LB pins down fourth straight WAC title

LOS BANOS -- Host Los Banos High's wrestling team won its fourth consecutive league championship on Saturday after taking the Western Athletic Conference Championships with 217 points.

The Tigers put four wrestlers atop the medal podium, with brothers Jimmy Felix, a senior, and Tyler Felix, a sophomore, winning at 134 pounds and 108 pounds, plus Marcus Carrillo winning at 154 pounds and Dretel Blackwell winning at 197.

"We came in here and wanted to build a legacy," Los Banos coach Josh Adams said. "When I came in four years ago, I sat down with all these guys, these same parents you see here helping out, we laid out our plan, and it's kind of come to fruition."

Second-place Central Catholic, which had eight wrestlers last year, advanced nine to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 meet, which is next Friday and Saturday back at LBHS. Joey Abbate (140 pounds) and Ray Lomas (162) won individual titles for the Raiders.

Pacheco senior Robert Burkart defeated Central Catholic's Miguel Hernandez 4-3 to win Pacheco's first-ever individual league wrestling title, despite a chorus of calls from coaches pleading for a stalling call.

"It is what it is," Burkart said. "I don't know if I was stalling or not, but I feel like I was working."