Sonoma Valley to host 11 teams in Deets Winslow wresting tournament

Eleven teams will be wrestling in the annual Deets Winslow Memorial Tournament Saturday at Sonoma Valley High’s Pfeiffer Gym.

In addition to Sonoma, there will be teams from Casa Grande, Tamalpais, Corning, San Rafael, South Fork, San Marin, Monte Vista, Piner, Windsor and Central Catholic from Modesto.

The meets gets under way at 9 a.m. and will run until about 3 p.m.

Last year, the host Dragons finished second to Casa Grande, taking firsts at 126 pounds with Macklyn Liss; at 145 with Andrew Beatty; at 152 with Ryan Sherwood; at 182 with Noah Bartolome – who won with three pins; and at 220 with Tyler Winslow at 195.

But Bartolome has graduated and Sherwood is out with a football injury, thinning the ranks.

This will be Sonoma’s first home meet of the season. They opened the Sonoma County League season Wednesday at Petaluma, but fell short against Petaluma, dropping the dual meet 66-12.

“Losing 66-12 doesn’t feel good,” said Coach Nico Saldana. “However, of the 11 matches we wrestled, 6 were manned by underclassmen (3 freshmen, 3 sophomores), two of them – Dashyl Liss (a freshman) and Luis Estava (a junior) – were wrestling in their first varsity matches.”

In contrast, Petaluma carries 12 juniors on their roster and the experience made a big difference. “Unfortunately, we want to see immediate success, but it is a process that takes years to develop,” said Saldana.

“Each year the wrestlers grow and develop, it just makes SVHS Wrestling stronger.”

The next league match is Wednesday, Jan. 17, at Piner. There are three more dual-meets at home this month, including Elsie Allen on Jan. 23, Healdsburg on Jan. 25 and El Molino Jan. 31.