Wrestlers celebrate seniors with win against Orange Glen
The Dawg House was packed with students, alumni, parents and fans to watch a great contest and to honor the wrestling team’s seniors in the last home meet of the year.
The Bulldogs did not disappoint, beating the Orange Glen Patriots 60-9.
It was the parents who took to the mat first Thursday night. That’s right, the parents took the mat. All of the parents of graduating seniors suited up in sweats and put their sweatshirts’ hoods up so you couldn’t tell who was who. They did the same routine the boys do before every home match and then brought their hoods down to reveal moms and dads rather than the varsity wrestling team.
Then one by one each senior class wrestler was introduced and celebrated by their families, their teammates, and the entire gymnasium.
The Class of 2015 wrestlers are Raul Briseno, Jimmy Busch, Dallas Domnitz, Brian Fonseca, Trevor Johnson, Troy Jordan, Austin Koch and Leo Duran.
The wrestling began with 106-pound Cade Erautt, who was bested by his opponent on points. OG 3 Bulldogs 0.
Nathan Kiddoo was unopposed at 115 pounds. Bulldogs 6 OG 3.
Devon Parsons came out fast and furious and on a mission. That mission must have been pinning his opponent in the first period because that’s just what he did. Bulldogs 12 OG 3.
Logan White was too much for his rival. White put on a clinic on how to score points in a match. Five team points seemed like too small of a reward for the 18-1 score at the end of the match. Technical fall, Bulldogs 17-3.
Aaron Johnson wrestled 3.5 pounds above his actual weight but you’d never have known it. He took all three periods to get the job done and his team was rewarded with 3 points. Bulldogs 20-3.
If you blinked you missed Michael Brindly getting the pin at 140 pounds. Brindly took less than 20 seconds to dispose of Orange Glen’s Kevin Martinez. Bulldogs 26-3.
Cameron Hakala and Troy Jordan must’ve liked the way Brindly operated. They also pinned their opponents in the first period. Hakala at 1:48 and Jordan at 1:17. Bulldogs 38-3.
E.J. Schmidt won the 162-pound weight class by decision 4-3. Bulldogs 41-3.
Fonseca dominated in his match, won by a major decision and earned the Bulldogs 4 points. Bulldogs 45-3.
The parade of seniors continued as Koch won on points, Domnitz pinned his opponent with 43 seconds left in the first period, and Briseno pinned his combatant in 34 seconds. Bulldogs 60-3.
The final bout of the night fell to Duron. Although cleared to wrestle, Duron was still nursing a shoulder injury that he hurt in the ASICS tournament two weeks earlier. The Patriot’s Luis Mendoza zeroed in on the weakness and took Duron out of the match.
Final score Bulldogs 60 Orange Glen 9.
The team competed in the San Pasqual Invitational Saturday, Jan. 24. Bulldogs took third place in team points and had the following individual successes:
•Brindley 6th place 140 pounds
•Hakala 5th place 147 pounds
•Koch 5th place 180 pounds
•White 4th place 132 pounds
•Kiddoo 3rd place 120 pounds
•Jordan 1st place 152 pounds
•Briseno 1st place 195 pounds
•Domnitz 1st place 220 pounds
The wrestlers travel to Valley Center and then Fallbrook the next two Thursdays. Both meets begin at 7 p.m.
CIF action begins the week of Feb. 9. With this talented and hard working group of young men Ramona is certain to be well represented at the next level.