Winter sports teams are getting in some work on the courts, the pitch and the mats in Oakdale, with wrestling, soccer and basketball squads busy.
WRESTLING
For the Mustang wrestlers, they hosted a scrimmage just before the long Thanksgiving break, with wrestlers then traveling to a couple of tournaments this past weekend. Some varsity wrestlers went to Westminster for the Cossarek Classic while other JV and varsity grapplers stayed closer to home, competing in the Bulldog Classic hosted at Turlock High School on Saturday, Dec. 3.
Next up is the annual James Riddle Classic hosted at OHS, with that event on the schedule for Saturday, Dec. 10 starting at 9 a.m.
Valley Oak League action begins after the winter break; Steve Strange returns to lead the team.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Off to a 1-2 start for the preseason, Oakdale’s varsity Mustang boys got a 51-27 win over Galt on Dec. 2, sandwiched in between losses to Lodi, 68-50, on Dec. 1 and to Tracy, 57-42, on Dec. 3. All three games were part of the Stagg Tournament.
In the Dec. 1 game with Lodi, senior Niko Klose had 23 points and 12 rebounds, junior Jayden Coelho added 21 points. In the victory over Galt, Coelho had 23 points, including five treys, while Klose added 12 points and 15 rebounds. Those two were also in double figures in scoring against Tracy, Klose with 13, Coelho with 10. Senior Cooper Pitney added nine points, hitting three treys.
Head coach for the varsity is Ryan Berg and the boys will travel to the Les Schwab Tournament in Marysville for games starting Thursday, Dec. 8 and continuing Friday and Saturday.
The JV boys have gone 2-1 so far, with wins over Stagg, 43-28, and Bradshaw Christian, 45-38. They lost to Sonora, 65-44.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
It has been a tough start for the varsity Lady Mustangs, dropping three games so far, with losses to El Capitan, Enochs and Riverbank. Head coach is Kelly Nasrawi.
The JV girls have compiled a 2-2 mark in the preseason campaign, wins over Riverbank and Enochs, losses to Atwater and El Capitan on their record.
The freshmen are 2-1, defeating El Capital and Enochs, losing to Kimball.
BOYS SOCCER
Varsity head coach Alfredo Quiroga returns for another season, but the team has not quite yet found its footing. The Mustangs have one win and eight losses to start the campaign, the only win coming early on against Gustine, a 4-2 decision. In that game, Jason Martinho had two goals, with Jayden Courtney and Abraham Isidro adding one apiece.
The JV boys have also had a rough start, opening up 0-5.
GIRLS SOCCER
The varsity Lady Mustangs have played to a 3-0 mark in preseason so far, taking a pair of shutout wins, 1-0 at Riverbank and 7-0 against Stagg. They also defeated El Capitan by a 3-1 final. Kyndra Obermeyer exploded for six goals against Stagg. Head coach for the varsity girls is Kico Monares.
