2008-2009 Season Summary
The 2008-2009 season was an interesting one. The Redskins were in somewhat of a reloading year, having lost 8 varsity starters from last year. As the season began, the guys started to find their way to their weight classes and by the first week of December, the team was ready for competition. We wrestled in the Sheldon duals, going 3-2 and finishing 4th. Newcomer Chris Inocencio gave us a preview of things to come as he went undefeated on the day with a 5-0 finish.
Our annual test against the strong, big schools gave us an early yardstick to measure the team. The varsity defeated Sonora 39-31, and Tokay 40-21. The coaches thought there were some good signs in these victories, and turned up the heat (literally and figuratively) in the practice room. Next came the always-tough 32-man Western Invitational Tournament at Modesto Junior College. Senior Brandon Rutledge finished second, junior Tyler Brown 5th, junior Gary Gellerman, 6th, and senior Garrett Fisk, 8th. The team finished 15th overall. On December 29th, the team headed over the hill for the Sierra Nevada Classic, held at the Livestock Center in Reno, Nevada. With nearly 100 teams competing, Tyler Brown was the only finisher, placing 6th. One highlight was seeing and competing against CHS alumni wrestlers Neal Cordeiro (’83) and Jimmy Souza (’84). Neal’s son Jamison wrestled 112’s for Christian Brothers High School of Sacramento and beat our 112-pounder Brenden Sullivan in a rematch from last year where Sullivan beat him in the finals of the Rosemont Tournament. Jimmy’s son wrestled 125’s for Douglas (Nevada) High School.
The new year brought on a new set of challenges. For the first time in Mother Lode League history, it was said that the league title would be determined not in the last match of the season, but rather in the first. The new-and-improved Summerville High School wrestling team was favored to win the MLL title, and this year’s schedule matched us up against them right off the bat. On January 8, 2009, the Redskins trekked across the two counties to put their title on the line. In a thrilling, knock-down-dragged-out affair, the Redskins came away with a 35-26 win that could have easily gone either way.
With the toughest dual of the season under their belts, rather than coasting and possibly getting caught off guard, the team stepped it up. Just two days after a big emotional win, the ‘skins rallied to win their own Gordon Hay Tourney, placing 7 in the finals and crowning 4 champions.
As the season progressed, the team seemed to get stronger. There were some lineup changes and some shifting of personnel, and the team kept their collective noses to the wheel. They rattled off three league victories, beating Linden 54-15, Amador 46-22, and gave a 46-15 trouncing to Argonaut, a preseason favorite thought to be in the hunt for the league title. In the midst of these matches, the Reds dominated the Rosemont Tournament with 7 Champions, 2-second place finishers, and 3-third place finishers. The end of January brought the Tim Brown Memorial Tournament. (This tournament used to be called the Foothill Tourney, but was changed to honor a Foothill High School wrestler who was killed in Iraq.) Once again, Tyler Brown was the lone placer, finishing 8th. While at the tournament, Coaches Bicocca and Bowe ran into a couple of alums in the way of football standout Jason Aguirre (‘88 ) and golf standout Bobby Sawicki (‘87 ). Jason’s son wrestles for Foothill High.
After a 66-10 pounding of ROP (Rites of Passage), the annual CHS-BH dual took place on February 5th in Angels Camp. It was without its usual hype and drama, since Bret Harte had already lost three league matches to Summerville, Linden and Argonaut, and it appeared inevitable that it would lose a fourth. The Redskins prevailed 48-22. Calaveras finished first in dual meet competition, with Summerville second, Argonaut third, Linden fourth and Bret Harte fifth.
For the second straight season, we finished out of the running for a section title. After beating Hilmar 34-21, the Redskins fell to Escalon 42-33.
On February 13, 2009, Calaveras hosted the Mother Lode League Tournament in the Mike Flock Gym. It started out as a chaotic affair with a wild snowstorm that dropped 8 inches of white powder on towns as low as Mountain Ranch, Sutter Creek and Jackson. Argonaut, Amador and ROP all were late to weigh-ins, but eventually things got underway. In what was supposed to be a pay-back event where Summerville could get themselves a piece of the MLL Championship after having their pockets picked in their own gym in early January, the Reds were not to be denied in their own gym. Calaveras put 9 wrestlers in the finals to lock up the tournament by a wide margin. CHS crowned 5 champions, including 3-time champion Brandon Rutledge, and first year varsity wrestlers Chris Inocencio and Michael O’Meara. CHS alum Jake Shields, MMA World Champion, was on-hand to give out the awards at the end of the tourney. It was great to see Jake and he was generous in giving autographs and photo opportunities. He'll be fighting again in the near future.
The Division 5 Tournament (formerly known as the small school section) was held at Lindhurst High School, near Marysville. Although a rather small gym, the CHS coaches had fond memories of the place since the last time we were there, we won a section title. We finished 3rd behind Central Catholic and Escalon and qualified 7 wrestlers to the Master’s Tournament (formerly, the Large Section). At the Master’s, junior Tyler Brown finished 5th to qualify for the state tournament in Bakersfield. (Our section now takes 7 to the state tourney.) At Bakersfield, Brown lost his first two matches and did not place.
Overall, it was quite a season. Winning the league in both dual meets and the tournament was special, especially considering we came in as the defending champion underdogs. Also, capturing two other tournament titles and getting a wrestler to the state tournament capped off another great year in Redskin wrestling. We look forward to another great season next year!