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Mustang Wrestlers, Soccer Girls Rounding Into Postseason Form
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In a busy week for the Oakdale wrestling program, the seniors were recognized for their accomplishments on Wednesday, Jan. 25. The Mustangs then went on to defeat De La Salle that night, and claimed the Team Duals Division I title over the weekend. Jeff Kettering/The Leader

Continuing a streak of dominance and excellence on the mats, the Oakdale Mustang wrestlers captured the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Dual Finals title. They pinned down the championship at Lincoln High School in Stockton over the weekend.

“Oakdale junior Elias Corona (197 pounds) defeated the number seven ranked wrestler in California, Kainoa Acia of Del Oro, by Major Decision (12-4) to help the Mustangs defeat Del Oro High School en route to the Division 1 Dual Finals,” said head coach Steve Strange.

In the first round at the DI Duals, Oakdale defeated St. Mary’s by a 72-12 decision. That put them in the semifinals, where they handled Del Oro, 52-19. Finally, the Mustangs edged out Vacaville in the finals, 40-25, to win the championship.

Other top performers for the Mustangs included: Logan Thomas, 2-0, 115 pounds; Jesse Meza, 128, who won by fall vs. Vacaville; Sammy Neely, 134, 3-0; Colton Silva, 147, 2-0; Payne Perkins, 162, 3-0; Wes Burford, 172, 2-0; Carlos Garcia, 184, 3-0; Emilio Johnson, 220, 2-0; Brock Osmundson, 285, 2-0.

Coming up next, on Friday, Feb. 3 at 3 p.m., Oakdale will host the VOL Championships.

Saturday, Feb. 11 will be the Division 3 Championships at Westpark High School in Roseville, starting at 9 a.m.

The Masters Meet is scheduled at the Stockton Arena, Feb. 17 and 18; CIF State Meet is Feb. 23 through 25 at Mechanics Bank Arena, Bakersfield.

Along with the wrestlers, the Mustang boys and girls basketball and soccer squads had a busy week in league competition.

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Falling at home and on the road, the Lady Mustangs varsity basketball girls are battling through a tough Valley Oak League campaign.

They hosted Sierra on Jan. 24 and took a 46-12 loss. Then they went on the road for a Jan. 26 contest, losing that game to host East Union by a 53-24 final.

Oakdale’s JV girls took a win at East Union, with a 10-0 run in the third helping them craft a 30-15 victory. Earlier in the week, they lost a 43-15 home contest to Sierra.

 

BOYS BASKETBALL

With a road game to open the week, the varsity Mustangs found themselves on the wrong side of a 60-44 final at Sierra. The host Timberwolves opened the game with a 19-5 run in the first quarter, taking a lead the Oakdale squad just couldn’t quite overcome. Niko Klose had 16 points to lead Oakdale; Cooper Pitney pulled down five rebounds.

In the Homecoming contest on Friday night, Jan. 27 it was Oakdale hosting East Union and they battled, leading for much of the game before losing to the visitors by a 50-44 decision.

Leading 16-13 at the half, Oakdale stretched that out to 29-24 after three. But the Lancers took the game with a strong fourth quarter run, outscoring the host Mustangs 26-15 over the final eight minutes.

Klose had 13 points and eight rebounds; Jacob Cavanaugh had 10 points. Also pulling down eight rebounds each were Pitney and Bryson Boyd.

JV and freshman action for the week saw both teams losing to Sierra on Jan. 25; the JV boys fell 55-32 and the freshmen by a 56-25 decision.

 

GIRLS SOCCER

After a tough and big-time win Jan. 20 that put Oakdale in first place in the Valley Oak League over Kimball, the Lady Mustang varsity soccer girls had very minimal time to enjoy their first half accomplishments and had to be ready to play Monday night, Jan. 23 against the six-time defending VOL champs, Sierra.

The host Timberwolves did not waste any time and set the tone from beginning to end, handing Oakdale its first league loss. Sierra needed to get points to keep their playoff dreams alive and did not disappoint their home fans. Sierra had a 3-1 lead at half and added a second half goal to take a 4-1 win. Oakdale got on the board in the 25th minute with a goal by Kyndra Obermeyer, assisted by Trista French.

Avery Alves had seven saves for Oakdale.

“Throughout the course of the match, Oakdale was two steps behind and had no answer for Sierra’s intensity,” said head coach Kico Monares. “Our strength as a team and the reason why we were undefeated was because of our work ethic and being able to break teams down for 80 minutes because of our fitness. That was not the case on Monday.”

Post-game discussion was simple, the coach added.

“As we were on the field, I had the girls watch Sierra take selfies, team photos, throwing the “W” hand signs on their field and I told the girls to remember this feeling, remember how you feel, we know what we have to do,” Monares noted. “Look on what you girls have done to Oakdale Soccer program; you’re now the team to beat, you now have a big target on your back and everyone wants to beat Oakdale.”

Wednesday, Jan. 25, the girls got back on the winning track, shutting out East Union by a 1-0 final. French notched the only goal of the game, Alves had five saves in goal.

The girls are scheduled to host Manteca and have Senior Night festivities on Feb. 1.

 

BOYS SOCCER

Splitting their game this week, the Oakdale varsity boys lost at East Union on Jan. 24 by a 7-1 margin but came back with a shutout win, 8-0, over Central Catholic on Jan. 26.

Hudson Ruvalcaba had the only goal for the Mustangs against the Lancers.

Against Central, the boys scored four goals in each half. Goalie Dirk Scott had five saves.

Putting in four goals on the day was Abraham Isidro for Oakdale, with one each from Khrystian Escalante, Christopher Diaz, Hayden Koehler and Alfredo Fernandez. Diaz added two assists; Escalante and Fernandez had one each.

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Lady Mustang Claire McGee Brown works to corral the ball during league play. The varsity soccer girls lost to Sierra but defeated East Union this past week. Jeff Kettering/The Leader
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Varsity basketball player Cooper Pitney goes up to the hoop during Friday night’s Homecoming contest. He pulled down eight rebounds in the game but the host Mustangs took a tough loss, 50-44, to East Union. Jeff Kettering/The Leader
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Working to get off a shot over the Sierra defense is Oakdale’s Madison Bohannon, shown during varsity league action on the home court. The Lady Mustangs fell to Sierra and East Union this past week. Jeff Kettering/The Leader