Union Mine wins Cougar Duals

Oakland Tribune, Dec 9, 2007 by Dave Campbell

STOCKTON -- Defending champion Union Mine-Placerville finished the Cougar Duals 5-0 Saturday to bring home the championship trophy for the second year in a row from Weston Ranch.

"It's good that teams from the northern part of the section were able to come down," tournament director Pat King said. "Union Mine may have won it for the second year in a row, but they had some tough matches, and that shows that our competitive level is getting better."

Each team competed in pool play to start, with their record determining which division they would compete in during the trophy round.

Sierra did the best of any local team in pool play, finishing 2- 1 with wins over Argonaut and Edison.

Sierra's Alex Nuanez (189 pounds) picked up four pins and finished 4-1.

"I need to work on some moves," Nuanez said. "I got a little sloppy, and that cost me."

The Timberwolves dropped both their matches in trophy competition, losing to Lincoln 54-15 before being edged by Chavez 42- 37.

"We came up a little short in that last match against Chavez," Sierra coach Frank Sabala said. "And the frustrating thing is that we gave up about four weight classes."

Weston Ranch lost its first match to Johansen by one point and then lost to Chavez 44-30 before running the table and winning its next three matches.

"We lost our first two matches and came back to win three in a row," Cougars coach Danny Lehr said. "And I feel really good about our performance."

Travis Bowen (135) pocketed four pins and went 5-0.

"The competition was pretty rough," Bowen said. "I surprised myself. because I didn't expect to go 5-0."

Manteca averted a winless day with a 40-36 win over Gustine in its final match.

"Not one of our kids quit all day," Buffaloes coach Seth Davis said. "We have a lot of young wrestlers, but they are doing everything they are told."

Manteca's Marcus Gonzales (112) went 5-0, with two pins and a technical fall.

"The guys I faced today were really strong," Gonzales said. "I caught some of them off guard and worked as hard as I could."