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20 years of rumbling in the jungle: Pitman dominates milestone tournament
Pride and Bulldogs to again battle head-to-head for CCAL crown
Baya Austin
The Pride’s Baya Austin is the reigning state champion at 130 pounds and just one of many Pitman top-level wrestlers hoping win a back-to-back league titles for the green and black (Journal file photo).

The Pride reigned supreme in their jungle on Saturday, and it wasn’t even close.

At the 20th edition of Pitman High’s flagship wrestling tournament, the Rumble in the Jungle, the school’s boys varsity team claimed victory by 123 points while their girls team won by a  74-point margin, giving the reigning Central California Athletic League champions plenty of momentum heading into their highly anticipated dual with crosstown rival Turlock.

The Bulldogs will host the Pride on Wednesday night inside the Louise Marchant Gym in the final CCAL dual of the season, which has also been tabbed as the PIT-BULL Dual by several of the local coaches in recent years. Each team is 4-0 after having dismantled the Modesto, Downey, Gregori and Enochs programs over the course of the last two weeks.

Turlock was not in action over the weekend, while the Pitman boys put up 347 points after advancing nine to the finals and earning seven first-place medals at Saturday’s Rumble. Seventeen of their 18 wrestlers contributed points. Meanwhile, the girls scored 224.5 on the day, led by a trio of champions.

Pitman’s top placers were Gabriel Camacho (106), Edward Sheeran (144), Isaac Padilla (150), Brodie Johnson (175), Mason Ontiveros (190), Carter Vannest (215) and Jeremiah Mora (285). 126-pounder RJ Wilharm was a runner-up, while Mika Ontiveros earned third in the 150-pound bracket.

Winning first in the girls’ brackets were Alina Dizon (132) and the Austin sisters, Gabby at 127 and Baya at 142. Anneblla Austin grabbed second at 237 pounds, while Lily Dizon (107), Melanie Delgado (112), Patricia Bray (122), Leila Avalos (127), Shyla Volk-Wood (147) and Alexis Rivas-Ayala (157) finished in third in their respective brackets.

Several of the student-athletes are expected to return to action Wednesday as the Pride try to repeat as CCAL champions. It will be a tall task for Bulldogs to derail their winning ways in both male and female duals, as the Pride have nine of their 10 state tournament participants (Baya and Gabby Austin, Lily Dizon, Mason Ontiveros, Xadian Padilla, Troy Ceja, Johnson, Vannest and Bray) still on the roster and ready for action.

Since four of those state contenders on the boys’ side are upwards of 150 pounds, for the Bulldogs to pull off an upset, they’d likely have to lean heavily on their lighter grapplers like Gage Barletta, Cole Cronan and Jack Locke, who have all seen significant success during tournament season. 

With Lily Dizon and the Austin sisters all having appeared in state finals  (Baya the reigning state champion at 130 pounds), the task will be similarly tall for Turlock in the girls’ dual. One constant on the year has been Aliah Bertalotto, who also competed in Bakersfield nearly a year ago. Others to keep an eye on for Turlock are Lauren Olvera and McKenna Beavers. 

Of course, there is no guarantee who will step on the mats at what weights on Wednesday, as coaches tend to keep their lineups under wraps until the spotlight shines on the center of the mat. 

The girls duals will get underway as soon as junior varsity action wraps up. The JV dual begins at 5 p.m. The headlining varsity dual is slated for 7 p.m., or immediately after the ladies conclude.