Golden Valley wrestlers take home five CCC titles

Golden Valley High senior Johnny Martinez entered his championship match with a new game plan against Buhach Colony’s Ben Moran.

The Cougars’ 170-pounder wanted to be more aggressive than he was when he lost to Moran in a dual match earlier this season.

“I tried to stay away from his tie-ups,” Martinez said. “I wanted to chute more, be more offensive.”

The strategy worked as Martinez scored on a double-leg takedown in overtime to secure a 5-3 decision in the finals at the Central California Conference Championships at Atwater High on Thursday night.

“It felt amazing,” Martinez said. “I always wanted to be a league champion.”

Martinez was one of five Golden Valley wrestlers to take home an individual title. He was joined by teammates Brady Mello (132 pounds), Mateo Samuelson (145), Jacob Pavey (220) and Courtland Morse (285).

Like Martinez, Mello came out aggressively in his final match against Buhach Colony’s Will Schwertscharf. Mello rushed Schwertscharf immediately and scored a takedown 18 seconds into the match and pinned him in 32 seconds.

“Earlier in the year, I wasn’t being very aggressive,” Mello said. “I started turning it on and going after people, and it’s been working for me.”

Samuelson went back and forth against Pitman’s Arthur Clemons in their 145-pound final. Clemons took an early 4-1 lead with a pair of first-round takedowns. However, Samuelson went on to record five takedowns in the match to win 15-11.

It was an emotional win for Samuelson, who let out a roar after winning as he raised both his arms. He then hugged just about everyone in the gym wearing Golden Valley colors.

Pavey needed just 62 seconds to pin Turlock’s Michael Jeffus in the 220-pound final, and Morse defeated Pitman’s Julien Barrera 3-1 in the last match of the night.

Turlock won the team title with 211 points. The Bulldogs sent seven wrestlers to the finals, and Andres Orozco (152) and Breck Jeffus (195) won individual titles. Turlock will share the CCC championship with Buhach Colony.

The Thunder finished second in the tournament with 199 points. Buhach Colony came into the tournament with at least a share of the conference championship already clinched after going 5-0 in the dual matches this season.

Buhach Colony sent six wrestlers to the finals, with Leem Kue (106), Brandon Mendoza (113) and Victor Cruz (182) winning individual titles.

Kue built a 12-4 lead before pinning Atwater’s Julio Aguilar 24 seconds into the third round.

Mendoza scored an early takedown against Turlock’s Michael Marquez, then worked a double-arm bar to get Marquez’s shoulders on the mat for a pin 55 seconds into the match.

“I’ve been working those arm bars all year,” said Mendoza, who won his second conference championship. “Once I got the first arm, I just worked to get the second one. Once I got the second one, I just ran it. I just wanted to control him and wrestle smart. I knew I had a lot of time left on the clock.”

Cruz scored late to defeat Merced’s Dustin James. Cruz scored on a takedown with 16 seconds left to defeat James 9-8 in a match that was tight throughout.

Pitman took home three titles, with Adam Velasquez (120), Trevor Mattox (126) and Isaiah Perez (138) winning their divisions.

Atwater’s Johnny Juarez (170) won his second consecutive CCC championship by pinning Turlock’s Dominic Silva in 1:03. Juarez pulled off the upset of the tournament last year when he pinned defending section champion Romeo Medina from Merced in a controversial match.

This year, Juarez came into the tournament as the top seed and showed why in dominating his two matches.

“It made me more hungry,” said Juarez about being the top seed. “I wanted to make sure I came out and showed what my coaches taught me. I wanted to go out and show why I was the No. 1 seed.”

The top four in each division advance to next week’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division I-AA Tournament at Lincoln High in Stockton with the hopes of advancing to the Masters the following week and the CIF State Tournament in March.

“I feel I’m wrestling well this year,” said Juarez, who reached the Masters last season. “My coaches are helping me a lot. They’re pushing me. I plan on being at state in March.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Golden Valley wrestlers take home five CCC titles."