Delhi’s Flores, Mariposa dominate league meet
Only the best can beat Delhi High School senior heavyweight wrestler Jesse Flores, ranked third in California.
Flores dominated his bracket at the Southern League Championships on Saturday at Mariposa County High, ending his day with a second-round pin over the Grizzlies’ Michael Wilson.
Flores met his match only in the final of the Zinkin and Doc Buchanan, when he was twice pinned by two-time state champion Seth Nevills of Clovis. Undaunted, Flores fast-tracks toward another trip to Bakersfield. He became Delhi’s first state-meet qualifier last year and took home a seventh-place medal.
Mariposa, the five-time reigning SL champion, followed through on its D-VI dual-meet title last week. The Grizzlies were paced by champions Josh Land (122), Nathan Vereschagin (134), Evan Sanders (162), Ryan Leonard (184) and Mark Maddox (222).
Runner-up Big Valley Christian, which extended Mariposa to the final match before it was beaten 45-34 in last week’s section team final, featured winners Daniel Raingruber (172) and Corbin Simon (197). Both earned first-round pins.
Waterford senior Ivan Gomez, 32-3 for the season, shined with a second-round fall over Mariposa’s Bob Robinson. Other Waterford champions were Edmond Adams (140) and Kyle Brown (147). Brown rallied for seven third-round points in an 8-5 win over Samuel Cortez of Delhi.
Turlock Christian freshman Asa Schnurstein (108) became his school’s first league champion by defeating Waterford’s Collin Towe 3-1. Orestimba’s Adam Romero (115) brought home top honors.
Schnurstein was voted the meet’s outstanding lightweight while Brown was the top middleweight and Flores the top heavyweight. The SL’s best travel to Natomas on Friday and Saturday.
Trans-Valley League in Ripon The final seconds ticked away in double overtime, and Modesto Christian High School senior Antonio Hernandez was stuck in a jam.
He trailed Hilmar’s Justin Rentfro 5-4 and was down to one knee with the Yellowjacket on top. Hernandez sought inspiration from anything or anyone at that point, but he found what he needed – his family screaming support from the nearby bleachers.
“I looked at them. I saw my dad,” Hernandez said. “I knew I couldn’t lose.”
Thus inspired, Hernandez reached back and grabbed an ankle, somehow forged a scramble and got the clutch reversal with only a few seconds left for a pulsating 6-5 win and the 172-pound title. The result carried some meaning for Hernandez apart from Saturday’s Trans-Valley League Wrestling Championships.
The Modesto Christian football-wrestling star earned his second straight TVL title after he lost a friend in an auto accident a few weeks ago. Still shaken, he carried more than a little emotion onto the mat. All of it helped in a tense back-and-forth match.
The TVL will send its top four finishers in each bracket to Natomas High in Sacramento for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Championships on Friday and Saturday.
The postseason swings into overdrive, yet the intensity of the league meets – the personal rivalries and clashing traditions – hold their own special importance.
Consider the TVL, always a competitive league. This season, Hilmar and Ripon waged a virtual dead heat with both sharing the league title. Ripon went unbeaten in TVL duals, including a 48-27 win at Hilmar, but the Yellowjackets edged the Indians 242-240 at the league meet.
On top of that, Hilmar responded to its TVL dual-meet loss by edging Ripon 40-32 for the section D-V dual-meet title last week at Lincoln.
“It’s been pretty crazy. Hilmar has a tough team,” Ripon coach Glen White said. “I was really happy how we finished. At least we got a share of the title.”
Hilmar was anchored by weight-class champions Gaven Azevedo (115), Cody Rentfro (184) and Jared Collier (222). Ripon countered with wins by Donny Fontillas (122), Diego Moreno (162) and Jacob Rhodes (197).
Modesto Christian heavyweight Ryan Higginbotham joined Hernandez to lead the Crusaders to a fourth-place team finish behind third-place Escalon.
“This is going to make me push harder,” said Higginbotham, a junior who barely missed a Section Masters berth last year. Higginbotham pinned Escalon’s Blue Capps in 33 seconds.
Patrick Garcia of Modesto Christian (140) was named the meet’s outstanding lightweight while Moreno was chosen the most outstanding in the heavier weights.
Hernandez won a 2016 divisional title but injured his knee in the final. He labored to a 3-2 record at Masters, though he was hindered by a heavy brace that restricted side-to-side movement. What hasn’t changed this season is his perseverance. His win Saturday was his second this season over Rentfro in OT.
“This league is no slouch. I know I’ll seem him (Rentfro) again next week,” Hernandez said. “There are always some tough kids. Even next week, it probably will be me and the Hilmar and Escalon kid again.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Delhi’s Flores, Mariposa dominate league meet."