hosted by Watsonville. In back-to-back tournaments, the girls have been a few spots short of an overall team trophy.
Standouts in Watsonville were: Montoya (third place, 125) three wins and one loss; Garcia (third place, 130) three wins and one loss; Jharely Hidalgo (fourth place, 140) two wins and two losses; and Patino (fourth place, heavyweight) two wins and three losses.
Elena Hernandez-Carreno, Margarita Hernandez-Carreno, Leslye Garcia-Matias, Nereida Celestino, Stephanie Perez and Hailey Adair all contributed to the team score, picking up victories.
The Mustang boys battled at the Apple Cider Classic hosted by Watsonville High School. More than 50 schools were in attendance, making for a long day of wrestling.
Notable finishes included: Vargas (eighth place, 175) with two wins and three losses; Esparza (consolation finalist at 150) four wins and two losses; and Hernandez (consolation finalist at 215) three wins and two losses.
Becerra, Villasenor and Julian Rodriguez all picked up a pair of victories.
Last Wednesday in Gonzales, the Spartan team hosted the Cypress Duals (boys) and Mission Duals (girls). Jose Lomeli (150) went 2-0; Clarissa Rico (115) went 2-0; Layne Uribe went 1-1 at heavyweight; and the rest of Spartan team had one match and one win.
The Gonzales grapplers attended the Apple Cider Classic on Saturday. Gabriel Prieto went 4-1 at 150 pounds and was the consolation champion. Christian Zazueta had a strong performance at heavyweight and went 3-2 and wrestled in the consolation final.
At the La Manzanita Girls Tournament, Rico placed second at 115 pounds and Emily Ramirez wrestled at 110 pounds, finishing with a 2-2 record.
