Trojans prevail on mat

Petaluma High’s experienced middle weights muscled the Trojans to a 45-20 win over Casa Grande in their big Vine Valley Athletic League showdown wrestling match Wednesday night.

Wrestling before a near capacity crowd in the Petaluma gym, the league’s two dual-meet undefeated teams put on an emotional show for their fans with a multitude of highly competitive matches.

At the finish, the Trojans had more strength and knowledge among their middle weights, gaining the upper hand in the chase for the first VVAL pennant going into the league championship meet on Feb. 9 at American Canyon High School.

At one point early in the varsity match, Casa Grande held a 15-6 lead, and the Gauchos were still in front 20-14, when Petaluma’s Dominic Butts recorded an emotional pin win over Casa Grande’s Victor Medina in their 128-pound match. Medina led, 5-0, through the first two periods before Butts reached into his reserves to snatch the win and six crucial points for the Trojans.

The Gauchos not only never recovered, they never won during the confrontation’s final six matches.

During Petaluma’s run to the team win, Trojan coach Paul Schloesser shuffled his lineup on the fly, switching his wrestlers to gain favorable match-ups.

“Some of the early matches didn’t go the way I anticipated, so I moved kids around a little,” Schloesser explained.

Varsity wrestling started with a hurt for both sides at 184 pounds where Casa Grande’s Caleb Wood was dominating Petaluma’s Derrick Pomi until he slammed the Trojan’s head to the mat and was disqualified for an illegal move.

Casa coach Louis Chavez agreed the referee made the right call. “It was unintentional, but it was illegal,” the Gaucho coach acknowledged.

The disqualification resulted in a 12-point team scoring swing - the six the Gauchos could have potentially earned that were taken away and the six the Trojans were awarded.

Casa’s big boys, Justin Naugle, Connor Gloster and Jack Faris, kept the Gaucho momentum moving with Naugle at 197 pounds and heavyweight Faris dominating with first-round pins. Gloster won a muscle battle against Petaluma’s Jack Santos, 3-2.

Had it not been for the disqualification and a penalty point taken away from Casa, the Gauchos would have had a 20-0 lead before Petaluma’s spider-strong Nick Trave pinned Casa’s Liam Walsh at 108 pounds and Charlie Winter prevailed over Casa’s Collin Hillard in a 115-pound match that was more one-sided than the score indicated.

Petaluma’s Collin Ferrero resisted with bulldog determination, but finally yielded to Casa’s Ryan Naugle pin in their 122-pound match.

At that point, each side had 20 team points.

Then came the emotion-draining Butts win at 128 and the Trojans, as a team, never looked back.

In almost rapid succession: Mac Shattuck dominated Joe McGwuire for a 10-1 major decision, Liam O’Niell pinned Trevor Chavez in the second period, Daxton Hogya won a one-sided 9-2 decision over Ethan Falkenberg, Petluma’s outstanding Connor Pedersen pinned Zack Kuper in the second period, Tony Vitali controlled Jack Babel for a 9-2 decision and Colton Prieto had a tussle, but prevailed over Tanner McKinney, 7-4.

“Petaluma’s seniors are very good,” complimented Chavez. “I’ve known them since they were in junior high school and they are very good wrestlers.”

Despite the win and an undefeated first VVAL dual season, the Trojans have not yet clinched the league pennant. A Casa Grande win in the league tournament could earn the Gauchos a share of the title or even an outright win depending on how Petaluma finishes. A Trojan victory in the tournament erases all doubt.

Petaluma received three forfeit wins in junior varsity competition, enough to give the Trojan JVs a 37-27 team win. Each team won four contested matches.

For Casa Grande: Sam Virkus went overtime to defeat Dylan Baltazar, 7-5, and Sam Skinner at 140 pounds, Jacob Isola at 160 pounds and Steven Isaacs at 172 pounds all won by pin.

For Petaluma: Riddick James decisioned Joe Ellis in a tough overtime match, 5-3 at 134 pounds; Jacob Bettencourt won a major decision over Kyle Garrity, 12-1, at 154 pounds; and Nathan Turner at 147 pounds and Ashur King at 122 pounds both won by pins.

Both schools have several girl wrestlers, but the matchups didn’t align and there were only two matches on the mat.

Casa Grande’s Arora Viera was in charge for the entire match in an 8-1 win over Petaluma’s Logan Pomi at 143 pounds. Petaluma’s Carla Maldanado finally pinned a determined Skylar Finley from Casa Grande in a 160-pound match.

Final team score, was Petaluma 42, Casa Grande 16.