Golden Valley boys, Livingston girls capture section championships in wrestling
The Golden Valley High boys wrestling team staged a dramatic comeback, featuring three late pins to capture their second consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section dual championship.
The Cougars (221-) rallied back from a 27-15 deficit to defeat Will C. Wood 33-32 to make it back-to-back Division III section championships at Lincoln High in Stockton.
“Back-to-back section titles is a huge accomplishment,” said Cougars coach Chopper Mello. “It’s hard enough to win one blue banner, much less two in a row. I am very proud of our kids for trusting the process and working so hard to earn another banner.”
The Cougars weren’t the only Merced County team to bring home a blue banner. The Livingston High girls won the Division II section championship after defeating Central Catholic 42-36 in the finals.
It’s the first year the Sac-Joaquin Section has held dual championships in girls wrestling.
“It really means a lot because years from now, they will be able to say Livingston was the first one to win this tournament,” said Livingston coach Alfonso Paez, whose team improved to 19-0 this season. “It really means a lot to our coaching staff, our girls, and the city of Livingston. It’s going to be part of history.”
After a first-round bye, top-seeded Golden Valley cruised past Yuba 48-27 in the semifinals.
The Cougars then found themselves trailing 27-15. Mello was able to make a few lineup adjustments to create better matchups, moving Emmanuel Trevino up to 165 pounds and Gabriel Richards up to 175 pounds. Both Trevino and Richards picked up victories to help lead the comeback.
Ethan Richards (190), Edwin Rios-Bustos (215) and Orlando Estrada (285) all picked up pins in the win.
It was the fourth wrestling section championship for the Cougars program and second dual title in a row after defeating Merced last year in the finals.
The Golden Valley girls also made a deep run, finishing second in Division I with a 43-36 loss to Pitman in the finals.
The Livingston girls defeated Rio Vista 71-12 and Wheatland 66-12 on their march to the Division II finals.
Junior 125-pound wrestler Aleyda Revuelta pinned her opponent against Central Catholic that clinched the section title for the Wolves.
Mia Ceja (107) and Kiranpreet Bains (145) both went 3-0 on the day with a pair of pins to help propel Livingston to the section championship.
Livingston captured its fourth consecutive league championship by going undefeated in Western Athletic Conference matches. The Wolves won their last three Trans-Valley League titles before being moved to the WAC this season.
