The Pitman High wrestling program is once again proving to be a dominant force in the state of California, picking up right where they left off last season as the boys team clinched a convincing team win at Saturday’s Ceres Invitational.
The Pride breezed through the competition by having 14 of 15 wrestlers place, including seven first-place finishers, to rack up 271.5 total points — 95 more than second-place Patterson.
Champions were Shalveen Prasad, Mika Ontiveros, Xadian Padilla, Brodie Johnson, Mason Ontiveros, Carter Vannest and Troy Ceja
Ceja was responsible for 27.5 of his team’s points, winning each of his three matches in the 285-pound division by fall or technical fall. His efforts earned him the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
After a first-round bye, the junior, who appeared at last season’s state tournament, began his day by working towards a lopsided 21-6 technical fall over Ceres’ Hunter Hammons just one minute, 42 seconds into the opening period. In the semifinal round, he pinned Big Valley Christian’s Andrew Coonfield after just 30 seconds of action. In the championship match, he pinned Stagg’s Brandon Olacio at the 1:47 mark.
Over at 120 pounds, Prasad also had a first-round bye and opened his weekend with a fall win over Venture Academy’s Dante Caballero midway through the second period of their quarterfinal match. He then pinned Patterson’s Kobe Williams with 17 seconds left in the second period of the semifinals before pinning Davis’ Ahmad Abbas Akhundzada at the 2:46 mark of the title match.
Similar stories unfold for the Ontiveros brothers. Mason, a senior who is coming off a runner-up finish at last year’s state tournament finals, claimed the 190-pound crown. Mika, a junior, won the 157-pound division.
Following his bye, Mason pinned Manteca’s Miguel Cocio 56 seconds into quarterfinal action. He then pinned Davis’ Lincoln Brooks in 26 seconds. In the title match, he handled Chavez High’s Lee Hardy handedly, working towards an 18-3 technical fall in just over a minute’s time.
Mika, meanwhile, followed up his bye at 157 pounds by earning a 20-4 technical fall over Central Valley’s Anthony Diaz in the quarterfinals. He then pinned Manteca’s Peter Espinoza in the opening 23 seconds of the semifinal match. He took the title with a 17-5 major decision over Beyer’s Andrew Peterson.
Johnson and Padilla also appeared at the state tournament last season.
At 165 pounds, Padilla began his title run by pinning Central Valley’s Sean Vernon just nine seconds before the second period buzzer. He made quicker work of Manteca’s Rohan Karthik in the semifinals, earning a pin 47 seconds into the action. His weekend ended with a 7-1 decision win over Patterson’s Mateo Heredia.
Johnson, as well as Vannest, capped off their weekends with forfeit victories against their teammates. The two senior grapplers each have state title aspirations, and not having to face a teammate saved all four Pride members matches that could’ve gone against CIF maximum match thresholds, or even worse, injuries.
Padilla was slated to face Jack Ceja. After a bye, Ceja won by 20-5 technical fall over Riverbank’s Jayden Zollin nearly a minute into the second round. He followed it up with major decisions over Edison’s Eliseo Celis in the quarterfinals (10-1) and Patterson’s Daniel Estrada (9-1) in the semifinals.
Vannest’s title run began with a 49-second pin on Central Valley’s Julian Gonzalez in the second round. He again won by fall at the minute mark of the quarterfinals over Big Valley’s William Hensley. He punched his ticket to the finals with a fall just over a minute in against East Union’s Isaac Alvarez. He was then slated to face teammate Jeremiah Mora.
Mora muscled his way to the finals after pinning Stagg’s Shaun Ameperosa 45 seconds into second-round action, winning by technical fall 21-3 over Manteca’s Josiah Sagapolu early in the third period of the quarterfinal, and defeating Central Valley’s Angel Melgoza in overtime of the semifinals.
Also placing for the Pride was Ryder Munoz (2, 106), Isaiah Vasquez (4, 113), Aaron Yniquez (4, 138), Titus Silveria (5, 106), RJ Wilharm (5, 132) and Alonzo Huerta (8, 126).
