Four-girl Vintage wrestling group places eighth

The Vintage High School girls wrestling team was able to sneak in one more tournament before the calendar year ran out, and it was definitely worth it. 

Because of the holidays, only four wrestlers competed yet Vintage took eighth out of 28 teams at the Lady Lancer Invitational at East Union High in Manteca.

Rebecca Medieros, competing in her first tournament of the season, was 3-1 with a pair of pins on her way to a third-place finish. Medieros joined the team part way into the season but has progressed rapidly.

“She’s a fierce competitor, and just like the rest of the first-year girls, she takes instruction well and isn’t afraid to ask questions when she doesn’t understand something,” said Missouri Valley College wrestler and Vintage graduate Michele Querin, who is helping coach the team during winter break. “It’s going to be fun to watch her develop.”

Chelsi Aguayo also secured a third-place medal, after bouncing back from a disappointing loss in the first match.

“Chelsi just came back from an injury last week, so she’s still getting back up to speed.” said Querin. “After that first match, she just refocused herself and earned that third-place medal.”

Alexis Soto and Abrah Saunders also competed for Vintage.

Soto, also making her first tournament appearance of the year, secured a fourth-place finish. Querin said Saunders basically wrestled better than anyone else on her team, but faced top-ranked opponents in each of her five matches.

“It’s too bad she doesn’t have a win to show for it,” Querin said. “By this time next year, girls aren’t going to be looking forward to wrestling her.”

Next up for Vintage is the Cougar Girls Invitational at Newark Memorial High School in Newark on Saturday.

Vintage hosts the ASICS Napa Valley Girls Classic Jan. 12-13.  The event was the first girls high school tournament in the nation and the largest of its kind.

• Vintage sixth in tourney

Vintage took sixth place out of 24 teams at the inaugural NorCal Twilight Classic, which was held recently at St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo.

Audrey Garza, the team’s only senior, captured the heavyweight championship with an impressive second-round pin over San Leandro’s Shauntia Beck, the state’s sixth-ranked heavyweight.

“Audrey has worked her tail off this year, and it’s just great to see it all come together with a first-place finish,” said Vintage coach Jim Lanterman.

Chelsi Aguayo, coming off a hip injury and competing for the first time this year, took second place, losing in the championship match 6-3.

“The fact that Chelsi got to the championship match is amazing as this was the first competition she’s seen this year. When she works out the rust, she’ll win close matches like this,” said Lanterman.

Heather Farace, the team captain, took sixth place with a pair of pins. Abra Saunders and Sarah Michalek also made contributions as the team made its best showing this season.

Vintage has 10 girls on its squad this year.

“We’ve been competing with three or four girls every tournament. But now, we’re getting everyone healthy again. We should keep getting stronger the rest of the season, and make some noise in the team standings,” said Farace.

Varsity Boys Basketball

• Marin Catholic 63, Justin-Siena 54

The Braves trailed just 29-26 at halftime and 45-40 after three periods but succumbed down the stretch against the Wildcats in each team’s Marin County Athletic League opener.

Kevin Dougherty had 23 points, Blaize Boles 19 points and Colin Chadwick five points and 15 rebounds to lead the Braves (0-1 MCAL, 11-2 overall) in the road game.

• Justin-Siena 72, Kelseyville 32

• Justin-Siena 66, Burton 43

• Justin-Siena 85, Drew 56

Justin’s Guiles Particelli was named Most Valuable Player of the Kelseyville Tournament after the Braves captured the title with their rout of Kelseyville on Saturday. Boles, an all-tournament selection, and Kevin Morinec each had 15 points and Particelli had seven in the championship game to lead Justin.

The Braves bounced Burton-San Francisco, 66-43, in Friday night’s semifinal behind Boles’ 21 points. Dougherty had 19 points and Particelli 14 points and 15 assists. In Thursday’s opener, Boles scored 23 points, Dougherty 16 and Particelli 15 with 12 assists in their victory over Drew-San Francisco.

• Trinity Prep 81, Geyserville 45

Dan Streett tallied 33 points and seven steals to lead the Crusaders to their fifth overall win on Tuesday night at Justin-Siena’s North Gym. Daniel Cravahlo, Lou Kersting and Sean O’Brien each scored 11 points while O’Brien and Kersting added nine and seven rebounds, respectively. Phil Figueroa had nine points and five steals, while Mario Previtali grabbed six rebounds.

• Napa 73, Armijo 62

Ryan Kostecka and Ryan Brown led Napa with 23 and 20 points, respectively, to open Monticello Empire League play on Tuesday. Brown led Napa (1-0 MEL, 6-7 overall) with 11 rebounds, while Kostecka grabbed five. Kyle Sylvester chipped in 14 points and James Parker added eight points and six boards. Josh Ohlandt had a strong defensive game with four steals and three blocks.

Varsity Girls Basketball

• Vintage 46, Vacaville 35

The Crushers started their MEL season with a strong win on the road Tuesday night. Jessica Zeller and Kelsey Zeller led Vintage in scoring with 17 and 10 points, respectively. Katie Montez and Jordan Price picked up seven and six points, while Jessica Loper added a bucket and 11 rebounds. Katie Corkett chipped in two points and four assists.

Vintage head coach Dave Hollman said the Bulldogs were scrappy and very physical and added that his team went to the foul line 35 times. The Crushers  (1-0 MEL, 7-6 overall) made 20 of those shots — 11 coming from Jessica Zeller, who only missed one free throw.

“I was happy with how the girls ran our offensive and defensive packages,” Hollman said. “We never got into a rhythm because they were hanging on our arms.”

• Marin Catholic 55, Justin-Siena 32

The hosting Wildcats led 21-4 after one quarter and didn’t look back in each team’s MCAL opener on Tuesday night in Kentfield.

“They came out with a lot more energy and made their shots, and we did not match their energy,” Justin-Siena coach Mike Boles said.

Vicky Deely led the Braves (7-5 overall, 0-1 MCAL) with 19 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Courtney Heathcote had six points and three assists and Jessica Futo had four points and four rebounds.

Varsity Boys Wrestling

• Crushers compete at Lemoore Bash

Five members of the Vintage wrestling team attended the Lemoore Bash Tournament last weekend. There were 87 teams in the two-day tournament.

Chris O’Conner (140) opened the day with two straight wins, including a 7-6 decision over the No. 3-ranked wrestler. With 12 seconds to go and behind 6-5, O’Conner gained a two-point reversal and win the match. He lost his next two matches, 3-0 and 1-0 in overtime.

Kyle Valentine (135 pounds) went 2-2 with two pins. Nick Miller (145 pounds) was 1-2 with an 8-6 win. Dominic Waters (171) went 2-2 with a 40-second pin. Ahmad Hammadauh (heavyweight) was 2-2.

The Crushers start the MEL portion of their schedule tonight at Armijo. On Friday and Saturday the Crushers will be at the Valley of the Moon Tournament in Sonoma.

JV Girls Basketball

• Vintage 40, Vanden 22

Vintage finished its preseason by defeating Vanden-Travis Air Force base and improving to 8-4. Vintage put the game away in the third quarter when it outscored Vanden 15-3. Geena Hillman and Sierra Young each had 10 points; Ashley Barrett led the Crushers in rebounding with 10, followed by Young with six and Katrina Husted with five; and Husted and Sara Zuniga each had four steals.

• Justin-Siena 45,

Marin Catholic 43

Three Braves scored in the double digits to lift Justin-Siena to its first MCAL win on Tuesday. Marissa Munoz led the scoring charge with 14 points while Gianna Wright picked up 13 points and added seven rebounds. Natalie Straw chipped in 10 points while Zina Zaia had six points and nine assists.

JV Boys Basketball

• Marin Catholic 52,  Justin-Siena 42

Justin-Siena was led by Bradley Aden with 12 points and Paul Dugoni with 11. The Braves stand at 10-2 overall and 0-1 in Marin County Athletic League play.

They play at San Rafael on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

• Armijo 64, Napa 61

Despite Brandon Washington’s 22 points and 11 rebounds Tuesday night, Napa couldn’t muster up a win in both teams’ Monticello Empire League opener. Brandon Savin scored 15 points, Tyler Imhoff added 11 points, Ben Ballantine chipped in nine points and pulled down 16 boards while Harry Gorsuch had four steals.

Napa (0-1 MEL, 6-6 overall) host Fairfield on Friday at 6 p.m.

Freshman Boys Basketball

• Marin Catholic 39, Justin-Siena 25

 The Braves couldn’t overcome a scoreless first quarter and dropped their Marin County Athletic League opener to the visiting Wildcats on Tuesday night.

 Justin-Siena, facing Marin Catholic’s tough man-to-man defense, trailed 11-0 after one quarter and 23-7 at halftime. The Braves (0-1 MCAL, 5-5 overall) were led by Jake Dunkle’s seven points.

• Armijo 78, Napa 47

The Indians couldn’t match Armijo’s speed and dropped their MEL opener in Fairfield on Tuesday evening.

After falling behind 15-3 early in the game, Napa battled back to cut the deficit to five points by halftime. But Armijo crushed any hopes of a Napa comeback by going on 16-1 run to start the third quarter and cruised to an easy victory. 

Napa’s Trevor Davison came off the bench to score eight points while Mario Giovannoni also scored eight points and led the team in rebounding with four boards. Louie Alvarez chipped in  seven points and grabbed three rebounds.

The Indians’ (0-1 MEL, 5-8 overall) next game will be on Friday against Vacaville at Messner Gym.

Freshman Girls Basketball

• Justin-Siena 41,

Marin Catholic 29

Marie Eberwein had 11 points and four assists to lead Justin-Siena (9-2 overall, 1-0 MCAL), which was in front 12-4 in the first quarter and 32-18 after the third quarter on Tuesday.

Maleana Raymond chipped in six points, five rebounds and seven steals, Olivia Barker had six points, Missy Particelli had four points, four steals and five rebounds, and Tiffany Becker had four points and four offensive rebounds.

• Davis 33, Napa 29

• Napa 30, Dixon 23

In Tuesday’s loss to Davis, Amanda Garcia had nine points and Maddie Arbios had eight.

In last week’s win over Dixon, it was Claire Trousseux with 10 points, Tay Langfitt with six points and six rebounds, and Garcia with eight points and eight rebounds.

The Indians are 6-6 overall.

Napa Valley Register Copyright © 2009