Petaluma crowns two SCL wrestling champions

The Petaluma High School wrestlers came up with some of their best efforts of the season in the Sonoma County League Tournament, crowning two champions and earning seven wrestlers tickets to this weekend’s North Coast Section tournament at James Logan High School in Fremont.|

The Petaluma High School wrestlers came up with some of their best efforts of the season in the Sonoma County League Tournament, crowning two champions and earning seven wrestlers tickets to this weekend’s North Coast Section tournament at James Logan High School in Fremont.

Tyler Sullivan at 122 pounds and Eric Machado at 154 pounds both claimed titles for the Trojans. They will be joined in the NCS meet by Zac Coello at 108, Jack Reynolds at 128, Dominic Ayers at 134, Noah Russell at 147 and heavyweight Daniel Pacheco.

As a team, the Trojans finished third with 134 points behind league champion Healdsburg (226.5) and Analy (149). The Trojans were followed by El Molino (133), Sonoma Valley (102), Elsie Allen (65) and Piner (44).

By weight class, here’s how the Trojans fared:

Freshman Coello qualified for NCS at 108 pounds, finishing third. After losing to Healdsburg’s Dominic Montanez, he accepted a forfeit win and then pinned Kristian Walker of El Molino in the first round to take third place. He had a 3-1 record with a pin, earning 16 points.

Sullivan won two matches by pin for the 122-pound title, defeating Piner’s Justin Wodell in the second period and Adrian Vasquez of Healdsburg in the first round for the championship. He scored 22 points for the Trojans with his 2-0 record.

Reynolds pinned Healdsburg’s Sam Williams in the second period before losing by technical fall to El Molino’s Sam McDonall, 17-1, in the championship match of the 128-pound class. He finished second. His 2-1 record was good for 18 points.

Ayers lost his first match to Sonoma Valley’s Nick Biaggi at 134 pounds, but battled back to beat Analy’s Dustin Blumenthal with a second-period pin after receiving a bye. He finished third and earned a trip to the NCS meet. His 3-1 record and pin added 17 points to the Trojan total.

Freshman Curtis Goughnour lost two matches at 140 pounds.

Russell wrestled his way into the finals at 147 pounds where he lost a tough 5-2 decision to Healdsburg’s Joe Anguiano. His 1-1 record placed him second, earned him a trip to the NCS and scored 16 points for his team.

Machado claimed his title in the 154-pound class with a 10-0 major decision over Dillon Miggins of Piner and a hard-fought 8-6 win over Jake Randuch of Sonoma Valley. His efforts earned 19 Petaluma points.

Max Gierden gave a good effort, but lost two matches.

Michelle Larsen, headed to the women’s CIF state championships in Visalia for the third time this weekend, was in the all-boys 222-pound bracket. She accepted two forfeits, but lost her only on-mat match by a second-round pin to Rico Vasquez of Healdsburg. She earned 14 points for the Trojans.

Pacheco finished second in the heavyweight division. After accepting a forfeit win, he pinned Carter Olson of Analy in the first period, but lost in the championship match to No. 1 seed Dalton Elster of Sonoma Valley. He scored 18 points.

Petaluma’s three freshmen girls competed in the junior varsity competition.

Cindy Diaz and Wendy Orazco were in the same weight class, with Diaz defeating her teammate with a 15-5 major decision. She also beat Jackson Jones of Analy, while losing to Jay White of Analy. Orozco lost to Jones.

Frieda Carmona lost two matches to boy wrestlers.

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