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Dragons out-wrestle El Mo

Sonoma snares dual-opener, hosts VOM Classic today, Saturday

Hoping to get their busy week off to an upbeat start in their Sonoma County League dual-match season opener, Sonoma Valley High School’s varsity wrestlers traveled to Forestville Wednesday evening and powered their way to a 51-21 victory over El Molino.

Leading the Dragons to their SCL road win were senior co-captain Giordi Serafini’s first-round pin-win over Hammack at 132 pounds; senior co-captain Sam Denning’s third-round pinning of Rodenberger at 138; senior Peter Gray’s win by way of a first-round pin of Pamatmat at 113; senior Alex Ohan’s third-round pin-win over Torino at 170; junior Tommy Jordan’s first-round pinning of Wright at 145; sophomore Jake Randuch’s win by way of first-round pin over Stanford at 126; junior Harris Meglen’s 9-8 victory over Pardo at 120; and forfeit wins by senior co-captain Aidan Lacy and junior co-captain Max Schimm at 220 and 160, respectively.

Sustaining Sonoma’s losses were senior Jonny Amandoli’s first-round pinning by two-time league champion Christiansen at 195 pounds – it was the first match of the season for football standout Amandoli, who was the SCL defensive player of the year – junior Chris Lohnes’ 6-2 defeat to MacDonell at 106; freshman Brandon Ruiz’s 7-4 edging by Gaddis at 152; frosh Austin Beltran’s 8-4 loss to Garza at 182; and frosh Dalton Elster’s second-round pinning by Vargas in the heavyweight division.

There’s not much time for the varsity Dragon grapplers to rest as Sonoma’s annual Valley of the Moon Classic takes place today, Friday, starting at 10:30 a.m., and tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 5, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Pfeiffer Gym, with schools representing four NorCal sections and two states, competing.

Along with host Sonoma, the 26-team VOM Classic field includes Golden Sierra, Woodland, Bear River, Justin-Siena, Terra Linda, Rodriguez, Winters, Vintage, Rancho Cotate, Analy, Ygnacio Valley, Windsor, Santa Rosa, El Molino, Alhambra, Aragon, Campolindo, Fairfield, Foothill, Novato, Tamalpais, Ukiah, Lick-Wilmerding, AA Stagg (Stockton) and Ralston Valley from Colorado.

The Dragons – directed by head coach Kyle Baird and assistant coach Deets Winslow – return to SCL action this Wednesday, Jan. 9, when they host Analy at 6 p.m. in Golton Hall.

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The weekend of Dec. 21 and 22, Sonoma’s junior varsity wrestlers competed in the Terra Linda Jayvee Tournament, and were led by Lohnes’ third-place 3-2 record, with two pins, at 106 pounds; Elster’s 3-2 third with three pins at 220; frosh Trevor Martinelli’s 2-3 with one pin at 106; and senior Jose Vazquez-Fierro’s 0-3 in the heavyweight division.

In Wednesday’s SCL jayvee matchups against El Molino, Sonoma senior Sebastian Amara won by 10 points at 152, while Martinelli was edged at 113.