The 2024-25 season marks Adam Vasconcellos’ 17th as head coach of the Pitman High wrestling program, and he feels as if this year’s roster is the deepest and could go down as one of the most dominant of all.
The Pride’s depth was on full display on Wednesday night, as their varsity boys’ roster capped off an undefeated Central California Athletic League campaign with a 61-14 win over rival Turlock without having to use four starters. An hour prior, their girls’ team claimed victory by a 62-12 score.
The boys were without state title qualifiers Troy Ceja and Carter Vannest and section contenders Shalveen Prassad and Isaac Padilla (who each needed rest or to nurse minor injuries), yet still managed to clinch their dual with three matches to spare when fellow state qualifier Brodie Johnson pinned Mateo Sandoval just over a minute into 177-pound action.
The win marked the Pride’s second straight CCAL title. They similarly dominated by a 49-20 score in last season’s winner-take-all showdown.
Vasconcellos reminisced about 2023 and the years that preceded, when the Pride and the Bulldogs would exchange the conference crown nearly every year, and almost all duals went down to the wire. They are memories shared by his brothers, assistants Matt and Cody.
“Doing this for 17 years, and this is simply one of the better teams we’ve ever had,” Vasconcellos said. “Me and my brothers are all alumni of Turlock High School and we’ve been trying to win over this town with our style of wrestling all these years. For the people who say they don't like this or that about how we run things and our style, if they came to watch us tonight and still criticize, then you’re just not a fan of wrestling.”
He didn’t specify who the message was intended for, but it’d be hard to argue against the team’s philosophy of “hard-nosed, in-your-face” wrestling, as he described it. Of the Pride’s 11 wins in the boys’ dual, nine were by pin or technical fall. Titus Silveria started things off at 106 pounds, pinning Hunter Smith at the minute mark of the second period.
The Bulldogs momentarily took an 11-6 lead after consecutive wins by Uriah Castillo and Cole Cronan. Castillo, a third-year varsity junior, pinned Gabriel Camacho with 24 seconds to go in the second period of the 115-pound match. Cronan, at 122 pounds, earned a technical fall over Javy Gray with 30 seconds to go in the first period. From there, the Pride won every match but at 159 pounds, where Shane Petty muscled a 7-1 decision over Shabab Ghani.
Joining Silveria and Johnson in earning pins during the boys’ dual was Ethan Lopez (128), RJ Wilharm (134), Edward Sheeran (146), Mika Ontiveros (152), Xadian Padilla (167), Mason Ontiveros (217) and Jeremiah Mora (HWT).
Along with Johnson, the Ontiveros brothers, Mora and Sheeran secured their pins in the first period. At 140 pounds, Yniquez won by 6-3 decision over Robert Henderson at 140 pounds, while their 11th win was a 192-pound forfeit.
Forfeits were aplenty in the girls’ dual, as there were six between both teams over the course of their 13 matches. The Pride were on the winning end of four. In terms of actual grappling, Pitman strung together four straight wins between the 105- and 125-pound classes.
After an exhibition at 100 pounds to open the show, Pitman’s Lily Dizon and Turlock’s Aliah Bertalotto put on perhaps what was the match of the night, as the two state qualifiers batted through three full periods. Dizon, a state finalist a year ago, earned the 17-6 decision. Up 13-2 heading into the final period, Dizon had to fend off late pin attempts and an escape from a desperate Bertalotto, who emptied the tank and remained very much a threat through the final buzzer.
Melanie Delgado kept the Pride’s momentum going with an 11-0 decision at 110 pounds, while Isa Fuentes (115), Patricia Bray (120) and 2023 state finalist Gabby Austin (125) earned pins. After three Turlock forfeits, reigning state 130-pound champion won by pin in the 145-pound match. The third and youngest Austin sister, Annabella, capped off the dual with a win after her opponent forfeited midway through the second period due to injury.
“We are building something special—from youth to high school—and we are committed to doing it the right way, with homegrown talent and relentless determination,” Turlock first-year head coach Rick Gonzalez told the Turlock Journal earlier this year. “We’re excited for what’s ahead. Stay tuned—Turlock Wrestling is on the rise.”
As of now, the night and regular season belonged to Pitman, who now aim to raise a third consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section banner on Saturday and hope to send even more grapplers to the state meet in late February than they did last year.
“Not taking anything away from them, we never overlook Turlock and it’s great to win league and all that, but this is not the end-all goal for us,” Adam said. “This is just one step on our journey.”
Saturday’s team dual championships at Stockton’s Lincoln High School will see the Pride move up to Division I due to their continued success at the D-2 level. This year’s bracket features the gauntlet of host Lincoln, Oakdale, Folsom, Elk Grove, Vacaville, West of Tracy and Franklin of Elk Grove.
“It’s no easy task,” Adam continued. “But the team is motivated. Mason wants that state title, we gotta get Lily one, Gabby needs one, you know Baya wants another one, and we have so many others who feel like they have legitimate shots. The road, it all starts Saturday.”
You won’t have to tell Ontiveros twice.
“I had a great run last year making it all the way to the finals,” said the 175-pound finalist. “Even though I wanted to win, the loss has made me even more hungry than ever, so I’m gonna go out there and battle as hard as I can and it’ll be hard to stop me… That goes for all of us.”
