Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008

Crowell gets 'slinky' in win

Golden Valley takes team title; 12 from district win weight class

STOCKTON -- Mike Crowell's Davis High wrestling teammates call him Slinky for a reason.

And during the 135-pound championship of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I South Wrestling championships, the crowd at McNair High School found out why.

Crowell allowed himself to be twisted into pretzel-like shapes by Los Banos' Jordan Erickson but never allowed his opponent to score the back points he needed. Crowell held on for an 8-6 victory Saturday.

The Stanislaus District had 12 wrestlers win individual titles compared to two from the Stockton-area leagues.

The Central California Conference was particularly impressive, with 10 individual champions as well as Golden Valley winning the team title. The Cougars saw three wrestlers win individual titles: Jack Anderson (130 pounds), Jay Jay Terry (145) and Thomas Marquez (160).

Crowell, a sophomore, took Erickson down at the beginning of the match and controlled the first two periods. He led 8-1 at one point, and led 8-2 heading into the third, and final, period.

"I guess I got kind of tired," Crowell said. "It seemed like I was just hanging on at one point."

That's because Erickson went on the offensive, taking Crowell down and touching his shoulders to the mat for two near-fall points and pulling within 8-6. He maintained control of Crowell, and began to bend him toward the mat yet again.

"That's when I went into 'flexible mode,' " Crowell said. "He wasn't going to get any more back points."

At one point, Crowell was face-to-face with his shoe, but a desperate Erickson never got the back points he needed.

"It's a nice feeling to win," Crowell said. "Now that I made it back to Masters, my goal is to go to state."

Before Johansen's Rodney Smith and Downey's George Ferris faced off in the heavyweight championship, they crossed the mat to shake hands. But instead of shaking hands, the two big guys assumed the Sumo wrestling position, stomping their feet on the mat twice before hugging. It drew a laugh from the crowd.

"We did that in the (Modesto Metro Conference) championships, too," Smith said. "We've been friends for a while and we decided to have some fun."

Last week, it was Ferris who got the win, pinning Smith in the second period.

But Saturday, Smith evened their records against each other at 1-1 with a 7-4 victory.

"I used last week's match as extra motivation," Smith said. "It's nice to go into Masters with a big win. Hopefully we both keep going."

The city of Turlock had four individual champions, two apiece from Turlock and Pitman.

The Bulldogs' Mychael Jackson (125 pounds) and Dylan Frazee (14) both won via pin.

Jackson, the CCC runner-up, expected to see Golden Valley's Lee Xiong, the CCC champ, in the finals. Instead, he faced Merced's Art Hernandez, an upset winner over Xiong in the semifinals.

Jackson rushed Hernandez early in the match, throwing him to the mat and pinning him in 53 seconds. Hernandez's elbow was injured in the move, most likely ending his season.

And Frazee continued his hot streak, pinning Beyer's Michael Ford in 3:09 for the title. It's a far different section divisional match than last year for Frazee, a senior.

"I came here last year and I wasn't prepared for it," Frazee said. "I went 0-2 and was out. But this year I was pretty hungry for this. This is big because this is a tough sub-section. I'm going to Masters with a lot of momentum."

Two Pitman wrestlers won titles, and only one had to wrestle for it.

Pride 152-pounder Cesar Padilla received a default victory over Tracy's Dylan Smith because Smith was injured in his semifinal.

But 103-pounder Vincent Perez had to wrestle. He took 3:54 to pin Lincoln's Logan Lazaro.

"Once you get to this point, pretty much anything can happen," said Perez, who placed eighth in the state at 103 pounds last year. "I just knew I had to keep going and wrestle my match.

"The big goal's state, but I'm hoping to do well next week first."

Merced County had six wrestlers win titles.

Merced's Ray Valenzuela prevailed at 119 pounds. Buhach Colony's James Kelleher won it all at 171 pounds. And Los Banos' Andrew Vander Poel beat Turlock's Marco Delgado 6-3 in the 215-pound finale.

With three champions, Golden Valley stood out.

"It's big to win a section banner," Terry said. "Coach was telling us, whatever happens, we'll always be a part of this. You can go back to our gym in 10 years and see this year up there."