[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
Riley gets lone win as Galt falls to Oak Ridge
|
Photo by Paige Lampson
Galt varsity wrestler Kellen Riley wrestles with his Oak Ridge opponent before pinning him with 15 seconds left in the first period in the heavyweight match last Tuesday.
|
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports
-
Galt’s varsity wrestling program was hobbled even before it began the 2007-08 season.
Four of its senior wrestlers were injured before the start of the league season, including the Warriors’ top wrestler, Caleb Smith, who is out for the season.
For now, the Warriors consist mostly of wrestlers who are young and have much to learn to compete at the varsity level.
“Ben Wilborn, Tyler Hernandez, and Andrew Moses were injured earlier in the year,” Galt varsity head coach Russell Lexau said last Tuesday.
Those three wrestlers have a chance to come back this season, and Lexau hopes that will happen.
Regardless, the Warriors will fight on.
“We definitely have some injuries we have to overcome. Most of our seniors are out on the varsity team,” Lexau said. “Most of the varsity team is made up of freshmen and sophomores in their first year.”
“Hopefully the wrestlers that are injured can come back, and we wrestle hard and get through the rest of the season”, Lexau said.
Last Tuesday, Galt opened up the Sierra Valley Conference season with a home meet against Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge defeated the Warriors 66-12, but Galt ended the night with a bright note.
Heavyweight Kellen Riley earned Galt’s only win of the evening with a pin in the first period.
Riley had tied the score 2-2, and trailed 5-4 before pinning his opponent with 15 seconds left in the first period.
“I could hear my team, and that really helped me out. A great ending to a night that wasn’t so great, but we all wrestled hard,” Riley said of the win.
Galt’s other six points came on a forfeit by Oak Ridge.
While Oak Ridge had a shut out going until the forfeit put Galt on the board, Lexau noted that Galt fought hard to avoid being pinned.
“Our strength was that we did not get pinned. That is the best thing, to stay off your back,” Lexau said.
After an unstable preseason that saw several schedule changes and only a few preseason tournaments, the Warriors practiced with several methods in order to prepare for the league season.
“A lot of conditioning, counters, and trying to get them mentally prepared,” Lexau said of Galt’s workouts.
Galt varsity wrestling placed sixth at the Granite Bay varsity dual tournament Dec. 28, finishing with a record of 2-3 against five other schools.
Galt defeated West Campus 49-33 in round one, and defeated West Campus again in the final round, 36-27.
Darren Finkes had a solid day in the 135-lb weight class, going 4-1 in the tournament.
Heavyweight Riley did well, also going 4-1 against opponents.
Lady Warriors edged by Oak Ridge, defeat Union Mine
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports-
A 10-point Oak Ridge scoring run turned a close game into one just out of Galt’s reach last Wednesday, as Galt lost 51-40 in the team’s Sierra Valley Conference season opener.
Although Galt tried to recover from the scoring run, Oak Ridge made it a double-digit game on a free throw by Morgan McCormick with 29.5 seconds left and secured its win.
Galt trailed 33-29 before Oak Ridge started its 10-point run with a basket at the end of the third quarter.
The basket, by sophomore guard Sara James, gave Oak Ridge a 35-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Kristina Williams then hit two free throws and scored on separate possessions to give Oak Ridge a 39-29 lead in the fourth quarter.
James then hit two baskets to give the Lady Trojans a 43-29 lead with 4:20 left.
“They stick to their game plan throughout the entire game, and you have to stick to yours,” Galt head coach Brandon Fletcher said afterwards of Oak Ridge.
“For three quarters, we battled and battled and we held them down. Then they went on that 10-point run and we made a couple of mistakes that allowed them to get the immediate buckets,” Fletcher said.
Galt got as close as eight points behind Oak Ridge when Maci Hansen scored on two free throws, making it a 48-40 game with approximately one minute left.
Oak Ridge’s Erin Hoops was fouled, however, giving the visiting team a 51-40 lead.
In that quarter, Oak Ridge just outscored Galt 16-11.
Prior to Oak Ridge’s late run, Galt and Oak Ridge were neck-and-neck throughout the first three quarters.
At halftime, the Lady Warriors trailed 22-19 and took a brief lead on senior center Julie Bowden’s basket that made it 23-22 Galt.
At the end of the first quarter, Galt trailed 10-8 and traded leads with Oak Ridge several times in the second quarter.“Against teams like that, the small breakdowns magnify by tenfold and it makes it very difficult.
Sam Messersmith led Galt with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals; Julie Bowden had six points, seven rebounds, six blocks, three steals, and one assist; Natalie Oelsner scored six points and two rebounds; and Erin Velguth had six points, three rebounds, one steal and one assist.
Galt is now 1-1 in the Sierra Valley Conference, having defeated Union Mine 46-23 Friday evening.
The Lady Warriors are tied with Christian Brothers, whom they will face tonight, for third place in the SVC.
Power ratings will be released for the first time next week, based on games played through Jan. 19.
JV Warriors earn first at Granite Bay Tournament
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports-
Leland McDonald had never wrestled before stepping onto the mats at Galt High School this season.
He is not the only one on Galt’s JV wrestling team that is new to the sport, as many are newcomers.
However, McDonald earned one of his first achievements this season when he won the 103-lb weight class at the Granite Bay Tournament.
“I came in here not knowing any wrestling moves and hadn’t wrestled before. I’ve learned a lot of wrestling moves this year,” McDonald said last Tuesday in the weight room at Galt High School.
Galt High School’s JV wrestling team won the Granite Bay JV wrestling tournament Dec. 29 in the team competition as well, finishing first outof six teams and garnering its first win of the season.
The Warriors swept their opponents to turn in five wins en route to winning the tournament championship.
Individually, two Warriors won individual gold medals with undefeated records.
Leland McDonald went 5-0 to win the 103-lb weight class championship, and Gabriel Sanchez went 5-0 to win the heavyweight championship.
“I felt pretty good. I just wanted to win that day, I wanted to take home the gold,” Sanchez said of his win.
The Warriors faced five teams in five rounds to earn their way to first place.
They defeated Roseville High School 39-35 in round one, beat Granite Bay High School 45-36 in round two, beat Whitney High School 54-28 in round three, shut out Mesa Verde High School 69-0, and beat Atwater High School 46-23 in the final round.
“I was just excited about going out there and I left it all out on the mat,” McDonald said of his 103-lb division win.
“Everybody came to wrestle,” Galt JV head coach Dan Lucero said last Tuesday. “They came in there and they all wanted to win.”
Five JV wrestlers finished 4-1 on the day, including Tony Garbarino in the 112-lb weight class, D.J. Finkes in the 125-lb weight class, Darren Finkes in the 135-lb weight class, Victoria Douglas in the 140-lb weight class, and J.D. Johnson in the 145-lb weight class.
“They came in motivated… they made me very proud of them,” Lucero said. “Victoria got her first win, and they wrestled real good.” Galt’s JV wrestling team fell to Oak Ridge last Tuesday in the opener of the Sierra Valley Conference, losing 36-30.
Oak Ridge used six pins to stay ahead of Galt, which was able to stay competitive due to four Oak Ridge forfeits.
A forfeit is equal in points to a win by pin.
Galt’s lone win came when John Brower pinned his opponent in the 215-lb weight class.
Brower had a 2-0 lead before he pinned with 24 seconds left in the first period.
Lucero noted that Oak Ridge and Galt had a big difference in experience, as the Warriors have a young team.
“With us having such a young program, freshmen and sophomores and very few seniors, it’s hard for us to compete at the same level,” Lucero said.
Frosh girls lose season opener to Oak Ridge
Although last Wednesday’s opening game against Oak Ridge wasn’t quite what they had expected, the freshmen Lady Warriors’ loss was a wake-up call at least.
Oak Ridge’s defense controlled a Galt team that was not at its best, and defeated the Lady Warriors 59-22.
Galt scored just seven points in the first half and didn’t fare much better in the second half.
Missed shots, and a quick Oak Ridge defense worked together to prevent Galt’s offense from being effective.
“It was a lack of effort. They didn’t play fundamental basketball,” Galt head coach Holli Wood said after the game.
Wood added that there were multiple things that Galt either didn’t do, or needed to improve on.
“They didn’t pass well, didn’t block out, didn’t do the little things,” Wood said.
To prepare for Union Mine, co-head coach Kaitlin Sayler said Galt will need to do several things to have a better outcome than it did in its league opener.
“Playing defense, blocking out, running an offense,” Sayler said.
“Pretty much anything, playing good defense, basically,” Wood said, on what the Lady Warriors planned to focus on in preparation for Union Mine.
|