Two Sonoma grapplers get NCS seeds

Top 3 advance to state meet in Bakersfield next weekend|

Two of the 10 Dragon grapplers going to the North Coast Section meet in Hayward on Friday and Saturday, received seeds in the event.

Senior Noah Bartolome received a third seed at 182 pounds. Bartolome is 20-3 on the season. Sophomore Tyler Winslow received a fifth seed at 170 pounds. Winslow is 16-4 on the year.

Other Dragon wrestlers who qualified for the NCS include senior Aiden Van Heerden at 195, juniors Nick Biaggi at 162 and Dean Dunham at 222, sophomores Gianni Palacio at heavyweight, Ryan Sherwood at 147, Andrew Beatty at 140 and Macklyn Liss at 128 and freshman Ean Schiffman at 122.

The Dragons as a team finished second last Saturday in the Sonoma County League Meet where the top three finishers in each weight class advanced to the NCS meet.

“I thought we wrestled very well, junior varsity included,” said Coach Nico Saldana. He pointed out that Eric Hudson, Jack Craig, Greg Kenton, and Daniel Gallo made “positive contributions to the team” and placed top three in their respective weight classes.

“Considering where we were projected coming into the season, second place was a welcomed surprise,” he said.

At Saturday’s meet, at 115, Zander Casillas had a rough draw and had to wrestle one the top wrestlers in the NCS from Analy and lost his third place match.

Schiffman, at 122, Saldana said, had the comeback match of the day.

“In the semifinals, Ean was losing by eight points going into the third period. He took his opponent down with a cradle and put him on his back and got the fall,” Saldana said. “Such a great match to be part of, and proud of the heart he showed coming back. He’s a first year freshman and to make the SCL league finals just shows how much he improved over the course of the season.”

Saldana said that at 128, Liss lost to a very game Petaluma opponent in the finals. Beatty (134) lost to the eventual champion in the semifinals, but wrestled well to place third and earn a trip to NCS. Freshman Hank Schoeninigh (140) went 0-2 in a tough weight class.

Sherwood (147) displayed some solid neural wrestling and beat a long-time Petaluma rival, Sandana said. At 154, junior Mario Coronado went 0-2. “He continues to improve, just went against some stiff competition,” the coach added.

Biaggi (162) made the finals and lost to a top 160-pounder in NCS. Winslow (172) wrestled in the match of the tournament. Going against a top three 172-pounder in the NCS, he came out on top of a highly competitive match. Bartolome (184) continued his dominance of SCL opponents with a pin in the finals.

Because Winslow dropped down to 172, Van Heerden went up to 197. “The first-year senior delivered an impressive performance with two pins including a fall in the finals against the top seed,” Saldano said. “Aiden’s dedication and hard work paid off. It was a well-deserved championship.”

Dunham (222) lost a nail biter in the finals to the top seed from El Molino. And Palacio (heavy) was wrestling up and gave up 25 pounds, but lost in the finals.

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