Sonoma sends 4 to Green and Gold

Dragon wrestlers compete in Healdsburg Duals Saturday|

With the season having just started, first-year head coach Tony Albini is easing his Sonoma Valley High School wrestlers into the on-mat action, building their strength and honing their skills for another challenging winter sports campaign.

After partaking in two three-team scrimmages, with their young grapplers participating in the annual Sonoma County League-North Bay League Novice Tournament, only four varsity Dragons wrestled in Saturday’s annual Green and Gold Tourney at San Marin in Novato.

Sonoma’s top Green and Gold finisher was Sonoma County League champion junior Dalton Elster, who claimed a fourth-place medal with a 3-3 record in the heavyweight division.

Actually, Elster could’ve finished 4-2 and won the third-place medal, but he sustained a neck injury in the match and, though it wasn’t serious, he was in a lot of pain and Albini quickly stopped the match rather than risk his health.

The Dragons were also paced by Jack Biaggi’s 3-2 record and eighth-place finish, sophomore Noah Bartolome’s 2-2 mark, and first-year wrestler junior Jake McDonald’s 0-2.

“We’re a young team led by a handful of returners. This is going to be a tough year and with all the attention around a new coach and coaching staff to have it followed up with the tragic death of Deets (Winslow) over the summer, these young men are having a hard time with it all,” said Albini. 

Rounding out Sonoma’s youthful wrestling squad – directed by Albini and assistant coaches Scooter McAlister, Eduardo Hernandez and John Bartolome – are senior Jacob Little; juniors Aeden Haywood, David Price and Brandon Ruiz; sophomores Evan Alcantar, Ryan Angeloni, Charles Shahoian, Victory Vazquez and Noah White; and freshmen Valentino Battaglini, Dominic Biaggi, Mario Coronado, Henry Darnell, Dean Dunham and Andrew McGrath.

The varsity Dragons will wrestle in the annual Healdsburg Duals starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, with the Healdsburg Junior Varsity Duals set for Friday, Dec. 19.

Sonoma’s inaugural Deets Winslow Invitational, formerly the Valley of the Moon Wrestling Classic – named in tribute to Deets Winslow, the Dragons’ most successful wrestling coach, who was killed in a late-summer boating accident – takes place starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015, in Pfeiffer Gym.

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