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Dragon wrestlers battle, but finally fall to 1st-place Healdsburg

In their toughest Sonoma County League dual-match of the season, the Sonoma Valley High School varsity wrestlers had the daunting task of facing strong and deep defending champion and SCL-unbeaten first-place Healdsburg, which didn’t waste any time building up an 18-3 lead after five bouts.

But the Dragons weren’t intimidated, kept battling, and mounted a spirited comeback, with junior tri-captains Sam Denning and Giordi Serafini, and sophomores Harris Meglen and Max Schimm winning four of the next five matches with three majors and one pin to trail only 24-21.

Unfortunately, the visiting Greyhounds, with two state-ranked wrestlers on deck, won the final four matches, three by way of first-round pins, and Sonoma was saddled with a 48-21 loss Wednesday night in Golton Hall.

Pacing the Dragons were Denning’s first-round pinning of Kozel at 128 pounds; Serafini’s 9-0 major shutout win over Sloma at 134; Meglen’s 8-0 major blanking of Alcala at 122; Schimm’s 11-2 major victory over Grainger at 147; senior Victor Virgen’s 12-6 win over Tolosa at 222; junior tri-captain Aidan Lacy’s nail-biting, hard-fought 1-0 loss to Chavez in the heavyweight division; junior Peter Gray’s 4-3 edging by Newman at 108; freshman Jake Randuch’s first-round pinning by Esquivel at 115; sophomore Tommy Jordan’s second-round pin-loss to Flores at 140; junior Alex Ohan’s first-round pinning by Hendrickson (state-ranked) at 154; senior Austin Erickson’s first-round pin-defeat by Black at 162; and senior Jorge Oros’ first-round pinning by Tsarnas (second-ranked in state) at 172.

The varsity Dragon wrestlers will compete in the El Camino Tournament in South San Francisco tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 4, before hosting El Molino in both their SCL dual-match and home finale at 6 p.m. this Wednesday, Feb. 8, in Golton Hall, with Sonoma honoring its five seniors prior to the action.