FELTON — Three high school wrestling teams — Aptos, Soquel, and Santa Cruz — finished the dual-meet season with identical 4-1 records. That meant whoever showed out at the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Championships on Friday night would be crowned league champion.
The Mariners, under the direction of first-year head coach Johnny Velez, who has close to 10 assistants on his staff, including two former head coaches, made sure his grapplers were prepared. And when they stepped on the mat, they more than executed at San Lorenzo Valley High’s loud and crowded gymnasium.
“There was a lot of talking about how much this means to all of us,” Mariners junior Cole Moules said, “how hard we work all year round to try and get this. We haven’t got this in a couple of years, but we got it again. It took a lot of work.”
Aptos qualified six wrestlers for the finals, and five of them — senior Lucas Zuniga (215 pounds), junior Alfred Cabot (113), and sophomores Dominic Cabot (106 pounds), Cruz Contreras (126) and Moules (150) — emerged with individual titles.
In the finals, Dominic Cabot earned a first-period pin, and Moules earned a second-period pin. Contreras “Cruzed” his way to an 18-3 technical fall, a win by 15 or more points, and Alfred Cabot snuck past Harbor freshman Mateo Moreno with a tight, 9-7 decision.
“I didn’t wrestle my best, but I squeezed out a win,” Alfred Cabot said. “I guess a win is a win.”
Zuniga, the defending heavyweight champ, dropped a weight class from a year ago, and SLV junior Ollin Bates, the defending 190 champ, climbed a rung to set the stage for an epic battle at 215. Zuniga earned an escape in the second period and held on for a thrilling, 1-0 win to secure his third league title.
Aptos earned 153.5 points to secure the league title. Soquel (134.0) took second. Santa Cruz (129.0) was third and followed in the standings by Harbor (87.0), SLV (85.0), and Scotts Valley (79.5).
“It means a lot to us,” Alfred Cabot said. “We worked hard at practice, put in the work, and I think we definitely deserved this. … It’s fun. We have a lot of assistant coaches, and our new coach, so there’s a lot of variety and stuff. I really like variety. You get to learn from a bunch of coaches. It’s just amazing.”
SLV senior Grady Cloyd (190) pinned Soquel junior Marcos Phelps in the second period of their match to earn his third league title.
Moules, Santa Cruz senior Everest Tong-Zhou (138), and SLV sophomore Gabriel Attia (285) repeated as champions, and Santa Cruz senior Balam Letona (120), also a ’23 champion, won his second title. Attia and Letona both won their respective final with a pin in the second period, and Tong-Zhou earned earned a third-period pin.
An offseason rules change by the National Federation of State High School Associations made this the first year that takedowns were worth three points instead of two. The change was made to not only follow suit with college scoring, but to incentivize more offensive action and risk-taking.
There was no shortage of offense in a pair of see-saw, meat-grinder matches.
Tong-Zhou and Harbor senior August Bentley traded takedowns, reversals, and escapes in a tremendous showing of both wrestler’s heart. Tong-Zhou led 17-16 when he registered his pin. Bentley did plenty of damage. Tong-Zhou winced when he hand was lifted by the referee, signaling the victor.
“He improved a lot,” said Tong-Zhou, of his rematch with Bentley. “I’m super proud of August.”
Tong-Zhou, who normally wears glasses, but not on the mat, kept focusing on giving his all.
“I can’t see the score,” he said. “I need to get out of my head about the score and I need to wrestle to the best of my ability. … To me, it’s almost never about the score. It’s about putting everything you’ve got out on the mat.”
Harbor senior Nico Aquino (165) and significantly taller Santa Cruz junior Rhodri Griffin turned in a similar match full of fireworks. Aquino 13-8 before earning a pin in the third period.
Aquino, a second-year wrestler, said he was tired late in the match, but he had to persevere.
“It was kinda personal because he beat me last year twice,” Aquino said. “I knew I was better than him, so I knew I had to get that one back.”
Aquino is elated to qualify for the section regionals.
“It was my dream,” he said. “I was grinding. I’ve always wanted this opportunity; it feels good. I’m gonna give it my all.”
Scotts Valley and Soquel each crowned two champions. Falcons freshman Coleton LaFontaine (175) had his 12-11 decision over Santa Cruz senior Luke Brower decided at the scorers table. Brower was penalized a point for stalling, but the volunteers at the scorers table errored and awarded Brower the point. The blunder was fixed and LaFontaine was given his rightful victory.
Scotts Valley junior Angelo Vignato (132) won with a 13-4 major decision. Soquel seniors Roman Perry (144) and Abran Zubiate (157) won titles with a first-period ping and 12-4 major decision, respectfully.
After the finals, matches were held to determine the true-second place finisher in a handful of weight divisions. The top two finishers in each of the 14 weight classes advance to the Central Coast Section Southern Regionals at Watsonville High on Feb. 15.
“I think we’re ready,” Moules said. “Take it to the next week, that’s our thing. Get one week, take it to the next week. How far do you want to go? And you focus on the match before you, not the matches ahead.”
Girls
Santa Cruz qualified eight of its 11 wrestlers for the finals, and six emerged with titles.
Sophomore Marlena Gustafson (125), freshman Vera Bentley (130), and senior Cala Bretholtz (190) won their titles with pins in the first period. Gustafson prevailed in a blazing 32 seconds, but Bentley posted the fastest pin in 19 seconds.
“It means a lot because I started last year and I’m just a freshman, ” Bentley said. “I feel like winning league means a lot for me and my family and my team. The intensity that wrestling does, it helps you mentally with a lot of situations. It teaches you how to be focused in school. It helps with a lot of mental problems.”
Cardinals sophomore Adriana Renau-Demongeot earned a second-period pin, and classmate Onyx Escobar (140) won with a 14-7 decision.
Escobar was the only wrestler to win by decision. Every other match held was determined by pin.
After the finals, matches were held to determine the true-second place finisher in a handful of weight divisions. The top two finishers in each of the 14 weight classes advance to the Central Coast Section Southern Regionals at Watsonville High on Feb. 15.
“I would love to go to state as a freshman, but I feel like I’m going to have to put in a lot of work the next couple of weeks, if I want to make that happen. But that would be wonderful if it happened.”
Santa Cruz, under the direction of coach Pete Gastafson, cruised to the SCCAL Championships title with 140.0 points.
“We put in a decent amount of work in the room and it pays off,” Bentley said. “It showed tonight. Everyone got a chance to be great, and it was cool.”
Harbor (76.0) took second, and Aptos (47.0) was third. SLV (42.0), Soquel (38.0), and Scotts Valley (21.0) rounded out the standings.
“We got second,” said Pirates senior Addie Jones (110), who won her fourth league title with a first-period pin. “I mean, we have a way smaller team and they bring in a lot of kids, so I think it’s pretty cool that we won second. And I think we work the hardest.”
“I got two concussions not that long ago, like last month, so I had a little bit of anxiety and stuff,” Jones said. “But I think that just cleared me for my matches in CCS. And now it’s, like, actually time to bring it.”
Gustafson and Escobar repeated as champions, as did Harbor junior Julia Carranza (145), who won with a second-period pin.
Aptos junior Isabella Cruz (100) also won with a first-period pin, Harbor junior Kira Demma (135) earned a second-period pin, and SLV junior Jennifer Black (115) earned a third-period pin.
Harbor freshman Camila Rosas (120) won by forfeit over Santa Cruz freshman Joanna Manrique Franco.
Cougars senior Gabriella Brasuell (155), a repeat champion, and Cardinals sophomore Heaven Cardenas (170) won unopposed. And no match was held at 235 pounds.
THE FINALS
Boys
106 pounds: Dominic Cabot (Aptos), So., d. Nathaniel Marcus (Soquel), So., pin in 1st
113; Alfred Cabot (Aptos), Jr., d. Mateo Moreno (Harbor), Fr., 9-7 dec.
120: Balam Letona (Santa Cruz), Sr., d. Dominic Maciel (Aptos), Sr., pin in 2nd
126: Cruz Contreras (Aptos), So., d. Levi Larsen (Soquel), Jr., 18-3 tech fall
132: Angelo Vignato (Scotts Valley), Jr., d. Julian Ysselstein (Santa Cruz), Jr., 13-4 major dec.
138: Everest Tong-Zhou (Santa Cruz), Sr., d. August Bentley (Harbor), Sr., pin in 3rd
144: Roman Perry (Soquel), Sr., d. Micaiah Trujillo (Scotts Valley), Jr., pin in 1st
150: Cole Moules (Aptos), So., d. Charlie Shirmer (Harbor), So., pin in 2nd
157: Abran Zubiate (Soquel), Sr., d. Craig Scott (Santa Cruz), So., 12-4 major dec.
165: Nico Aquino (Harbor), Sr., d. Rhodri Griffin (Santa Cruz), Jr., pin in 3rd
175: Coleton LaFontaine (Scotts Valley), Fr., d. Luke Brower (Santa Cruz), Sr., 12-11 dec.
190: Grady Cloyd (SLV), Sr., d. Marcos Phelps (Soquel), Jr., pin in 2nd
215: Lucas Zuniga (Aptos), Sr., d. Ollin Bates (SLV), Jr., 1-0 dec.
285: Gabriel Attia (SLV), So., d. Javier Pinedo-Gonzalez (Soquel), Sr., pin in 2nd
Girls
100 pounds: Isabella Cruz (Aptos), Jr., d. Karen Chavez-Vasquez (Santa Cruz), Sr., pin in 1st
105: Adriana Renau-Demongeot (Santa Cruz), So., d. Lilly Bane (Aptos), Sr., pin in 2nd
110: Addie Jones (Harbor), Sr., d. Analyn Magallon (Santa Cruz), So., pin in 1st
115: Jennifer Black (SLV), Jr., d. Citlali Lopez (Scotts Valley), pin in 3rd
120: Camila Rosas (Harbor), Fr., d.. Joanna Manrique Franco (Santa Cruz), Fr., forfeit
125: Marlena Gustafson (Santa Cruz), So., d. Callia Sillas (Soquel), Fr., pin in 1st
130: Vera Bentley (Santa Cruz), Fr., d. Alize Robles (Soquel), So., pin in 1st
135: Kira Demma (Harbor), Jr., d. Anika Radich (Soquel), pin in 2nd
140: Onyx Escobar (Santa Cruz), So., d. Liz Wingert (Harbor), So., 14-7 dec.
145: Julia Carranza (Harbor), Jr., d. Adessa Lewis (SLV), Sr., pin in 2nd
155: Gabriella Brasuell (SLV), Sr., bye
170: Heaven Cardenas (Santa Cruz), So., bye
190: Cala Bretholtz (Santa Cruz), Sr., d. Amelie Mintun (Aptos), Sr., pin in 1st
235: Vacant