SHS grapplers bring home tourney medals

The Shafter High Generals wrestling teams were busy bringing home medals over the holiday break.

They competed in several tournaments in the two-week span, bringing home over 25 medals.

The junior varsity and freshmen teams started the period off with a big showing at their own Coyote Classic tourney. They had 12 wrestlers place, with two claiming first place in their divisions. Nick Garza won the 120 lb. division and Alex Ruiz went undefeated in the 195 lb. division, winning the title.

Second-place finishers were Jesse Abernathy at 160 lb., Abelino Rivera in the 106 lb., Fernando Carreno in 132 lb. and Santiago Hernandez in 195 lb.

Freshmen. Adan Villegas won fourth place in the tourney, along with a third-place medal won by Oscar Valdez and a third by Emilio Mendez. Julian Navarro rounded out the medals for the Generals with a fourth place in the 220 lb. division.

The Generals followed that performance with two medalists in the BASH tournament held on Dec. 29 in Santa Maria. Sending six wrestlers to the tournament, Shafter saw Keith Vasquez capture fifth place in the 132 lb. division. Vasquez made it to the semifinals before losing to eventual runner-up Jude Miranda of Hanford. Vasquez beat Aaron Ibarra of Ernest Righetti High in the fifth-place match 5-0. In the 120 lb. division, Florentino Olivas wrestled his way to the third-place match, but lost in a tie-breaker to Coleman Hubert of Arroyo Grande.

The Generals went to the Dinuba Invitational, which attracts some of the top wrestlers in the state. SHS was unable to get any wrestlers into the later rounds of the Jan. 5 tournament, with Christian Garza the top General competitor, going 1-2 in the tourney with a 16-0 win over Francisco Lope of Mission Oak before going against the third-seeded wrestler from Frontier, Luke Combs. Combs would go on to capture third place in the tournament.

On the girls side, the Lady Generals shined at the Coyote Classic held at East High School in late December. Shafter had nine medalists, including a championship win by Esmeralda Torres in the 131 lb. division. They also had two second-place medalists in Stephania Ledezma at 116 lb. and Fabiola Morales at 126 lb. Areyal Hernandez won third place at the tourney, with Iztlali Serrano getting fourth place. April Sanchez and Natalie Carrillo brought home fifth-place medals to round out the collection.

The Lady Generals ended the tournament with a fifth-place team finish. They followed that performance up with a strong showing at the Born Vicious tourney at Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield. Several wrestlers got into the later rounds but came up just short of medals. The Lady Generals did come home with two medals: Iztlali captured fourth place in the 126 lb. division and Esmeralda Torres made it two titles in a row with a championship win at 131 lbs.

The Generals will be back in action this weekend when the Boys team will compete in the Kern County Invitational at Centennial High School on Saturday. The Lady Generals will be at Foothill High competing in a tournament there on Saturday.