Oakdale romps to seventh straight dual wrestling title; Enochs, Modesto girls win

If you saw Godzilla in a red singlet, you’d be watching Oakdale High School at the Sac-Joaquin Section Team Dual Wrestling Championships.

The Mustangs, locked into their comfort zone in arguably their favorite event, again stomped on everyone to claim their seventh consecutive title and eighth in the last nine. But it was the degree of their domination that turned heads Saturday at Lincoln High.

Oakdale dismissed Casa Roble 51-8 and pitched a 72-0 shutout over Vista del Lago, the team that surprised Central Catholic 39-35 in the Division III semifinals.

All told, the Mustangs – ranked 10th in California – won 24 of 28 matches this day, 19 by pin. In an often emotion-steeped meet featuring the section’s dual-meet league champions and other qualifiers, Oakdale stood tall and business-like over the field. Many of their falls came quick.

“Everyone was wrestling their best,” said 120-pounder Logan Eaton, one of the team’s seven seniors, after his pin and tech. “We put the pressure on ourselves to keep winning. It’s contagious.”

Other blue banners were taken home by Los Banos in Division IV, Calaveras in Division V and Waterford in Division VI. Meanwhile, Pitman brought back only heartbreak.

The Pride, which eliminated Modesto Metro Conference champion Gregori 63-12 in the first round, was denied 32-27 by eventual champion Folsom in the Division I semifinals. Folsom, the state’s No. 11-ranked team, was extended to the max.

Several tough losses, along with injuries that sidelined three members of their lineup, cost Pitman. Sophomore Trevor Mattox (106) nearly pinned his opponent in the third round but eventually was beaten 6-5.

Such close calls allowed Folsom to escape with its second consecutive title while Pitman wondered, “What if.” It probably didn’t help the Pride’s mood when Folsom eventually dropped Elk Grove 37-15 in the final.

“We needed just one more win. I could feel the blue banner,” Pitman coach Adam Vasconcellos said. “It would have been nice to be on the other side of the bracket (away from Folsom), but the Elk Grove and Vacaville names carry a lot of weight.”

If Vasconcellos still wants to feel a banner, he can call his brother Matt Vasconcellos, the first-year coach at Los Banos. The fifth-seeded Tigers, who got into the field via a tiebreaker in the Western Athletic Conference, stunned the D-IV bracket by beating fourth seed Union Mine 56-18, top seed Foothill 37-30 and second seed Central Valley 44-26.

Los Banos finished 4-2 in the WAC and shared second place with Livingston and Ceres, all behind Central Valley. To break the tie, coaches added up all points won by the three runners-up in their matchups. The Tigers edged Ceres 73-72 with Livingston trailing at 65.

Which means that by one WAC point, Los Banos eventually became Cinderella.

“No doubt,” Matt Vasconellos said.

Still, Los Banos – beaten by Central Valley 36-35 in December – turned back a determined rally by the Hawks. Los Banos didn’t clinch it until a pin by senior Josh Bustamante in the second-to-last match. Tyler Felix, a two-time state qualifier who has returned to the team after a two-month hiatus, closed with a pin. Central Valley missed a chance for its first blue banner in any sport.

Waterford avenged a dual-meet loss to Mariposa this season by defeating the Grizzlies 43-33 for the second year in a row in the Division VI title match. Matt Profeta (132), Elijah Singleton (160), Juan Mendez (195), Tory Larios (285) and Ivan Gomez (113) won by fall for Waterford’s third title in four years.

Calaveras won only two matches via pin over Escalon but pounded to a 40-12 win over the Cougars in the D-V final. The Redskins, who have beaten Escalon in the final the last three years, have claimed section titles for five years in a row.

Girls wrestling

Two local champions – Juniors Sariyah Jones of Enochs and Marianne Schauer of Modesto both won weight-class titles at the Sac-Joaquin and Northern Section Championships, the girls Masters, at McNair High. They’ll lead a group of 13 from the Stanislaus District who placed in the top five and qualified for the CIF Championships on Feb. 27-28 at the Visalia Convention Center.

Jones reached the 106-pound final with four straight wins by fall, all in 31 seconds or faster, before she stopped Candice Corralejo of Del Oro 4-1 in the title match.

Schauer swept to four wins by pin, the last in the 160 final over Haley Callaway of Del Oro.

Enochs, which scored 137 1/2 points and placed third in the team standings behind champion Del Oro and runner-up Tokay, placed four wrestlers in the top three. Freshmen Rory Coscia (116) and Katrina Guevara (131) finished second in their respective brackets. Sophomore Micaela Kent finished third at 101.

Also earning runner-up medals were Pacheco junior Miranda Lamela (126) and Rose Beltran of Buhach Colony (137).

Other state qualifiers included Mai Hill of Weston Ranch (fourth at 101), Tiana Jackson of Central Catholic (fourth at 111), Thalia Marines of Gregori (third at 170), Courtney Juarez of Atwater (fifth at 170) and Jalynne Hooker of Los Banos (third at 235).

This story was originally published February 7, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Oakdale romps to seventh straight dual wrestling title; Enochs, Modesto girls win."