2010-11 Calaveras Wrestling Season Summary

            The 2010-2011 season started out slow.  The coaching staff had preseason suspicions that the team could come together and be a section title contending team, but a lot of things were going to have to happen if that was to become a reality.  It would require reloading weight classes with varsity rookies who would need to step up and become major players quickly if we had a shot at any real post season success.  Especially since some big holes were made in last year’s lineup with the graduation of state qualifiers Tyler Brown and Gary Gellerman and freshman phenom Christian Lohsen moving to Florida (who qualified for the Florida state championships and broke his school record for most pins in a single season this year).   

            As the season approached, we had over 60 athletes take the hydration test and we were looking forward to big numbers in the room again.  Once the season began, however, we found ourselves scrambling to create competitive lineups.  The football team was enjoying a very successful season, winning playoff game after playoff game and they worked their way to the section championship game late in November.  While we were happy for them and the success they were earning, a large number of our varsity team played football and had not set foot in the room.  As a result, we wrestled our first six dual meets without seven starters.  Our record to start the season was a less-than-desirable 3-3. 

            The football team ended its season as section runner ups to the always powerful Escalon Cougars.  As the pigskin playing wrestlers began filtering into the room, it began to look more like the squad that the coaches had envisioned.  Another key loss became apparent when it was learned that varsity starter Kash Wilson had dislocated his shoulder twice during the football season and would require surgery. He would miss his senior year on the mat.  His absence was definitely felt throughout the season.

            Our first match with a whole team was a home dual against Tokay.  We beat them 40-19 at the varsity level and the team was starting to form.  One notable match in the dual was at 189 pounds where Calaveras senior Monti Wilson, a returning state qualifier and ranked 5^th in the section to start the season, was pitted against Andrew Richards, ranked 6^th in the section.  Wilson, with only 5 days of practice, won a close 7-4 decision.         

            We finished 6^th at the Western Invitational with 171 pounder Kyle Towler finishing 1^st, 140 pounder Justin Brown finishing 2^nd, 189 pounder Derek Jaurigue finishing 6^th and 135 pounder Zach Malandra finishing 8^th.   The Sierra Nevada Classic was 10 days later.   Tough as always, we only squeaked out one piece of hardware, with Monti Wilson finishing 7^th.  Coaches Clark, Upchurch and Fragoza took the helm for the tournament as Coaches Bicocca and Bowe attended Coach Bicocca’s son, Matt’s, wedding.  Needless to say, Coach Bowe was getting updates on his cell phone throughout the day.

            The Christmas practices gave us a little time to catch our breath and get ready for the 2^nd half of the season push.  The Gordon Hay tournament took place on January 8^th and the Redskins dominated the tournament in their own gym, finishing 1^st of 13 teams. Elk Grove finished 2^nd and Tokay finished 3^rd.  Calaveras had 8 wrestlers in the finals.  Only Justin Brown, however, was crowned a champion.  The league season began on January 11^th with a double-up week where we wrestled Amador on Tuesday and Argonaut on Thursday.  We beat both teams soundly and held each of them to single digit points.  That weekend at the Mendoza Memorial, we finished 2^nd of 16 teams, placing 11 of our guys top 4.  Zach Malandra, Kyle Towler and Monti Wilson were champions. 

            We wrestled Sierra Ridge/Rites of Passage the following Wednesday at home.  Once again we held our opponent to single digits by beating their varsity 66-6 and their J.V. team 70-6.  That weekend at the Tim Brown tourney, Monti Wilson, again the lone medalist, placed 5^th.   Summerville and Linden were next on the league schedule and it was another double up week.  On Tuesday, the varsity beat Summerville 39-23 on a night in Tuolumne City where we did not wrestle well.  We were hoping for a good showing in their gym, since they would be hosting the Division 5 Section Tournament in February.  It was less than a stellar performance.  We got pinned in two matches in which we were ahead, and lost another match due to a rookie mistake.  The J.V.’s won easily, 72-3.  Linden was next.  It was a light night.  The varsity won 54-15 and the J.V.’s won 69-6.

            The last match of the league season took place in the Bret Harte gym on Wednesday, February 2^nd.   We were in the league lead at 5-0 going into the match and the Bullfrogs were tied for 2^nd at 4-1, having lost to Summerville a week earlier.  They were strongly motivated since a victory would guarantee them a share of the league title and a shot at going to the section dual meet championships, something they hadn’t done in several years.  The match was closer than expected with a final score of 38-28.  The J.V.’s continued to show their dominance with a 72-3 trouncing that gave them their 10^th league championship in the last 12 years.

            Now for the post season.  That time of the season when the good teams rev up their engines and relish the challenge of good, hard competition and the faint of heart begin to fade away into their spring seasons. 

            The Division V Dual Meet Section Tournament was held on Saturday, February 5^th at Lincoln High School in Stockton.  We figured it would come down to us vs Escalon, and the football players were hungry for a shot at redemption and strip a blue banner away from the Cougars like they had done to us on the gridiron.  While there were several good matches and we avenged some earlier losses, the Cougars won 38-21 and gave CHS a second runner up patch while they took the blue section banner.  We would have to wait another two weeks for a second shot at a title.

            The league tournament was held at Amador High School on Friday, February 11^th.  The team was more than up for the challenge, winning the tournament by nearly 100 points.  We had seven champions, three 2^nd place finishers, two 3^rd place finishers and two 4^th place finishers.  All 14 wrestlers qualified for the Division V Section meet to be held the following week.  One of the amazing things about this tournament was how many times one of our guys avenged an earlier loss to an opponent.  On at least six occasions, a Calaveras varsity wrestler beat an opponent who had beaten him earlier in the season.  We nicknamed the team “the payback kids”.

            The Division V Section Tournament was held at Summerville High School on Friday, February 18^th and Saturday, February 19^th.   This tournament will long be remembered for a number of reasons.  The weather was a major issue at this tourney.  A late and low snowstorm paralyzed most of Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties but the tourney went on.  28 teams braved heavy snow, downed trees, power outages, and chain controls to fight it out for the team section title and to qualify their wrestlers to the Master’s Tournament the following week.  Summerville High School did a great job to keep the tourney running despite not having power at the school for the entire weekend and having snow on both days.  When the (snow) dust finally cleared, we had won our 12^th section title, finally getting that blue banner and at the expense of Escalon, who finished a close second.  We placed 10 wrestlers in the tournament and qualified 9 to the Masters Tournament.  Sophomore Collin Kulp was a champion at 103’s and seniors Kyle Towler and Monti Wilson were champs at 171 and 189, respectively.  125 pound junior Jerry Elsey and 135 pound sophomore Justin Brown both finished 2^nd, while seniors Zach Malandra and Derek Jaurigue finished 3^rd  at 140’s and 160’s.  Sophomore 112 pounder Steven Walker finished 4^th, as did senior 215 pounder Eli Thom.

            The Masters Tournament is always the most exciting tournament of the year.  It brings the section’s best together to battle it out for a state berth.  We brought 9 wrestlers to the Stockton arena and two fought their way through to a podium finish and a trip to Bakersfield.  Sophomore Justin Brown finished 8^th in this tournament last year, losing two heartbreaking overtime matches, either of which would have qualified him for the state meet as a freshman.  This year he was not to be denied, placing 6^th in a tough 135 pound weight class that had two eventual state medalists.  Senior Monti Wilson, who qualified to the state meet last year, placed 4^th at 189’s, battling back through the consolation bracket after an early round upset loss to a wrestler he had beaten soundly earlier in the season. 

            Bakersfield proved to be a bit disappointing with both qualifiers going 0-2.  But the season was certainly one of great joy and accomplishment for the coaches and the team.  Winning the league duals, league tourney, D-5 tourney and sending two to the state meet made it all worthwhile and developed in us a hunger to get ready for next year’s season.