Native athletes show off their skills in 2011 Indigenous Games

Manny Boyle (left) and Raelyn Rodriguez (right, with her dad, Dennis) brought home medals from the 2011 Indigenous Games in Wisconsin.

Click here to see more photos from the Indigenous Games on our Facebook page.

Valley Center is known for its production of amazing athletic talent, and a few of our young local athletes got the chance to show off their skills in the 2011 Indigenous Games in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week.
Manny Boyle, a junior at Valley Center High School, represented the San Pasqual tribe in the wrestling tournament and swept his opponents to bring home the gold medal in the 135-pound division.
“It was a really amazing experience,” Boyle says. “I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I went in focused on wrestling, and when I won, I was able to celebrate.”
In the softball tournament, Team California featured 15 players from six different tribes, including VCHS senior Raelyn Rodriguez, a member of the Rincon tribe, and 2010 VCHS graduate Olivia Hernandez, a member of the Pauma tribe. After suffering a tough loss to Wisconsin in the opening game, the team won its next four games before falling in the championship game to Wisconsin again.
“I felt so privileged and honored to represent California and my tribe against the best of the best,” Rodriguez says. “We had girls from different tribes and different towns, but we were able to set aside our differences and get along on the field.”
Boyle’s run to the gold medal included four wins in the tournament against opponents from Wisconsin, New Mexico and North Carolina. The only match he didn’t win by pin was the second match, which he won by major decision.
“It was harder than I expected going in,” he admits. “I noticed that their style was much slower than what you usually see in California. Our style is trickier and less aggressive, but I was able to pick up on it pretty quick and take on the pressure.”
The softball team also had to make some adjustments after losing the first game largely because of errors.
“The team from Wisconsin beat us in the first game because we had so many errors,” Rodriguez says. “After we gave up seven runs in the first inning, we knew we had to play so much better in the next game.”
The team rattled off four straight wins, then ran into Team Wisconsin again in the title game.
“We were tied at two through seven this time,” Rodriguez explains. “And in international rules, extra innings start with a runner on second. So their first batter dropped down a bunt, and our third baseman air-mailed it over the first baseman’s head, but we somehow kept the runner at third. We loaded the bases with a walk, and with one out, they hit a grounder that our shortstop threw over the first baseman’s head, and that was it.”
Despite some rough patches on defense, Rodriguez says that the team played well in some tight spots.
“It seemed like whenever we had two outs, or we really needed a run, someone would step up and start a rally,” she says. “We found ways to score runs and we got in a good rhythm. And our outfield knew where to throw the ball and knew what to do no matter what the situation.”
Rodriguez, the starting centerfielder for the Lady Jaguars varsity softball team this past season, came up with a few big plays herself.
“I don’t want to brag or anything, but I did so good!” she says with a laugh. “I drove in the two runs we scored [in the championship game], I scored six or seven runs and I made a couple of catches on balls in the gap. I was so proud!”
Both Boyle and Rodriguez say they were impressed with the quality of play they saw on display at the games, and they even picked up a few new things that should help them when the next school season rolls around.
“I want to be CIF champion and Master’s champion next year,” Boyle says. “And I just want to thank my coaches and my dad for all their support.”
“I thought that they would be easy to beat, but they’re legit,” Rodriguez says. “There were no easy teams, and they battled us every game. I noticed that I need to work on the little things. We didn’t get any batting practice while we were there, so I can’t wait to start working again.”
Thousands of athletes, primarily young people, participated in the competitions, making the U.S. Indigenous Games (USIG) the largest event to host competitions for young Native youth across Indian country. The U.S. Games take place every two years and Milwaukee was the launch site for Indigenous Games USA. The Games proved to be a showcase for Native youth to participate in individual competitions such as archery, track, boxing and wrestling. The team competitions such as baseball, basketball and a newly added competition of dodgeball are examples of the span of competitions. The games certainly proved to be a spectacular event for spectators and allowed Native and non-native people to watch the competition and learn about the cultural activities of tribal nations from across the United States.

Athlete of the Year: Coaches' Thoughts

Our 2011 Athlete of the Year, Kevin Murphy, has had a lot of different coaches in his life.
In his senior year at VCHS, Murphy had five different coaches from five different varsity sports, and they all had plenty of good things to say about such a versatile, hard-working athlete.
Here are their thoughts:

Kyle Kline, varsity boys water polo coach:
I think Kevin is a great choice for Athlete of the Year. I only had the pleasure of coaching Kevin for one season. I have had many athletes show up senior year and decide they want to play water polo and I was skeptical when I heard about Kevin and his desire to join the team. He showed up with confidence and I really didn’t expect him to last more than one day.
Kevin proved me wrong and exceeded my expectations. He was definitely behind on experience and conditioning in the water but that didn’t discourage him one bit. He worked through the tough practices and absorbed as much as he could to try to catch up. This is definitely one of the most coachable athletes I have had and he put everything I tried to teach him to use. I would only have to tell Kevin something once, and I would see him working on whatever it was throughout the rest of practice and the whole season. Kevin is also a natural athlete. He is aggressive and gives 110% with everything he does.
Something else that really defined Kevin was his willingness to face a tough challenge. He never backed down from a tough swim set that would give seasoned swimmers a tough time. What really set him apart was his decision to take on one of the toughest positions in the pool as two meter defense. This position involves defending usually the biggest and strongest player on the opposing team. When I described this position Kevin’s eyes lit up. He knew this was his spot and he wanted to make sure he earned the starting position. He worked hard and earned the starting spot and again exceeded my expectations. This position does not usually get the stats that the offensive two meter player gets. It does not get nearly as much attention or glory as other positions. Kevin was not in it for those things. He was in it for the challenge and to help his team. He handled athletes that had many more years experience than him and did an excellent job.
What makes Kevin a successful athlete is a combination of things. His work ethic is exceptional. He is confident but not over confident. He faces challenges head on and with an enthusiasm that I don’t often see. He is a positive role model for younger athletes and a team leader. He leads by example but is outspoken when necessary. He is extremely coachable and has a great attitude. All of these things are beneficial to a team. He made a huge contribution to my team this season and I can only imagine the water polo player he would have been with a few more years experience.
I am sure Kevin will apply these characteristics in the future and it is these that will ensure success in anything he chooses to pursue.
Kevin’s senior year stats: nine goals, 16 assists, 31 steals, and four blocks.
Thanks for giving recognition to a great athlete, student, and individual!

Clay Clifford, varsity wrestling coach:
Kevin was a three-year varsity letterman for wrestling and was a contributor to our second place finish at the San Diego CIF Division IV Championships. Kevin is good-natured and was a pleasure to have on the wrestling team. He made many sacrifices for the team when called upon, and always gave his best effort. I expect that Kevin will one day be a very good coach, hopefully in the sport of wrestling.

Rick Darland, varsity boys golf coach:
Kevin is a great kid and a team leader, and I had a lot of fun coaching him this season. To be able to do that many things that well shows you what kind of an athlete and what kind of a person he is.
Because of the nature of golf, you can’t just pick up your sticks after taking all winter off, but somehow Kevin showed up this spring and was better than he was last year. He progressed further than I thought he would this year.
He’s a well-rounded person who enjoys life, and he knows what it takes to be successful in whatever he wants to do.

Rob Gilster, varsity football coach:
He played football all four years, and he was thinking about just doing water polo his senior year, but he was such a strong long snapper that we found a way to make it work out for him to do both this year. He’s a really good long snapper, and I’m sure he could have helped us out at some other positions on the football field, but he was really passionate about water polo. He was able to get in some practice time and work with Davey [Last, the football team’s kicker] on his own. And he was able to get to all our games on time, even though he had other games on the same day.
He was also one of my ASB students this year, so I got to work closely with him on a lot of school activities. He’s a great kid, a hard worker, and very dependable. You know he’s going to get the job done.
He’s very responsible, and as a student and as a player, same thing. I know he had a lot of other responsibilities in his life, but he’s committed to doing what he needs to do to be a good teammate, a good student and a good person.
I think the balance and time management that he’s learned through sports and ASB in high school are important skills he will carry with him. That’s what so much of life is—we don’t always get to focus on just one thing, we have to be able to handle a lot at a time, and Kevin is definitely prepared to do that.
And he was good, too. He’s a great athlete.

Laura McCaulley, varsity swim coach:
Kevin did really well this year for the swim team. He fit in well with the boys and helped us out a lot, especially in the relays. He went to league for the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays and got better throughout the year.
His experience with the water polo team helped him be successful because he was already training really hard. During the swim season, he would come to the morning workout because he had golf in the afternoon, so he had a lot of long days.
But it paid off because he did such a great job in the league finals, where he placed in both the relay events as well as the 200 freestyle.
He’s a really hard worker, and that’s only going to help him with whatever he does in life. His work ethic is unreal!

2011 Roadrunner Athlete of the Year: Kevin Murphy

To see more photos of Kevin Murphy, click here to visit the gallery on Facebook.

By: Dan Kidder

They say that a jack of all trades is the master of none.
But Kevin Murphy is the rare kind of athlete who defies simple sayings.
Murphy, like the Jim Thorpes and Bo Jacksons before him, was never content with the challenge of just one athletic endeavor.
He grew up playing Little League baseball, Boys & Girls Club basketball, Pop Warner football and youth soccer. He tried his hand at motocross for a while (“Just for fun,” he says).
His older sister, Erin, ran cross country in high school and earned a scholarship to UNLV. Since the middle school didn’t offer very many sports at the time, Murphy decided to follow in his sister’s footsteps and joined the cross-country team. He continued playing flag football and basketball while waiting for his chance to show his stuff at the next level—high school.
His freshman season, Murphy played football, basketball and golf, a sport he picked up on a whim and ended up playing at the varsity levels all four years of high school.
“We became members of the country club,” he says. “And I totally fell in love with golf.”
In his sophomore season, he once again played football and golf, but switched to wrestling in the winter season.
“I loved playing basketball,” he says. “I grew up playing with Beau [Reilly], Stehly [Reden] and AJ [Broomell] on a lot of travel teams. But I wanted to try something a little different. One of my favorite sports to watch is MMA [Mixed Martial Arts], and I’ve always wanted to try to get into that. But in wrestling, you work so hard, especially with the guys around you, it’s like a brotherhood of wrestlers.”
Murphy’s sports schedule remained unchanged for his junior year, but things really picked up for him this year.
In his senior year, he played football and water polo in the fall season, wrestling in the winter season and both swimming and golf in the spring.
“My buddy Ian Macfarlane said I should come swim with him because it’s a great workout,” Murphy says. “It totally changes your body. I used to lift weights to bulk up for football, but swimming really leaned me out while keeping me really strong.”
Not only does Murphy play so many different sports, he plays such unique positions that usually require specific skills beyond the pick-it-up-as-I-go-along mentality.
Growing up, he played middle infield and pitcher on the baseball diamond, as well as point guard in basketball.
Although he grew up playing different positions in football, by the time he got to the varsity level, Murphy was so good as a long snapper that he was able to work out his own practice schedule that allowed him to play both water polo and football this season. He worked out with the special teams unit on Thursdays and found time with kicker David Last to keep his game at the highest level.
On the water polo team, Murphy quickly carved out a spot at two-meter defense, despite his relative inexperience.
“I’ve played so many sports, and water polo is a combination of so many sports, it just came to me,” Murphy says. “I played against the other team’s best offender. I like playing defense, and if the team needs something, I’m willing to do whatever.”
He wrestled somewhere in the 140-pound range, posted a golf index of four (which basically calculates how many strokes above par a player is, on average), and swam the 100 freestyle, the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke for the swim team this year.
“I love the camaraderie with my teammates,” Murphy says. “I love winning, and for me, there’s nothing like trying to be the best you can. I was never the quarterback, never scored the most goals, never was the biggest guy on the field, but I always want to work hard and try as many different things as I can.”
To try so many different sports takes a unique approach, and Murphy says that each sport he has played carries its own mentality.
“It’s different for each person,” he says. “For example, a football player isn’t as methodical as a golfer. Before he gets to the first tee, a golfer knows where he wants to put the ball and he has a plan for that hole. A football player walks on the field and he has all his coaches worrying about the bigger picture. He just has to go out and make a play.
“In wrestling, it’s just you against one other guy,” he adds. “You don’t really need the whole team to do your job—it’s a team sport, but so much is placed on the individual. It’s all about self-motivation. In water polo, it’s a lot of work and a lot of swimming, but that sense of brotherhood is big. You work so hard with these other guys that you really appreciate each other. And in swimming, it’s a pretty small group but it’s really tight-knit. It takes a lot of work to do swimming, but it pays off when you start to see your times drop. The coaches were great—they know they work us hard, but we know it’s for our benefit.”
Murphy didn’t earn any scholarships for his play on the field, and even though he will always enjoy playing sports for fun, he doesn’t have any plans to pursue college athletics.
“My sister’s boyfriend is a division one football player—he’s six-two, runs a four-six forty and he plays free safety,” Murphy says. “I love playing sports, but I know I can’t reach that kind of level. To play college sports, you have to be so naturally gifted. I look at Stehly [Reden] and that’s the kind of natural athlete you have to be. But even if I’m not playing, I still love working my body to the point where it feels like it’s breaking down and exceeding my goals. We’ll see where life takes me, and what God’s plan is for me.”
Murphy’s father, Sean, was a Navy pilot, his grandfather was a Blue Angel, and his uncle is an F-4 pilot, and Murphy says that he would love to join the ranks of his fellow naval aviators. But he also says his faith plays a central role in his life, and that he’s willing to pursue other directions as well. As a core team member at St. Stephen’s church, Murphy says he wants to honor God’s plan for his life.
“I definitely have an interest in the military, but I want to go where God leads,” he says. “You don’t know where God’s going to take you, but if you love Him and serve Him, wherever He takes you will be wherever you’re supposed to be. For me, if that’s the Navy, then that’s great. But I’m open to whatever.”
Wherever he goes next, Murphy says that he will never forget the years he spent playing sports with his friends here in Valley Center.
“There are so many great memories,” he says. “Like rushing back from a water polo game at Poway to make it to our home football game—I walked in with no shirt on, my pads in my hands and my eyes still watering from the pool, but I made it in time. And I’ll always remember winning league with the golf team this year—we came through a lot. All the practices, working hard and messing around with the guys, those are the things I’ll remember.”
Kevin Patrick Murphy grew up in Valley Center with his family—his father, Sean, a retired Navy pilot who works for Computer Protection Technology; his mother, Colleen, an aide for the Valley Center/Pauma Unified School District; and his siblings, Erin, John and Bridget.
Befitting his Irish heritage—his grandmother is from Ireland—Murphy is a fan of the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics, and Notre Dame football. He and his father are planning a trip to Dublin, Ireland, to see Notre Dame play against Navy next year. He also likes Duke basketball and has been following the emerging career of PGA golfer Rory McElroy, lamenting that “I was a Tiger Woods fan, but…you can’t really do that anymore.”
When he’s not playing sports, Murphy says he’s working, working out, participating in church activities or sleeping.
After his high school athletics experience, Murphy has some encouragement for young athletes.
“To all the little guys out there, don’t ever stop working hard,” he says. “You may not be a stud, but you mean just as much. A team is a well-oiled machine, and it needs every part to work. So never give up, and don’t be afraid to go out and try a new sport. You never know if you’ll like it, so even if it’s hard, keep pushing through.”

Oros, Smith finish in top ten in CIF Masters wrestling tournament

Two Valley Center wrestlers finished in the top ten in the CIF Masters wrestling tournament this weekend.
Juan Oros finished sixth at 105 pounds and Dylan Smith finished seventh at 173 pounds to finish off the wrestling season for the Jaguars.
Oros, Smith and Dustin Miller (114 pounds) each earned All-Valley League first team honors for their outstanding seasons, while second team honors went to Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Damian Stehly (162 pounds) and Travis Weddington (217 pounds).

Oros wins section title, Jags finish second in CIF wrestling tournament

Juan Oros shows off his medal and winning bracket from the CIF tournament.

The Jaguars finished second in CIF Division IV this season.

Senior wrestler Juan Oros won the 105-pound division to lead the Valley Center varsity wrestling team to a second place finish in the CIF Division IV wrestling tournament at Olympian High School on Saturday.
The Jaguars tallied 179.5 points to finish just behind tournament winner Clairemont with 190 points, and will send eight wrestlers to the Masters meet on Saturday. The Jags beat out the rest of the top five: La Jolla in third with 170.5, Imperial in fourth with 164.5 and Olympian in fifth with 145.5.
Oros came back late in the match to pull out a 6–4 decision over Tirso Lara of Imperial in the championship round, after rolling through the first three matches of the day with lightning-fast pins.
Meanwhile, Dylan Smith finished second in the 162-pound division after falling to Matt Vasquez of La Jolla in a 4–3 decision that went to four overtime periods before a champion was crowned.
In the third place matches, both Dustin Miller at 114 pounds and Lorenzo Gomez at 287 pounds won to secure a top-three spot for the Jaguars. Miller won a 5–0 decision over Jerrick Ello of Olympian, while Gomez won a 3–1 decision over Lance Angulo of Holtville.
Four of Valley Center’s wrestlers made it to the third place matches, only to suffer losses because of the five-match rule. Those four Jaguars were Manny Boyle at 121 pounds, Daquota Avila at 137 pounds, Kyle Glennie at 191 pounds and Travis Weddington at 217 pounds.
Those eight wrestlers—Oros, Smith, Miller, Gomez, Boyle, Avila, Glennie and Weddington—will represent Valley Center in the CIF San Diego Section Masters Tournament this Friday and Saturday at Canyon Crest Academy.

(photos by Gabriel Santana)

Five wrestlers take first place as Jaguars win Escondido Rumble

On Friday, 26 Valley Center wrestlers traveled to Escondido High School for a two-day wrestling extravaganza called The Rumble, and after a day that lived up to its name, the Jaguars came away with the tournament championship.
Each wrestler was guaranteed five matches, and those with highest win/loss records were entered into the medal tournament, where they could wrestle three additional matches. Sixteen Jaguars advanced to the medals’ tournament, with five winning championships in their respective classes—Sam McCuskey (98 pounds), Dustin Miller (106 pounds), Manny Boyle (122 pounds), Damian Stehly (173 pounds) and Travis Weddington (217 pounds).
Meanwhile, John Mayo took second at 98 pounds and Trevor Ryback finished third at 115 pounds. Four Valley Center wrestlers took fourth—John Murphy (114 pounds), James Oakley (122 pounds), Daquota Avila (138 pounds) and Kevin Izadi (heavyweight).
Five Jags finished seventh in the tournament—Zach Dewey (128 pounds), Kaulana Miller (128 pounds), Christian Guerrero (133 pounds), Jesus Diaz (191 pounds) and Lorenzo Gomez (heavyweight).
After more than 120 individual matches, 11 Jaguars earned medals for finishing in the top four.
But the biggest surprise of the day was winning the tournament championship. The tournament’s design is give underclassmen more opportunity to wrestle prior the entering the CIF tournaments. The Jaguars gained valuable experience that will be helpful for this coming CIF Division IV Tournament coming up on Saturday at Olympian High School in Chula Vista. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. with the championship finals scheduled at 6 p.m.
The Valley Center wrestlers suffered a setback with a league finale loss to Del Norte High School, 39–27, on Thursday.
Two forfeits and some lackluster performances led the Jaguars to their demise, but two Jags won by pin—Juan Oros at 105 pounds and Dustin Miller at 114 pounds—while Christian Guerrero won a 5–4 decision at 132 pounds and Dylan Smith won a technical fall at 173 pounds.
The Jaguars finish the season in third place in Valley League with a 3–2 league record and a 4-4 overall mark.

VC wrestlers down Canyon Crest, finish tenth in Otay Ranch Tournament

Valley Center’s varsity wrestling team notched another league win this week by beating Canyon Crest, then finished tenth as a team in the Otay Ranch Tournament over the weekend.
The Jaguars are currently in second place in the Valley League with a 4–3 overall record and a 3–1 league mark.
The Jags moved one step closer to a shot at the league title with a 52–24 victory over Canyon Crest on Thursday.
Juan Oros (105 pounds), Manny Boyle (121 pounds), Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Kyle Glennie (191 pounds), and Travis Weddington (217 pounds), all won by pins as the Jaguars won nine matches overall to cruise to the victory.
Oros also led the Jaguars in the Otay Ranch Tournament, as he made it all the way to the championship round before falling to Otay Ranch’s Tommy Espinoza in a 9–2 decision in the 105-pound division. As a team, the Jags totaled 62 points for tenth place.
This Thursday, seniors Oros, Glennie, and Aydin Cooper will wrestle in their home gym for their last match in a Jaguar uniform, as Valley Center hosts Del Norte at 7 p.m.

Jags take fifth in San Ysidro wrestling tournament

With the Division IV CIF Wrestling Tournament three weeks away, the Valley Center varsity wrestling team has finally jelled into a very competitive team.
After taking a fifth place finish out of 23 schools at the San Ysidro Tournament and trailing by only six points top-ranked Clairemont High School, the Jaguars find themselves in store for an exciting season finale.
Other schools that will make the race interesting for championship are returning Division IV champions Imperial, Olympian , and Palo Verde high schools. Whichever school comes with the best effort will win the championship.
The Jaguars had eight place winners in the tournament. Juan Oros won his finals match with a 12-second pin over San Ysidro’s Miguel Flores. Dylan Smith made his second trip to the finals, earning a second place finish. Manny Boyle made his debut with third place victory over Mission Hills’ Marcus Cummiskey. Fourth place finishers were Dustin Miller, Christian Guerrero, Kyle Glennie, and fifth place finishers were Daquota Avila and Damian Stehly.
The Jaguars also earned their second consecutive team victory with a win over Guajome Park Academy, 56–6 on Thursday.
Freshmen Matt Barnes (154 pounds) will win his first varsity match with a 1:07 pin over opponent Jerod Adams. Also winning by pin were John Murphy (105 pounds), Dustin Miller (114 pounds), Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Pedro Flores (162 pounds), Kyle Glennie (191 pounds) and Jean-Marc Brierre (285 pounds). Christian Guerrero (142 pounds) won an 8–2 decision and Kevin Murphy (147 pounds) received a win by forfeit.
Valley Center is 2–1 in league so far, and the Jaguars hit the mat again on Thursday at home against Canyon Crest at 7 p.m.

Oros wins, Jags take ninth in San Pasqual wrestling tourney

Senior wrestler Juan Oros not only won the 105-pound weight class, but was also given the Most Outstanding Lightweight Wrestler award in the San Pasqual Wrestling Tournament this weekend.
The day didn’t start off as planned for Oros, however. Overweight by nearly a pound with only thirty minutes to shed the weight, Oros had to somehow work the weight off in the back seat of Coach Miller’s pickup truck. With the heater blasting, Oros did sit-ups and pepper-steps in the back seat until he arrived at San Pasqual High School right on weight.
Pinning all three opponents on the way to the finals, Oros was confident that he would win the championship. However, his finals match-up opponent, Jordon Griffin of Hilltop High, had other plans.
Oros spent a lot of energy executing two hard driving takedown attempts in the first period, only to come up scoreless. What was expected to be an easy victory for Oros turned out to be an aggravating, back-and-forth battle that ended up a tie in regulation time. So the match went into sudden death overtime, first takedown wins. Griffin attempted and nearly scored a double leg takedown, but Oros was able to counter the attack and stepped over for the takedown and the championship.
Junior Dylan Smith continued his winning ways at 162 pounds by finishing third place. Placing in their first varsity tournament, junior Damian Stehly finished third at 173 pounds, sophomore Daquota Avila finished second place at 137 pounds, and sophomore Christian Guerrero finished in fifth place at 132 pounds.
The Jaguars finished ninth as a team in a field of 23 schools.
Bouncing back from a Valley League loss to Orange Glen Patriots, 52–19, the Jaguars defeated the San Dieguito Academy Mustangs, 60–12. Individual winners were: Juan Oros (105 pounds), Zach Dewey (127 pounds), Christian Guerrero (132 pounds), Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Kevin Murphy(147 pounds), Damian Stehly (162 pounds), Dylan Smith (173 pounds), Jesus Diaz (191 pounds), and Aydin Cooper (heavyweight).

Jags win first home wrestling dual meet in three years

Dustin Miller flips over in the 103-pound match:
Connor MacFarlane twists to get out of a hold in the 112-pound match:
Trevor Ryback fought back from certain doom to win the 119-pound match:
Zach Dewey fights for position in the 130-pound match:
Daquota Avila rolls over his opponent in the 140-pound match:
Kevin Murphy sizes up his opponent in the 145-pound match:
Damian Stehly gets his opponent off the ground in the 160-pound match:
Dylan Smith goes for a hold in the 171-pound match:
Jeremy Halligan grapples with his opponent in the 189-pound match:
Travis Weddington tries to get the upper hand in the 215-pound match:
photos by Dan Kidder

Despite missing one of its top wrestlers, the Valley Center varsity wrestling team pulled together and won its first home dual meet in three years with a 39–36 win over San Pasqual on Thursday.
With Juan Oros out with a rib injury, two Jaguars won by pin, while four more earned wins to propel the Jaguars past the Eagles.
“After the 2008 Valley League/CIF team of ten seniors graduated, we began a three-year building cycle,” head coach Clay Clifford said. “With a win like this, it looks like we have turned the corner.”
Trevor Ryback earned the first pin for the Jags, pinning Brian Pansegrau in 1:19 to win the 119-pound match. Damian Stehly also won by pin, taking down Mike Anastasia in 3:43 to win the 160-pound match.
Dustin Miller started off the match with a 7–1 decision in the 103-pound match, while Zach Dewey won an 8–4 decision in the 130-pound match, Daquota Avila won by technical fall, 16–0, in the 140-pound match, and Dylan Smith won a 12–1 decision in the 171-pound match. Two Jaguars also won by forfeit, while Valley Center forfeited one match in the meet.
Then on Saturday, the Jaguars competed in the 34th annual Jim Londos Tournament at Orange Glen High School in a field of 36 schools. Overall, the Jags finished in 12th place with 64.5 points, as four wrestlers finished in the top ten in their class.
Miller led the Jaguars with a third place finish in the 104-pound class, while Smith took fifth in the 172-pound class, Stehly finished seventh in the 161-pound class and Aydin Cooper finished seventh in the 216-pound class.
Over Christmas vacation, the Valley Center wrestlers competed in the Santiago High “Shark Tank” Tournament, in a field of 56 schools, as well as the Mira Mesa Team Tournament, in a field of 12 schools.
Oros was the lone survivor of the “Shark Tank” tournament, finishing sixth. He lost a heartbreaker match in the semi-finals, falling to Coachella Valley’s Sergio Hernandez, 4–3. Ahead 3–2 with seven seconds left in the match, Oros suffered a last second takedown to end the match. In his next match, Oros sustained a rib injury, so he was pulled out of the tournament and finished sixth.
Meanwhile, Smith went 3–2 before being eliminated, and both Stehly and Cooper finished with 2–2 match records. One of the most exciting early round matches of the tournament was Cooper’s 27–22 loss to Buena Park’s Jake Wiggens. The match had the entire crowd riveted on the outcome and left both wrestlers were exhausted.
The JV wrestlers competed at the Mira Mesa Team Tournament on Dec. 30 and brought home a pair of gold medals.
John Murphy and James Oakley both went 5–0 to receive gold medals. Dewey received a silver medal for 4–1 record, while Kaulana Miller and Lorenzo Gomez received bronze medals for their 3–2 finishes.
The Jaguars are now 1–2 overall, and Thursday night at 7 p.m. is a league showdown at Orange Glen.