PREP ROUNDUP: GV no match for Turlock in defeat

Golden Valley wrestling coach Chopper Mello knew his team came into Tuesday night's matchup heavy underdogs against Turlock.

The Bulldogs were as good as advertised.

Turlock won the first five matches of the night to jump out to a 19-point lead and never looked back on its way to a 38-11 win at Cougar Arena.

The win wrapped up at least a share of the Central California Conference title for Turlock (4-0 CCC).

The Bulldogs basically were able to do what Golden Valley has done to its opponents all season.

Turlock was able to keep the Cougars wrestlers on the defensive for most of the night as Golden Valley lost just its second dual meet all season to drop to 21-2.

The Bulldogs got off to a good start when Evan Strada edged out Ty Bowden 6-5 in the 184-pound matchup.

Turlock teammate Luis Flores then picked up an 11-7 win over Luis Alvarado and Ricky Flores followed that with the only pin of the night to give the Bulldogs a quick 12-0 lead.

The Cougars were trailing 19-0 before they were able to get on the board.

Jacob Perry was able to work himself out of a couple situations where he found himself on his back to outscore Turlock's Alex Gutierrez 16-10 in the 108-match to give Golden Valley three points.

Despite jumping out to an 8-0 lead, Perry found himself trailing 10-8 later in the second round. Perry was able to regain momentum and finished with the final eight points to win the match.

In one of the featured matches of the night, Golden Valley's 115-pounder Christian Vasquez won a hard-fought 5-1 decision over Turlock's Jason Valdovino.

The other Cougars bright spot was Chris Shipley, who dominated in his 16-0 win over Christian Clementi in the 154-pound match.

BASKETBALL

Le Grand 54, Delhi 45

DELHI -- Mauricio Contreras scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bulldogs to a win over the Hawks.

Dos Palos 53, Mendota 51

DOS PALOS -- Andre Hill scored 21 points as the Broncos squeaked out their third win of the season.

GIRLS

BASKETBALL

Merced 47, Pitman 46

Lexi Thompson (15 points) made a free throw with 6 seconds left to lift the Bears (5-2 CCC) past the Pride.

Buhach Colony 49, Turlock 24

ATWATER -- The Thunder jumped out to a 26-4 lead in the first quarter. Allison Wisdom paced the Thunder (7-0 CCC, 19-5 overall) with 17 points.

Atwater 44, Golden Valley 43

ATWATER -- The Falcons overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half with the help of 12 points from Brianne Hunter.