Defending champion Vacaville dominates again at Maria Carrillo wrestling tournament

Saturday was a tough day for Redwood Empire wrestling programs at the 20th annual Puma Classic hosted by Maria Carrillo. Eleven of the 33 schools represented in the tournament were local teams - and none finished in the top 10 in the team standings.

Vacaville, the defending champion from the 2017 tournament and currently ranked 10th in the state by the California Wrestler website, was the team winner by a country mile, with 305 points. Second place went to Sutter Union with 202.5 points. Las Lomas of Walnut Creek with 185 points finished third.

The three highestfinishing Redwood Empire schools were Kelseyville (11th) with 88.5 points, Maria Carrillo (13th) with 78 points and Santa Rosa (tied for 14th) with 68 points. Local favorite Ukiah had several wrestlers scratched due to sickness and finished a disappointing 23rd with 42 points. Other Redwood Empire teams included Healdsburg, Middletown, El Molino, Analy, Upper Lake, Fort Bragg and Elsie Allen.

“The North Bay is down a little bit this year. Things are cyclical and we are in a down cycle right now,” Pumas coach and tournament organizer Tim Bruce said. “I am very pleased with how Maria Carrillo finished. We only had one senior wrestling today.”

The tournament featured 266 wrestlers from around Northern California in action on six mats in two gyms on the Maria Carrillo campus. Bruce said the fan turnout was comfortable but not crowded.

The Puma Classic is an important tournament because the North Coast Section championship is less than a month away, beginning Feb. 23, and wrestlers benefit from high-profile tournament wins. The Puma Classic follows the King of the Mat tournament at Windsor last weekend and the Tim Brown Memorial Tournament in Sacramento two weekends ago. Next weekend is the prestigious Mission San Jose Invitational.

At the end of Saturday’s competition, the winners’ podium belonged to Vacaville, which left no doubt by capturing individual titles in seven of the 14 weight classes. The Bulldogs were also awarded the “outstanding lower weight” wrestler of the tournament (Jacob Peralta, 122 pounds) and “outstanding upper weight” wrestler (Jake Levengood, 287).

“That is dominance. When you can do what Vacaville did today, that shows they are a pretty powerful team,” Bruce said. “It’s good for the tournament because everyone wants to challenge themselves against Vacaville - to go against one of the best teams in the state.”

There was only one individual champion from a Redwood Empire team - Jose Fernandez III of Upper Lake, who defeated Antonio Margiotta of Las Lomas at 122. The other lone local wrestler that advanced to a final but lost was Alex Garcia of Kelseyville, who was defeated by Tyee Ducharme of Vacaville at 154.

Finishes for other prominent Redwood Empire wrestlers included Frankie Pomilia of Ukiah (5th at 197); Trevor Bagan of Analy (3rd at 122) and PJ Toleafoa of Santa Rosa (5th at 287).

Maria Carrillo had three wrestlers who finshed in the top eight in their weight category: Jose Sanchez (5th at 115); Caleb Gaspar (7th at 108) and Jacob White (7th at 154).

“I am excited that we did so well and placed three wrestlers,” Bruce said. “The tournament went really well; there were zero hiccups. The quality of wrestlers was outstanding and the finals were barn-burners.”

Full tournament results can be found at the tournament website “Puma-classic.com.”