Vacaville takes top spot at Maria Carrillo wrestling tournament; Windsor 2nd

The Vacaville High School boys wrestling team dominated the mat once again at Saturday’s 21st annual Puma Classic at Maria Carrillo High School.

“Those guys, I’d have to go back and check it, I think they’ve won this tournament the last almost 10 years in a row. They’re a phenomenal team, they’re one of the top 10 teams in the state,” Maria Carrillo coach and tournament organizer Tim Bruce said about the Bulldogs. “Their level is high and they’re just as good as they were when they won state in 2007.”

The all-day competition at the Santa Rosa school drew nearly 300 wrestlers from other Northern California programs.

For most of the day, the matches were held on six mats in two gyms, but when the finals began at about 4 p.m., all the teams gathered into one gym with a single light illuminating the championship-round mat.

North Bay teams included not only the host Pumas but also Montgomery, Santa Rosa, Analy, Windsor, Healdsburg, Kelseyville, Ukiah, Clear Lake, Middletown and Fort Bragg.

“I was expecting exactly what I got; a tough tournament, great competition and it ran smoothly,” Bruce said.

The tournament came right before a key time in the high school wrestling season, with February right around the corner. The league finals, the North Coast Section meet and state competition all arrive next month.

Competitors came in extra focused, knowing they can benefit from high-profile tournament wins at events like Saturday’s.

“This tournament is the jump-start to the postseason. We’ve got Mission San Jose next weekend, the NCS Duals, then it goes league, section, state. So, this one is where the state run begins,” Bruce said.

The most exciting match of the night turned out to be the last. In the 285-pound weight class, Santa Rosa High School wrestler Peletisala Toleafoa faced Vacaville’s Eric Hayward.

Toleafoa started the bout by overpowering his opponent and taking Hayward down for a couple of hard slams.

But Hayward slowly fought his way back into contention and was able to come back to win with a fall 45 seconds into the second round.

Team trophies were handed out to the top five teams. After Vacaville, Windsor placed second, Sutter Union took third, Freedom snagged fourth and host Maria Carrillo took fifth.

Individual medals were given out to the top eight wrestlers in each weight class.

Redwood Empire teams struggled in the finals, with few making it to the final bracket.

The lone standout in the finals was Kelseyville, which as a team tied for eighth place in the tournament and saw Alex Garcia (160 pounds) crowned champion.

Windsor was another favorite entering the tournament and although the Jaguars did finish second as a team, individually they were shut out by their opponents in the final matches.

The lightweight MVP of the tournament was awarded to Jacob Peralta (132 pounds) and the upperweight MVP went to Chris Island (220), both wrestling for the Bulldogs.

Many of the wrestlers who competed in the final few matches could make a run at the NCS finals next month.

Fans can view Saturday’s full results at puma-classic.com.

Most of the teams that competed Saturday will next prepare for the prestigious Mission San Jose Invitational tournament, which will be held this weekend in Fremont.