Saturday, Feb. 13 the Oakdale Mustangs varsity wrestling team welcomed all seven of the other Valley Oak League (VOL) schools to town for the league wrestling meet. Oakdale, which clinched its tenth consecutive VOL title on Jan. 27 and an eighth straight CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title on Feb. 6, continued their league dominance.
Oakdale made short work of the competition, having seven wrestlers take first place on the day, and six grapplers ending as second place finishers.
Among the first place finishers were Oakdale’s trio of freshmen: Dustin Chavez (106), Ricky Torres (126), and Cody Golding (160). Last week head coach Steve Strange praised the three underclassmen and this week the boys did not disappoint. After all three earned a first round bye, Chavez hit the mat first. The 106 pound speedster made short work of Jalen Patton of East Union and Jackson Rusconi of Sierra to win the bracket. Chavez won both matches via pin. Torres followed up with a pin over Gianni Jacob of Kimball and a decision victory over Central Catholic’s Steven Abbate. Golding overpowered Junior Bravo of Central Catholic and defeated Ruben Ballegos of East Union via a major decision in the third round.
Sophomore Jake Abeyta (113) grabbed first place on Saturday. Abeyta earned a first round bye and advanced to the finals following an injury to his semi-finals round opponent. In the finals Abeyta won 10-0 over Jared Nicolson of Central Catholic.
Oakdale’s ‘Williams boys – Cody (120) and Trevor (132) – Williams continued their impressive 2015-2016 season. The pair each earned first place finishes. Following a first round bye, Cody earned an early first period pin over Trinidad Diaz of East Union in the semi-finals. Cody kept his momentum alive with an impressive pin over Sierra’s Brandon Rulan in the finals to take first place. Trevor, one of only three seniors on the team, bullied his way through the competition. Earning a first round bye Trevor then defeated Jon Hernandez of Lathrop in the first period to advance to the finals. Trevor battled Kimball’s Joe Parunga where he won early in the second period via major decision.
Heavyweight sophomore Matt Kjeldgaard overpowered the competition with two victories to claim his first place status. Like the others, Kjeldgaard earned a first round bye. Kjeldgaard defeated Brian Fogar of Sierra in the semi-finals to face off against Carlos Hernandez of Manteca. The two heavyweights went the distance resulting in Kjeldgaard’s hand raised high with a 9-2 decision.
Second place finishes went to Gabe Martinez (138); Jake Ryan (145); Bronson Harmon (152); Justin Jerricoff (170); Max Moore (182) and Nico Sarale (220).
The Mustangs host a two day Divisionals Meet on Friday and Saturday, Feb 19 and 20 with wrestling action beginning at 11 a.m. both days.
