2022-2023 Varsity Results
Masters Championships Results
We brought 8 boys and 2 girls to the 2023 Masters Championships. We have the 3rd toughest section tournament out of the 10 sections in our state. Qualifying for the Masters is a true accomplishment and something each wrestler should be proud of - especially because we had to go through D2 sections to get here, which is the toughest divisional. The girls also had to go through the North Regional tournament, which is half of the Masters Championships. We had 2 girls make it to the final qualifying match and barely fell short. Masters is always a roller coaster of emotions for me as a coach and for every single wrestler. I was mentally drained at the end of the day. I love this team and I love every person on this team so I'm emotionally invested in their well-being. However, I was VERY impressed with our performance this past weekend. We wrestled better than had all season and we all peaked perfectly for this tournament.
Vince Nguyen was a 2x Masters qualifier and he was probably in the deepest weight class of the tournament this year. In his first match, Vince went against a returning state qualifier from Ponderosa who got 3rd at Masters last year - and that kid from Pondersa didn't even qualify for state this year. Vince lost his first match and then wrestled amazingly well and won his 2nd match before falling short. Vince had an amazing career that was cut short due to Covid and he accomplished a lot in only 3 years as a BV wrestler. Vince wrestled year round with us and poured his heart and soul into every single practice and competition. Vince went from a JV wrestler as a freshman and put in so much work that he finished as a 2x Masters qualifier and all-conference his senior season in league. Vince's work ethic is 2nd to none and that will carry him well for the rest of his life. Vince also has a 4.3 cumulative Grade Point Average and is trying to decide which college to attend next year. He also told me that he is going to help train his 2 younger brothers who are currently wrestling for Carnegie, which shows how big his heart is.
Logan Marlatt wrestled better than he's ever wrestled and beat a lot of really good wrestlers to make the podium and finish in 8th place at Masters. Logan is officially a Masters medalist and will be put into our record books. Logan went 4-3 on the weekend and every person in the arena agreed that he won the funkiest match of the tournament award. In his final match on Friday night Logan went against an opponent who was similar to his own style and those guys scrambled and wrestled all over the mat. Logan came out on top of every scramble and won the match to make day 2. Logan finished his career as a 2x League champion, a 2x Masters qualifier, and a masters medalist. Logan did all of that in 3 years because he missed a year due to the Covid pandemic canceling wrestling for 1 year.
Nate Ross fought through injury after injury all season long and overcame a ton of adversity to become a Masters qualifier. There's a rule in wrestling across our country where a high school wrestler can have a maximum of 5 matches in one day, but our section made an adjustment to that recently so they could have sections take place in 1 day. Last week, Nate Ross had 6 matches in 1 day and qualified for Masters! By the time he got to Masters his body was just done after the grueling season. Although he didn't finish as high as I had expected at Masters, he truly did his best and pushed through so much adversity and pain and injury that inhibited his ability to compete. Nate is signed to go into the Marine Corps and he leaves for boot camp in June. Having wrestled will definitely be an advantage for his mindset and toughness in the Marines - and they will take him to a completely different level. Nate also only had 3 years of wrestling because of Covid.
Frank Olivera had an amazing sophomore year and made HUGE improvements between his freshman year and sophomore year. Frank went to everything in the offseason (spring training, summer training, the Ponderosa camp, fall training, etc.) and it showed. Frank got a lot better as this season progressed and then he kind of plateaued just before playoffs. I'm sure this was frustrating but he stayed the course and started to show up to the double day practices at the end of the season. Frank had to go against a top kid from D1 in his first match and only lost 0-4. Frank then had another really tough match and was losing and came from behind with less than a minute left in the match to secure the victory. Frank battled and competed in his next match but fell short. Every single wrestler at Masters is solid so getting a win is a huge accomplishment, especially for a sophomore and especially for a kid who didn't even make the starting line up the year before. Frank can have huge success at the state level if he wants to continue to put in the work; his progress, hard work, commitment, and upside proves it.
Austin Carroll only had 3 years as a wrestler (because 1 year was canceled due to Corona) and started as a very soft, round, and goofy freshman 3 years ago who struggled to find a win at the JV level. Austin put in a TON of work in the offseason and fully committed to everything the coaches laid out for him. After his sophomore year was taken away from him Austin won the CVC league championships as a junior and as a senior. Austin was also a 2x Masters qualifier. After going 0-2 last year at Masters, Austin won 3 matches and made it to day 2 where he finished in the top 12 at Masters. This is VERY tough to do and a huge accomplishment. Austin's 2 losses were to the kids who finished in 4th and 5th place and were both state qualifiers. Austin also finished in 1st place at the Pioneer tournament, the Corning tournament, and the League tournament this year (he got 2nd at Casa and top 5 at Escalon as well). Austin was a team captain this year!
Nathan Gregory only had 3 years as a wrestler at BV because his sophomore year was canceled due to the Corona virus. Nathan made HUGE leaps throughout his high school career - both as a wrestler and as a human. After Covid canceled his sophomore year, Nathan started putting in extra work during the offseason. His junior year is when he saw his first varsity action and had a lot of ups and downs and fell just short of qualifying for Masters. After his junior year he fully committed to everything in the offseason, he didn't miss a practice, he ate right, he lifted, he ran plumerias at 6 am by himself, and he did his best at everything in his life. Nathan has also maintained a 4.0 Grade Point Average throughout all of this. Nathan's improvements included becoming a CVC league champion this year, after medaling in multiple varsity tournaments throughout the year. Nathan also qualified for Masters and ended up going 2-2 where he barely lost his last match that would have qualified him for day 2. This is a HUGE accomplishment and improvement from the previous season. Nathan should be very proud of his wrestling career.
Max Keough had an awesome sophomore year that finished with him wrestling the best I've ever seen him wrestle. Honestly, Max competed at Masters in a way that I had envisioned for him all season long but didn't see him make that jump until Masters. I focus a lot on dealing with adversity, set backs, plateaus, etc., and Max faced a lot of that this season. Despite all the adversity, he stayed the course, he committed, he went to the extra workouts, he ate right, rested right, and way more. Max also maintains a 3.67 Grade Point Average, which is legit and exemplary of what I want in our student-athletes. After winning his first match at Masters, Max went against the guy who finished in 2nd place and didn't back down. We game planned for his next match, which was against a guy who had beaten Max earlier this season. Well, Max beat a kid who was better than him on paper (he actually dominated the match) and looked amazing. Max then wrestled lights out his next match, which qualified him for day 2. Max fell short on day 2 but finished in the top 12 at Masters as a SOPHOMORE at 195 lbs! Max is planning on putting in extra time during the offseason and he already volunteered to be Emma Ford's workout partner during the week of state even though he doesn't have to. Max also finished his sophomore season as a CVC League champion, which he won for the 2nd year in a row. At league, he beat a kid from River Valley who actually qualified for state at Masters but had a different draw in the bracket. Max is right there.
Emma Ford has had an awesome sophomore season and she is not done yet. Last year, Emma got 4th at Masters and then went 2-2 at state. After that, she wanted to put in a full offseason in order to improve upon her freshman campaign. A couple weeks later Emma shattered her ankle in a tournament in San Diego and she needed surgery. It was bad. Emma went through a ton of rehab and couldn't wrestle but she still went to the practices to watch and be involved - during the offseason. Emma did everything she could to get back on the mat and she has been able to put in a full season this year. Emma won the North Regionals last week and then won 3 matches in a row at Masters to make the finals. The finals were a rematch of the previous week's finals where Emma won a close match. Unfortunately, Emma fell short but she finished as a Masters finalist as a sophomore! Emma should have a good seed at the state tournament next week and she is expecting to come home as a state medalist.
Gianna DiBenedetto made the finals of every single tournament this season where she traveled throughout the state in order to seek the best competition possible. Gianna also puts in a tremendous offseason where she travels to tournaments all across the country and she medaled at multiple national tournaments (and won a national tournament in Iowa). Last year, Gianna was a state medalist (7th place) and she hasn't stopped training or competing since last year's tournament. Last weekend, Gianna was a North Regional champion and then dominated her way through the Masters bracket to make the finals this weekend. In the finals, Gianna went against a girl who got 3rd in state last year at a higher weight class but dropped down to Gianna's for the playoffs this year. Gianna fell short and got caught with a big move but she wasn't too fazed by the match and she knows that the state tournament is where it actually matters. Gianna should get a top 3 seed at the state tournament where she is looking for nothing else but becoming a state champion next week.
Week 10 Results
The varsity boys competed at the SJS Team Section Duals this weekend. We were put in Division 3, which was way tougher than D2. Doesn't matter. We drew Merced in the first round and lost 43-27. Merced had a full team and we gave up 3 forfeits. This meant that we started the dual down 0-18. The people who competed looked really sharp and wrestled very well. We are definitely ready for the postseason. There were no other competitions for us this past weekend. Next up is the individual portion of the playoffs for us.
Week 9 Results
The varsity girls competed at the 10th annual Lady Eagles tournament at Del Oro High School. Kara Larson is still finding her rhythm and will make some adjustments by the time the postseason arrives. Vaida Bozzuto started out strong and won her first match, and then got caught in a scramble and lost her next match. Not what she was looking for but she will be ready to go by the time Regionals arrive. Emma Ford competed at a different weight class and lost 0-1 in the semifinals to the returning Masters Champion. Emma fought her way back and finished in 1st place. Gianna DiBenedetto, now ranked #2 in the state, decided to go up a weight class to give herself more of a challenge against bigger girls. Gianna rose to the challenge and won the tournament! Next up for the girls are the Regional Championships in a few weeks. This will be their first round of the postseason and the first step on their path to the state championships.
The Varsity boys competed in the Corning tournament this past weekend. Ocean Gutierrez won his first match and was winning both of his next matches before he made some mistakes that cost him those matches. We can fix those mistakes and we will. Vince Nguyen was dominating his first match and made 1 mistake that cost him the match. Vince then won the rest of the matches and finished in 7th place (the best he could have finished after losing his first match at this tournament). Logan Marlatt came in as a #3 seed and wrestled amazing to make the finals and finish in 2nd place. In the semifinals, Logan was down 1-7 and then won the match 13-8. Jacob Tabler is getting better and better every week and with every match. Jacob went 2-2 on the weekend. Joseph Kovalchuk had a very good tournament and went 3-1 and finished with a medal. Frank Olivera wrestled great to make the semifinals. Then he lost a controversial match to make the finals and fell in another tough match. Frank finished in 5th place. Jared Watson lost his first match and then put together a series of wins and won every match for the rest of the day and finished in 7th place and got his first varsity medal. Nathan Gregory lost his first match and then won the rest of his matches and looked really good. Nathan finished in 7th place. Austin Carroll wrestled amazingly well all tournament and finished as a tournament champion. Austin pinned every single opponent! Ben Jesus did some really good things in this tournament and is a lot better than he gives himself credit for. Ben, only a freshman, finished in 5th place! Max Keough had adversity from the get go and it never stopped. Max made the semifinals and then lost in overtime. Max had a very tough next match and ran out of time as he was getting going with his points. Max finished in 5th place. Next up for the boys are the Sac Jaoquin Team Section Dual Championships. We will bring this same line up and more to the tournament this weekend.
Week 8 Results:
The girls went to one of the biggest girls' tournaments in the entire country this past weekend, in Napa, CA. Vaida Bozzuto is coming off of an injury and just keeps getting better and better. Vaida wrestled great and went against the #1 seed early and ended up 2-2. Kara Larson is also dealing with some injury issues and is doing the best she can. Kara ended up going 1-2 at the tournament. Both results are respectable at this tournament. Emma Ford won all of her matches on day one and then won 1-0 in the quarterfinals to make the semifinals. Emma fell in the semis and the won her next 2 to finish in 3rd place. Only a sophomore, this is a great finish for her early in her high school career. Gianna DiBenedetto came in as the #1 seed in the tournament and finished in 1st place. Gianna won her first 3 matches by pin, then won 10-0 in the semifinals. IN the finals of the tournament, Gianna won by pin again. An absolutely dominant performance for Gianna, who is ranked #4 in the state right now and top 20 in the nation. The team is always focusing on the process and this tournament shows that we are getting better and better every single week. Next up for the girls is the Del Oro tournament, which is the last competition before the playoffs begin a few weeks after that.
The varsity boys went to the Escalon tournament this past weekend. This tournament has pooled brackets on day 1, and then day 2 the wrestlers are put into brackets based on their records on day 1. The gold bracket on day 2 consists only of the kids who went undefeated on day 1. Ocean Gutierrez made the gold bracket and finished in the top 6 of the gold bracket (they didn't wrestle the 5th place match). Ocean is getting better and better. Vince Nguyen went against one of the top kids in the tournament on day 1 and finished 2-1 in his pool after a close loss. Vince dominated the rest of the tournament and finished in 1st place in the silver bracket. Logan Marlatt was a brand new person this weekend and had some huge wins. After winning his pool and making the gold bracket, Logan lost 6-12 in the semis to the #10 in the state (this kid beat Logan 13-0 a couple weeks ago). Logan then beat a really good kid and then he beat the #25 in state in the 3rd place match to finish in 3rd place. THat kid had won 3 huge tournaments this year and then finished in 4th place at Escalon. Btw, Logan won the match 13-12 and scored a takedown with 1 second left in the match to win. Probably the most exciting match of the tournament. Nate Ross wrestled incredibly well on day one to make the gold bracket on day 2. He then went against the #1 seed and then the #4 seeds to finish in the top 8 of the gold bracket. A great tournament for Nate, but not what he wanted! Jacob Tabler had a tough start but ended up winning his D bracket on day 2. Jacob got better and better every single match and was wrestling at his best at the end of the tournament. Frank Olivera won his pool to make the gold bracket, then made the semifinals, but lost the next 2 matches to really good kids. Frank finished in the top 6 of the tournament and is wrestling extremely well and more physical than ever. Jared Watson had a tough pool and pulled out a couple of wins on day 2 to have a nice, solid finish to the tournament. Nathan Gregory wrestled great all weekend, with a small dip midway. He ended up in the B bracket, then lost his first match, but fought all the way back to finish in 3rd place and was looking really sharp and smooth by the end of the tournament. Austin Carroll dominated his pool to make the A bracket and then made the semifinals, then lost a close match at the last second to the eventual champion. Ausin then lost his next match in overtime,, 8-10, to finish in the top 6 in the gold bracket. A great tournament for Austin but he was hoping for more. Max Keough wrestled extremely well all tournament and won his pool on day 1 to make the gold/A bracket. Max was the 2 seed in that bracket and then made the finals in dominating fashion. In the finals, Max went up against a kid who is ranked higher than him in state and lost a very close match, 5-6. Max was on his way to securing a reversal in the last second of the match, but time literally ran out as both wrestlers were in the air. Half a second later Max was on top and he would have got 2 points. The ref made the right call. After the match, Max went with his opponent and they ran sprints together on the tennis courts. Pretty cool. Next up is the Corning tournament for the boys, which will be our last tournament before the post season begins.
Week 7 Results: The only tournament this past week was a varsity girls tournament in Los Angeles. Coach Nishimura took Vaida, Gianna, and Emma to the tournament, which consisted of 117 schools. This was one of the toughest tournaments we will have outside the state tournament. Vaida started off with a win, and then in her 2nd match she was winning but slipped and got to her back and lost. Vaida battled again in her next match but lost. Good showing at a tough tournament. Emma Ford won her first few matches to go undefeated on day 1. In the quarterfinals, Emma was winning but got caught and lost. In her next match, to medal, the exact same thing happened again. We will learn and grow from this and get better because of the experience. Gianna won her first 4 matches in dominating fashion and then won in the semifinals 10-2 to make the finals. In the finals, the match was 0-0 in the 2nd period. Gianna locked up a cradle and was on her way to put the girl to her back but slipped and got put to her own back and lost. A simple mistake that we will fix and improve upon. I'm so proud of the girls for putting it all on the line and traveling to Los Angeles during their week off from school. Awesome job from them.
Week 6 Results: We had a league dual meet at Roseville high school this week. No tournaments because of Christmas weekend
We went to Roseville High School on Wednesday night for a CVC League dual meet. Both teams were undefeated going into this dual. Although we wrestled incredibly well, we lost the dual 37-39. This was my first league dual meet loss as head coach at BV (4 years as head coach, 7 as an assistant before that, and 4 years as head coach at Del Campo before that). I talk a lot about acceptance to the team and I was able to demonstrate what that looks like when we had our team meeting after the loss. The loss hurt, really bad, but if we can't handle losing then we are in the wrong sport. It's all about how we respond and resilience is one of our team values (you can read about our team values in one of the tabs).
Going into this dual, we were out 6 varsity starters that wrestled varsity for us 7 days prior in the Inderkum dual. 6! There are only 14 weight classes so we pretty much lost half of our line up. There were various reasons for the absences that I won't get into on here, but that definitely played a role in how the night went. We started the dual meet down 0-12 because we had to forfeit 2 weight classes. Of the remaining 12 matches, we won 7 matches and Roseville won 5. Ben Slaughter stepped up and made weight and did his best for the team. Vince Nguyen found himself losing to start the match, but Vince fought back and ended up winning by pin! 6 team points for us. Logan Marlatt went down a weight class for the team and secured a win. Logan had a few chances for more points but his opponent was very unconventional and almost put Logan to his back many times. 3 points for us. Jacob Tabler made weight for the team and went out and did his best. Awesome job! Frankie Olivera went up against one of Roseville's best wrestlers. A kid who has medaled and made the finals of every tournament this year. The other kid was definitely favored over Frank, and Frank was losing to start the match. Frankie never gave up, got the lead, and then won by pin at the very end of the match! Another 6 points for us. Gianna DiBenedetto went up a weight class to wrestle a varsity starter for Roseville. It's hard for any person to go up a weight, but Gianna didn't mind. Gianna was losing to start the match but fought her way back. By the 3rd period, Gianna was winning and then put the kid to his back and pinned him! Annother 6 points for us. Jared Watson always wrestlers his heart out and almost goes too fast because he wants it so bad. Jared was winning the match and made a small mistake that cost him the victory. He will learn and be better. Nathan Gregory wrestled extremely well and was winning 12-0 in the 3rd period. We told him to get a pin, not a tech, and that's exactly what he did. Another 6 points for us. Austin Carroll did the exact same thing as Nathan; he went out and dominated his opponent. Austin was up huge and then got another pin for the team and another 6 points. Carson Rennick wrestled in his first varsity match in his life and got the win! Carson is a great athlete and has improved tremendously since the start of the season. He's a gamer and shined on the big stage. Max Keough went up against Roseville's best wrestler. Max found himself down 0-4 early in the match and clawed his way back to tie it up 4-4. There were some questionable calls and the people running the clock kept on messing up, which stopped all of Max's momentum at the end of the match.. Max was losing by 2 in the 3rd, took the kid down right off the bat and released him. We came extremely close to securing the takedown but it didn't happen and Max lost a very close match. He put it all out there and he will be better from the lessons learned in that match. Colin Lewis wrestled in his first varsity match of his life. Colin did his best but lost to an experienced wrestler. Congratulations to Roseville for pulling off the victory.
FYI, we can still win the league championships. This is how our league determines a team league champion: Every team we beat in a dual meet gives us 1 point. At the league tournament in February there is a team score that is kept. We get a point for every team that we finish ahead of at the league tournament. If we win the league tournament we will at least be co-league champions.
Enjoy your holidays and we will see you soon.
Week 5 Results: We had a league dual meet against Inderkum, the Varsity Boys were at Casa Roble, and the girls were at the Women's West Coast Tournament of Champions
Our varsity team competed against Inderkum on Wednesday to start the week. Inderkum was very scrappy (a compliment) and fought hard in every single position. They did not give a single person on our team a chance to rest. After losing the first match of the dual, we won every single match for the rest of the dual (we gave up 2 forfeits and got 1 forfeit). We ended up winning 58-15 and moved to 3-0 in league.
Our girls competed at one of the toughest tournaments in the western United States this past weekend. There were teams there from all across the country, lots of nationally ranked wrestlers, and many state ranked wrestlers in attendance.
Just as an example about how tough certain weight classes were, Gianna DiBenedetto was in the deepest weight of the tournament. Gianna is a returning state medalist, ranked #9 in the nation, and she got the #5 seed in the tournament. Then we realized that Gianna had beaten 2 of the girls ahead of her over the past year. She beat one girl from Texas, in Clovis. And she beat one other girls in Fargo, North Dakota over the summer. Gianna got changed to the #3 seed after we told the tournament director all of this. Gianna dominated her first few matches and then went up against the #2 seed in the semifinals. Gianna was losing to start the 2nd period and then won by fall! Awesome job. In the finals, Gianna lost to one of the best girls in the country; 2-6. A great match and we will make huge adjustments before the next time they wrestle.
Kara Larson won her first match before losing to a seeded wrestler and then having another loss. Kara is still finding her rhythm and sh e has put in a lot of work. Although she has higher expectations for herself, it's all about the process and Kara will continue to get better.
Katelynne Hall had a great tournament and fell just short of earning a medal. Katelynne made some huge gains this weekend and finished the tournament 3-2. Katelynne had some slow starts in previous tournaments and she's been working on that this year. ON day 2 of the tournament, Katelynne came out on fire and won her first match. Huge improvements. Katelynne will definitely be in the mix to make it to state this year.
Vaida Bozzuto had a tough draw and a tough tournament this past weekend. Although she was coming off of a 2nd place finish from the past tournament, this was a lot tougher and she had some tough matches. Vaida is also coming off an injury and had not practiced much lately. She will be back and in better form next week and the following week and so on.
Emma Ford came into this tournament as the #3 seed and had a couple of byes on day one and did not even get a match. Very frustrating. She weighed in, missed some school, etc., but never got to compete. On day 2, Emma got a forfeit. Still no matches. In her first match of the tournament, Emma went against the #2 seed in the semifinals. Emma won in dominating fashion, 6-0. In the finals, Emma went up against a girl from Rocklin that she's never beat before. This girl beat Emma in the finals of Rocklin a few weeks ago. Emma didn't care and came out and won! A HUGE tournament for Emma to win!
Our boys competed at the Casa Roble tournament this past weekend. This tournament always has a lot of tough competitors. We were short a few wrestlers because of various obligations, etc., so we ended up only brining 7 wrestlers. That didn't matter, and our team finished in 2nd place out of 24 teams (with only half a line up). Ocean Gutierrez is making huge improvements and won some very tough matches. Ocean is just getting better and better and finished in 4th place. Vince Nguyen went up against some tough competition, got a ton of matches in, and finished as a 5th place medalist. Logan Marlatt had a lot of ups and downs in the tournament but wrestled very well. Logan also went up against some really tough competitors. Logan finished as a 5th place medalist. Nathan Ross got 5 matches in and finished with a 3-2 record. In both matches that he lost, he was winning and just got caught in a mistake. He's going to adjust and it was great for him to get 5 matches in on one day. Frank Olivera is always improving and demonstrated that once again this past weekend. In the semifinals, Frank was tied 4-4 in the match against the #1 seed and then turned the guy and pinned him. In the finals, Frank went against a very good wrestlers from Elk Grove who beat Frank 9-1 in the semifinals last week. A 2nd place finish is awesome! Austin Carroll dominated his way to the finals where he went up against a rising star. We learned a lot of information and what to work on with Austin in that finals match. Austin finished in 2nd place and he's made the finals of every tournament he's been in so far this year. Max Keough got to wrestle some great guys this past weekend and had a great weekend. We want to wrestle the better kids right now so we can measure ourselves and see what we need to work on. Max made the semifinals and lost to a very good kid. Max then fought his way back and finished as a 3rd place medalist.
Next up for our varsity girls is the tournament in Los Angeles. Next up for our varsity boys is the Escalon Tournament, which is very fun.
Week 4 Results: We had a league dual meet against Antelope and the high school boys were at Elk Grove
On Wednesday night, we had our first home dual meet of the year. It was a really fun night and we performed well. We had the school band there, the cheerleaders, and a lot of families/fans (plus some kids from our kids club). We won the dual 77-0 and moved to 2-0 in league. Next up is Inderkum
The Elk Grove tournament had some major ups and downs. There was a huge storm hitting the area on Saturday morning and the power went out just before wrestling began. So, we sat in a dark gym for about an hour. Ocean Gutierrez got some wins and had some losses and finished in 6th place. Ocean has not had a lot of mat time in high school but he's been committed and he's getting better each day. Vince Nguyen wrestled the best I've ever seen. He then lost to a really good kid in the semifinals and eventually ended up getting 4th place. Logan Marlatt was back on the mat after missing some time and wrestled really well. Logan keeps improving and getting better. Logan finished in 3rd place. Frank Olivera is another person who is getting better every single day. Frank won some great matches and did some great wrestling to finish in 3rd place. In his first match, Frank was losing 2-4 and then took his opponent down and then got a pin. Ethan and Nathan were both giving it their all each day and the coaches decided to pull them from the tournament because we want them healthy. Javier Farfan wrestled in his first varsity tournament of his life. Javier is a first year wrestler but he is picking it up very fast. I've been very impressed with his work ethic, learning curve, and dedication. Javier is a junior and is going to put in a full offseason. Max Keough, just like everybody else, is making huge improvements daily. Max was the #3 seed of the tournament and ended up winning the tournament! This is a direct correlation to how hard Max trains (in and outside of the room), how coachable he is, and his commitment.
Overall, a good showing for the Broncos. We didn't bring a full team but the guys who were there did well. Next up is Casa Roble. We should be able to take a pretty full team to this tournament.
Week 3 Results: We had a League Dual Meet at River Valley, a Casa Roble Girls tournament, and Vacaville Duals for varsity boys (12/3/22)
League Dual Meet at River Valley High School on Wednesday, 11/30/22
This week started off with a very exciting dual against River Valley, which we won 46-36. River Valley almost beat us for a league title last year and I knew this dual would be very difficult to win. This was a dual meet between the top 2 teams in the league from the 2021/2022 season that took place in NOVEMBER! That is Very, very early. Usually, the top two teams in league will have a dual meet in late January the following season... Our team took a bus up to Yuba City and performed well in a stressful environment. We had a lot of traffic on the way up after the bus driver started going towards the wrong school. We arrived as soon as weigh-ins began. After weigh-ins, the coaches put together the varsity line-ups and then I navigated various scenarios and outcomes for the dual. Most of my data had us losing the dual unless we had some upsets. Having said that, so many things went the opposite way of how I thought they would go. Wrestling is such an awesome and crazy sport and pretty much anything can happen at any time - and it does happen.
Here are a few highlights from the dual: Frank Olivera got a major decision victory (winning by 8 or more points, which equals 4 team points) over a guy who beat Frank 13-0, 2 weeks ago at the Pioneer tournament. Frank works very hard in the room and put in a lot of time during the offseason. Frank took advantage of his conditioning and pushed the pace so hard that he gassed his opponent out. Matches like that are won in the room. Austin Carroll weighed in at a weight class higher than his normal one and then he went up 1 more weight class to face River Valley's best wrestler. Austin was losing 8-13 in the 3rd period and then reversed his opponent to his back and got the pin! In the last match of the night, we were winning by 4 points and Max Keough was up (at a weight class above the one he weighed in at). If Max were to lose by fall or by technical fall, BV would lose the dual. If he lost by 8 or more points, it would have resulted in a tied dual with a long list of tiebreaker criteria. It didn't matter, Max went out, he was aggressive, and he won by pin which put an end to a very exciting dual. Every single match in the dual ended with a pin, except Frank Olivera's match. Honestly, they had us dead to rights halfway through the dual and it looked like we had no way to win, but our team dug deep and found a way to get the team victory. The bus ride home was fun! The only thing is that it was a school night and we didn't get back to BV until around 9:15 pm. Late night! We are now 1-0 in league and we have our first home league dual meet on Wednesday, 12/7 against Antelope.
Vacaville Tournament - Friday and Saturday for the varsity boys:
We got hit hard by the flu right after the River Valley dual, which resulted in a very small lineup for Vacaville Duals. We could only put together 7 varsity starters for a dual meet tournament but it didn't matter because we are not worried about what other wrestlers are doing. We do what we do. We had 7 dual meets in 2 days against teams from Vacaville, Visalia, Clovis, Reno, the Bay Area, and more. Some of these teams are ranked in the top 20 in state, so it was a great opportunity to feel how those top wrestlers wrestle. Although we started each dual meet down 42 points (because had half a line-up), we came very close to winning 3 dual meets! Our team didn't care and just went out and competed. I'm super proud of every single wrestler who competed and the guys who showed up definitely had a lot of courage. Sophomore, Max Keough went 5-2 on the weekend. Sophomore, Frankie Olivera went 4-3 on the weekend. Every other person had at least 1 win and Austin Carroll only had 1 loss on the weekend. We made some HUGE improvements from our first dual to our last. Seriously, every single person got better every single match.
Girls Tournament at Casa Roble
We only had a handful of girls here but we had a lot of success. So many of our girls full commit to the offseason and their improvement is already showing in these early tournaments. Vaida Bozzutto wrestled the best that she's EVER wrestled. She's made huge improvements every single day this season. Only a sophomore, Vaida finished in 2nd place at this tournament and made her first finals appearance in her career. Vaida is doing everything right and she is trusting the process, which is working. Progress is happening. Sara Silagi wrestled her first matches every. We are SO proud of Sarah for the courage she portrayed this weekend. I wasn't personally there, but Coach Nishimura told me that Sarah has a lot of athleticism and just needs some mat time. Katelynne Hall battled a sickness all week but really wanted to wrestle. Katelynne wrestled 5 matches in 1 day, after being sick! By her 5th match, she was done. Katelynne gives it her all, all the time. She even volunteers her time at our kids club practices! Greenlea Record wrestled in her 2nd high school wrestling tournament ever and made some huge progress. In her 3rd match, Greenlea scored a couple of legit takedowns. Progress is happening with her. She is buying in and trusting the process and showing improvements. Greenlea just needs some mat time and she's only a freshman. Emma Ford has wrestled in 3 tournaments this season and she's made the finals in all 3 tournaments. Emma won her 2nd tournament of the season after a hard fought victory! Emma is only a sophomore and she has put in SO much time during the offseason. She also works extremely hard in the room. Everybody does. Next up is the Women's West Coast TOC tournament in Rocklin.
Week 2 - Folsom Girls Tournament (11/26/22)
We sent our JV boys to the Rio Linda tournament and had a lot of success. Our varsity boys did not have a tournament but they did have practice at 7 am. The varsity girls were at the Folsom tournament, which usually has a lot of tough competition.
Vaida Bozzuto
Vaida, only a sophomore, went 2-2 for the 2nd weekend in a row. This time, it was a tougher tournament and she was up a weight class, so she did a very good job! Vaida had a total of 5 matches last season due to injury, so she's still very new at wrestling but progress is happening.
Katelynne Hall
Katelynne wrestled in her first tournament of the season and drew the #3 seed in her first match (Nevada state finalist last year). Katelynne lost and then won her next match before losing her third match. Katelynne has put in a lot of work of in the offseason and was a little rusty in her first competition back, but it's only November and we have a long season. I have a feeling Katelynne is going to make huge jumps after today.
Gianna DiBenedetto
Gianna is a returning state medalists for us and she is ranked in the top 11 in the nation in most rankings. Last weekend, Gianna had no competition, but the Folsom tournament had some tough girls in her weigh. There were 3 returning state qualifiers in Gianna's bracket and a returning state finalist from Nevada. It didn't matter. Gianna did not allow a single point to be scored on her in the entire tournament and won all of her matches by fall or technical fall. An absolute dominant performance and Gianna's first words to me after the finals were that she felt like she wrestled "sloppy." Gianna is making huge progress right now her upside is huge.
Kara Larson
Kara's last 2 seasons were a canceled season, and then a season battling a lot of injuries that saw her only get a few matches in. Kara has been training hard but she was a little rusty today after a couple of years off. She looked really good and was winning her semifinals match before getting caught. Then she was dominating her next match before getting caught. Kara will clean up the mistakes and be a lot better.
Greenlea Record
Greenlea wrestled in her first ever high school wrestling tournament and fought as hard as she could. Greenlea is pretty new at wrestling so it took a lot of courage for her to come out and compete. The best thing is that she said she has fun and she's looking forward to getting back to training so she can get better. It's a long season and progress will happen if she continues to commit to the process.
Emma Ford
Emma made the finals for the 2nd consecutive tournament but lost this time to a returning state medalist from Rocklin. The highlight of the day for Emma was her semifinals match. This was a rematch of last year's 3rd place match at Masters, which Emma lost. This time, Emma won 9-3, even after giving up the first takedown. Awesome job and huge progress since the end of last season. Emma still has a lot of upside, she's only a sophomore, and she is fully committed to wrestling right now.
Week 1 - Pioneer High School (11/19/22)
We added this tournament about 4 days before it began because we knew that we needed to get some live matches in against other schools when the opportunity provided itself. This was the first annual Ed Barerra Memorial tournament. I was a long time friend with Ed and we both served on the board of the Sacramento Area Wrestling Association together for years (I'm still an active member) and we ran a lot of tournaments together. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have our varsity boys, varsity girls, and JV team compete in the same venue for our first tournament of the year (plus my connection to Ed). I knew this tournament would have a rough start because it was the first time it was ever happening and that's exactly what happened. However, it wasn't that bad. We are comfortable being uncomfortable. The tournament started out with everybody meeting at 6:20 am at Pioneer high school in Woodland but the district didn't open the doors to the gym until about 6:40 am. After that, there were a few hiccups in the brackets and the tournament got started around 10 am. it was cool to have all 3 teams in the same venue at the same time.
Girls Varsity
We didn't have all of our girls competing because of various reasons but we did have 3 girls compete and with only 3 girls competing (and Vaida was forced up a weight class and otherwise would have received the points at 116) we finished in 5th place out of 14 teams.
Vaida Bozzuto
Vaida weighed in at the 116 lbs. weight class but there were only 2 girls there so she bumped up to the 121 lbs. weight class. She had a tough first match and lost to the eventual champio but responded with 2 wins in a row that put her in the 3rd place medal match. Vaida hit some beautiful technique along the way but fell in her last match and finished in 4th place. This was a great start to the season for Vaida (she had a total of 5 matches last season due to injury and finished with 4 matches in 1 day). Once she's back to her normal weight class and has a little more experience the sky is the limit.
Gianna DiBenedetto
Gianna trains year round and won and/or placed at multiple national tournaments all across the country over the past 6 months. G has been working on a lot of things and the coaches told her that she could hit certain moves throughout the tournament. G trains extremely hard and buys into everything the coaches throw her way so this was no issue for her. Despite her limited technique availability Gianna still finished in 1st place with all matches won by tech-fall (15 point sympathy victory) or a pin. G has a goal to be a state champion this year and this was a great start for her journey.
Emma Ford
Emma had a goal as a freshman (last year) to win 1 match and ended up with a ton of medals, top 4 at Masters and went 2-2 at state. Emma 100% committed to the offseason and dealt with a LOT of adversity. Her resilience was outstanding and it was great to see Emma back on the mat today. Emma pinned all of her opponents and finished as a champion at the tournament! Emma has a goal to be a state medalist this year and this was a great start for her path to the state podium this year. She will only improve as the season goes on.
Boys Varsity
We brought a limited boys team today and we really focused on each person's own process.
Ocean Gutierrez
Ocean has spent years in our program and he has dealt with a lot of adversity. It was great to see him back in our line up and competing this past weekend. Ocean lost his first match (first match in a couple of years) and then came back to win multiple matches in a row with first period pins and Ocean finished with a bronze medal! Great job for his first competition back! We are excited to have Ocean back in our line up
Vince Nguyen
Vince has put in a ton of time during the offseason and came out with high expectations. Although he lost his first match, Vince came back and lost a close match in the 3rd place bout to finish in 4th place at the tournament. Not the finish that Vince was looking for but he also sat around all day and didn't have a first match until around 3 pm (after most kids already had 3-4 matches and all the girls were already finished for the day).
Lincoln Salazar
Lincoln, only a sophomore, put in a lot of time during the offseason and made the finals of his first tournament of the season. We got a lot of great information about what Lincoln is doing well and some of the stuff that he needs to work on. Lincoln finished with a silver medal and has a lot of upside to his wrestling.
Logan Marlatt
Logan also put in a ton of time in the offseason and it showed. Logan lost a close, first match to the eventual finalist but then he won the next 3 matches in a row to become the consolation champion. Logan forced a little too much of the action in his first match, instead of sticking to what he does best. Logan definitely adjusted within 1 match and looked great the rest of the tournament. We are excited for his season.
Nate Ross
Nate had a really tough first match against a very good Granite Bay kid and held his own. Nate then won his next match and then lost. Nate missed almost all of last season due to injury so he was a little rusty, but he will be a lot better after this first tournament of the season. Nate was also wrestling up a couple of weight classes so he was definitely out sized.
Frank Olivera
Only a sophomore, Frank put in a lot of time during the offseason and had a great first tournament of the season. Frank finished in 5th place after going 2-2 and he had a lot of promise to the start of the season. We are really excited about his potential and upside this year.
Jared Watson
Jared wanted to wrestle varsity and we get him into the varsity tournament the day before it began. Jared won his first match and then had some small mistakes fro inexperience that cost him the next couple of matches. Jared has a great approach and has a lot of upside.
Nathan Gregory
Nathan put in a ton of work during the offseason and started off his first match looking much improved since last year. He looked just as good in a battle during his 2nd match but lost a few important scrambles. Nathan just needed a little mat time before we could get better back at practice. Nathan won his next match but then we pulled him from the tournament due to an injury. Luckily, I spoke toNathan today and the injury is minor and he will be back at practice this week.
Austin Carroll
Austin put in a ton of work during the offseason and made a lot of improvements. Austin was a league champion and masters qualifier last year and has some high goals this season. Austin started out the season just right and looked really good at his first competition. Austin was a tournament champion and is looking for continual improvement.
Max Keough
Max was a league champion last year and masters qualifier and he's been working very hard in the room. Max just needs some mat time, which is exactly what he got this past weekend. max made the finals and finished with a silver medal after making some early season mistakes. These mistakes are very fixable and Max will continue to improve all season long.
The season is all about the process and competition is simply an opportunity for us to measure ourselves and our skills. Don't put too much thought into these early season matches. We aren't worried about wins or losses; we are more focused on the information and then getting better throughout the year. Next up is Folsom varsity for the girls, which usually proves to be a pretty significant tournament (last year, Gianna was ranked 15th in the nation and was the #3 seed because 2 other girls were ranked higher than her in the nation). The JV boys will be at Rio Linda on the same day and the varsity boys will have an early morning practice on Saturday.