In their first major tournament of the new wrestling season, their own James Riddle Memorial Invitational tournament, the Oakdale Mustangs finished a strong second to the state’s number seven-ranked team, the Bakersfield Drillers, 317-279.5, while outpacing the state’s number one team, the Buchanan Bears, who finished third with 231.5 points.
Twenty-nine wrestling teams from throughout the state of California, including five of the top 20 teams in the state, descended upon the Mustang Arena on the campus of Oakdale High School on Saturday, Dec. 10 for the 46th annual Riddle Tournament. Other state-ranked teams attending were the Mustangs themselves (ranked 12th), De la Salle from Concord (19th), and Clovis West (20th), according to head Mustang coach and tournament director, Steve Strange.
Strange went on to note, “The James Riddle is now considered to be one of the top one-day events in California. We are happy to be able to host a great tournament and to test our wrestlers in front of the home crowd.”
Certainly, the packed Mustang Arena was witness to some outstanding early season grappling.
In total, 16 Mustangs earned placings between first and fifth to amass the points needed for the second-place finish. Leading the way for the Mustangs was 126-pound junior, Eziequel Vela, who outpointed Jagger French of Del Oro High School 3-2 in the final. Vela was the only champion the Mustangs produced in the tournament. The Mustang team effort was aided, however, by five second-place finishes: senior Jonathan Hernandez at 138 pounds, sophomore Brodie Johnson at 152 pounds, senior Payne Perkins at 160 pounds, junior Elias Corona at 195 pounds, and senior Brock Osmundson at 285 pounds.
Earning third place medals for the Mustangs were senior Colton Silva at 145 pounds, junior Carlos Garcia at 170 pounds, freshman Wes Burford at 182 pounds, and junior Emilio Johnson at 220 pounds, who defeated teammate, senior Garrison Gerber who chose to forfeit the match. In addition to Gerber, fourth place finishes went to freshman Zeke Hernandez at 106 pounds, and sophomore Gideon Gerber at 160 pounds. Finishing fifth in their respective divisions were senior Logan Thomas (120 pounds), freshman Jesse Meza (132 pounds), and senior Gavin Gleason (220 pounds).
Strange was elated at the team’s performance.
“Our team had a well-rounded performance. Our seniors look ready to put an exclamation mark on great careers, and we are excited for some of our younger wrestlers who have had a great start to the season,” noted Strange. “Overall, we want to build on this weekend and continue to get better each week. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
This coming weekend, the Mustang varsity travels to Reno, Nevada for the always challenging Reno Tournament of Champions.
Girls Varsity Soccer
Continuing their solid start to the season, Oakdale’s varsity Lady Mustangs soccer squad shut out Downey by a 2-0 final on Dec. 6 and got past Bear Creek, 3-1, on Dec. 7.
Against Downey, goals came from Alexandria Ridenour and Carly Silva, said new OHS coach Kico Monares, with the assists coming from Kyleigh Melconian and Claire McGhee Brown. Splitting time in goal were Avery Alves and Keira McCulley, notching one save each.
In the victory over Bear Creek, it was Kyndra Obermeyer with the hat trick, scoring all three goals.
Trista French and McGhee Brown had the assists while Alves had one save in goal and McCulley had two against Bear Creek.
The Lady Mustangs are coached this year by Monares, who spent the past few seasons as head coach at Central Catholic.
So far this preseason, Oakdale has scored 16 goals in five wins, allowing just two and recording three shutouts.
Varsity Basketball Boys
Junior guard Jayden Coelho exploded for 31 points, 21 of which came on seven often monster 3-point shots, as the Oakdale Mustangs varsity boys basketball team won its home opener over the Tokay Tigers from Lodi by the score of 75-66 on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
Trailing by one point after the first period and by five points at the half, the Mustangs outscored the Tigers 21-11 during the third quarter, with Coelho netting 16 of the team’s total, and then outscored the visitors 19-16 in the final stanza. Hard-nosed inside play by senior Niko Klose (17 points; 1 three-pointer) and junior Bryson Boyd (14 points), complemented by tough team defense and rebounding, were key to the Mustang victory.
Adding quality points to the Mustang effort were seniors Cole Wright (5 points; 1 three-pointer), Cooper Pitney (6 points, 1 three-pointer), and Tyler Cooley (2 points).
Sports Correspondent Pete Simoncini contributed to this report.
