Central Valley’s varsity wrestling program made its debut in the Central California Conference last week in Merced.

The Hawks secured a split with El Capitan.

Central Valley previously competed in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Hawks changed leagues as part of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s realignment plan.

“It’s different,” coach Rob Beckhart said. “The coaches in the CCC have been around for a long time. They’re established. It’s going to take a little while to learn their styles and how they do things.”

Central Valley’s 2017-18 WAC varsity girls championship team escaped with a 42-36 victory against the Gauchos on Wednesday.

“They wrestled hard,” Beckhart said.

The Hawks earned 30 points thanks to five forfeits.

Kimberly Hernandez’s forfeit victory at 137 pounds secured the team victory.

Guiliana Gutierrez won by forfeit at 150 pounds.

Brianna Quiroz won by forfeit at 160 pounds.

Samantha Espinoza won by forfeit at 189 pounds.

Hannah Duncan won by forfeit at 235 pounds.

Vanesa Contreras won by first-round pin (0:40) over Barbara Dominguez at 106 pounds.

Ellena Markham won by second-round pin (2:57) over Ruby Dominguez at 143 pounds.

Aryanna Jimenez lost by second-round pin (3:42) to Jackeline Hernandez at 126 pounds.

Kelsy Naranjo lost by first-round pin (1:46) to Alyssa Locker at 111 pounds.

Alejandra Garcia lost by first-round pin (1:41) to Cindi Gallegos at 121 pounds.

Alexis Ramirez lost by first-round pin (0:57) to Fatima Granados at 170 pounds.

Alyssa Chaboya lost by first-round pin (0:35) to Mirya Valdovinos at 101 pounds.

Jocelyn Moreno lost by first-round pin (0:21) to Helen Burgos at 116 pounds.

There was a double forfeit at 131 pounds.

Central Valley’s varsity boys team lost 69-12 to the Gauchos.

“I’m a little disappointed we didn’t do better,” Beckhart said. “They’re wrestling at the level we want to be at. We have the ability to be better.”

The Hawks managed to win just two of the dual’s 14 individual matches.

Ruben Valenzuela won by injury default over Shane Carl at 170 pounds.

Moises Galeana won by forfeit at 285 pounds.

Kyle Hendrix lost by decision (6-4) in overtime to Josiah Araujo at 145 pounds.

David Martinez lost by second-round pin (3:55) to Jose Barnabe at 160 pounds.

Natanael Lezama lost by second-round pin (3:36) to Kyle Lee at 220 pounds.

Anthony Rojo lost by second-round pin (3:33) to Zachery Haase at 152 pounds.

Davian Lemus lost by second-round pin (3:27) to Luis Mejia at 220 pounds.

Juan Lezama lost by second-round pin (2:47) to Evan Myrtue at 182 pounds.

Elijah Deleon lost by second-round pin (2:21) to Charles Wade at 132 pounds.

Ryan Palecek lost by first-round pin (1:31) to Kevin Fernandez at 195 pounds.

Ivan Martinez lost by first-round pin (1:21) to Devin Holman at 138 pounds.

Nic Genasci lost by first-round pin (1:10) to Jesus Garcia at 106 pounds.

Juan Melgoza lost by first-round pin (1:03) to Christopher Johnston at 126 pounds.

The Hawks gave up a forfeit to Gaucho Luis Mejia at 120 pounds.

Bulldogs prevail

Ceres High’s varsity wrestling program opened the Western Athletic Conference dual-meet season with a sweep of host Lathrop last Wednesday.

“I liked what I saw from the team,” coach Steve Festa said.

Ceres High’s varsity boys squad improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the WAC with a 69-12 win over the Spartans.

“We came in real confident,” Festa said. “We were prepared. Our experience was the difference.”

The Bulldogs won six of the dual’s eight contested individual matches.

Angel Figueroa won by first-round pin (0:28) against Carlos Ramirez at 170 pounds.

Allen Thy won by first-round pin (0:50) against Dalton Hunter at 195 pounds.

Bryan Erenas won by first-round pin (1:37) against Luis Hernandez at 145 pounds.

Josh Dominguez won by first-round pin (1:51) against Maximillian Juan at 160 pounds.

Argel Arroyo won by first-round pin (1:57) to Jorell Morales at 220 pounds.

Brian Ayala won by decision (4-1) against Jaime Abida at 132 pounds.

Elias Saldana lost by second-round pin (3:17) to Justin Munoz at 285 pounds.

Israel Esparza lost by second-round pin (2:51) to Sebastian Inisuez at 182 pounds.

“I saw improvement,” Festa said. “I saw aggressiveness on the mat.”

Ceres High’s Aram Garibay, Sonald Lal, Nathan Pethyon, Marcus Martinez, Edison Jimenez and Fernando Gonzalez won by forfeit at 106, 113, 120, 126, 138 and 152 pounds, respectively.

Dominguez, a sophomore, had a successful varsity-dual debut on his birthday.

“It meant a lot to him,” Festa said. “He just wanted to help the team.” 

Ceres High’s varsity girls team improved to 3-2 and 1-0 after edging Lathrop 30-18 this past week.

The Bulldogs won two of the dual’s three contested matches.

Jazzmin Suarez won by first-round pin (0:46) against Impreet Kaur at 137 pounds.

Alyssa Medina won by first-round pin (0:22) against Tammy Phan at 125 pounds.

Angelique Alvarado lost by first-round pin (1:18) to Nielyn Castaneda at 131 pounds.

Ceres High’s Alexandra Lugo, Suzy Rodriguez and Vanessa Sanchez won by forfeit at 143, 189 and 235 pounds, respectively.

Lathrop’s Kristina Rose and Amelia Latifi won by forfeit at 160 and 170 pounds, respectively.

There were double forfeits at 101, 106, 111, 116, 121 and 150 pounds.

“All of our kids made weight,” Festa said. “They put in the work and were prepared to wrestle.”