2013-14 Calaveras Wrestling Season Summary

The 2013-2014 wrestling season was going to be a season of uncertainty.  The ’12-13 team left in its wake a 9-1 record, two league titles, two section titles, two state qualifiers and a state medalist. But with 9 starters graduating, there were serious questions about this year’s team.  Would former J.V. guys be able to step up and fill such large shoes?  Would a lack of experience cost us? 
As the season began, those questions started to turn into doubts.  We lost our first two duals to Lodi and Tokay.  Coaches couldn’t remember the last time we started out a season 0-2.  But we started to see a little light when there were some placers at the Oakdale Tournament.  Jarred Kirk was a champion, Jacob Abeyta finished 2nd, Logan Sullivan 3rd, Max Smith 4th, and Alex Rajewski 5th.  The team finished 5th overall out of 20 teams.  The Casa Roble Tourney showed us a little more light as 6 guys placed.  Jarred Kirk and Jake Abeyta were 2nd, while Max Smith was 4th, Tyler Chavez and Alex Rajewski 5th and Jason Stokkeland 7th.  Between the holidays, we made our annual trek to Reno.  Jarred Kirk was the lone medalist at the Sierra Nevada Classic, placing 6th. 
The league was really down this year.  As inexperienced as we were, no team provided much of a contest.  The varsity beat Argonaut 64-12, Linden 65-9, ROP 81-0, Summerville 64-8 and in what has historically been the battle for dominance in the Mother Lode League, the Bret Harte Bullfrogs came to the Flock gym with little fight to offer. The JV's swept the Frogs 80-0, while the varsity wasn't far behind with a 66-9 trouncing. Both JV and varsity teams clinched their respective dual meet league championships. It is the 5th consecutive title for the JV's and a school record 8th title in a row for the varsity.  (We have also tied the league record for consecutive titles.)  Amador did not field a team.
There were two new things about the Tim Brown Memorial Tournament this season. First, it was in a new venue located on the old McClellan Air Force Base.  The other was Calaveras High School did not place a wrestler in the tourney.  Only Logan Sullivan, Max Smith and Jarred Kirk made it to the second day of competition, but each failed to reach the medal round.
The 2014 Section Team Dual Tournament was held on Saturday, February 8th at Lincoln High School in Stockton.  League champions and runner-ups from 6 different divisions throughout the Sac-Joaquin section converged on the Trojan gym seeking a dual section crown and blue banner. It was another classic slugfest between the Redskins and the Escalon Cougars in the Division V finals.  Each team got to the finals via a bye and a semifinal match.  Calaveras beat Ripon High School 52-22 and Escalon defeated Linden 50-18 to get to the final showdown.  The dual started off at the 170 pound weight class.  Escalon was really tough in the middle and upper middle weights so we knew we would have to have a big lead before we got to those last few matches.  After a series of slugfests, the score was 31-13 in our favor with only four weights to go.  We were headed straight into the strength of their lineup and we knew it was going to be tough to win any of those matches.  The coaches were thinking it could be a repeat of last year-a big come from be-hinder, only this time in Escalon’s favor.  With only two weight classes to go, the score was 31-25.  We lost the next match by a 5-2 score so with one match remaining, the score was 31-28, Calaveras.  It all came down to the 160 pound weight class. We had a sophomore facing off against a big strong senior who had beaten us earlier in the season 6-2.  If something like this were to happen again, the team score would be tied.  Coaches from both teams were scrambling to find the criteria in the event of a tie.  As the match began, the cougar wrestler was aggressive, pushing and shoving, trying to get us out of stance.  With about 30 seconds left in the first round, he shot in on a single leg and picked it up.  We fought hard not to give up the takedown as he tried several times to trip us to the mat.  On his final attempt, we pulled in the Cougar’s far arm to attempt a head throw as the two headed for the mat.  On impact, the Escalon wrestler injured his arm and was unable to continue.  By a strange twist of fate, the Redskins captured their 16th section title. 
The League Tournament was held at Bret Harte high School on Saturday, February 15th.  We ran away with the tournament, finishing with 228.5 points. The closest team was Summerville with 149. We put ten wrestlers in the finals, finished with 9 champions and set a new school and league record for the most champions in an MLL tournament. All 14 wrestlers qualified for the Division V Section Tournament the following week.
The Division V Tournament turned out to be everything the coaching staff thought it would be. Once again it was Calaveras and Escalon locked in a battle for the individual section title in a field of 30 teams. We had won this tournament the past three years in a row and were looking for a fourth banner.  After round one, we were ahead by just three points. By the day's end, only two.  At the start of day two, we had eight guys in the semis.  So did they. We had two guys down in consolation.  So did they. When the finals came around, we had five in the championships. They had six. But when the dust finally settled, we finished second, ending the streak.  We placed nine, all of whom qualified for the Masters Tournament.  Finishing first for the 'Skins were freshman Jacob Abeyta (106) and senior Tylor Gonsalves (120). Junior Alex Rajewski (145), and Seniors Logan Sullivan (182) and Max Smith (195) finished 2nd. Junior Jarred Kirk finished 3rd at heavyweight. Juniors Jason Stokkeland (138) and Ayden Garcia (170) finished 4th and sophomore Shane Torre (220) also finished 4th.
Taking 9 wrestlers to the Sac-Joaquin Masters Tournament is no small accomplishment. But an even tougher one is getting out of that tournament and qualifying for the California State Championships in Bakersfield.  For the first time since 2007, we did not qualify anyone for the state meet.  The season ended on somewhat of a sour note.   
But all-in-all, it was another solid season.  While we didn’t qualify anyone for state, this team did manage to break two records:  The most league champions in a single season (9) and the most consecutive league titles (8).  We only lose three seniors this year and look forward to an even more productive season next year.