HHS Wrestlers Hendrickson, Tsarnas Take 6th at State

Two Healdsburg High wrestlers brought home a lot more than just memories from the 40^th annual California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling  Championships.

Adam Hendrickson (145 pounds) and Matthew Tsarnas (160) both left Rabobank Arena with sixth-place medals, capping off stellar prep careers for the Greyhounds.

It’s one of the toughest tournaments anywhere in the nation, and it speaks volumes to the program’s success when two kids get their time on the medal podium in post-tournament ceremonies.

“Any time you can come home with hardware from here, it’s amazing,” Healdsburg coach Scott Weidemier said. “I’m ecstatic.”

Both kids expected to make it into the top eight and earn medals. Hendrickson, though, expected to finish a little better than sixth, as he was ranked third in the state by thecaliforniawrestler.com before the tournament.

“I wouldn’t say Adam had his best tournament ever, but that just shows how good he is,” Weidemeir said.

It all started well for Hendrickson, and seventh the year before at the same weight. He bested Alberto Flores of Rosemead (Southern Section No. 7) by a 5-2 score then moved into the quarterfinals with a tight 2-1 triumph over Ray Lomas of Central Catholic-Modesto, the Sac-Joaquin Section champion. Northview’s Bryan Salinas ended Hendrickson’s title dreams, though, winning 7-4 to send Hendrickson to the consolation bracket, a grueling place to be.

“I just had to reset my goals,” Hendrickson said. “I didn’t come in to the tournament thinking about anything but first place.

“The whole first day I was just sluggish, not ‘on’ at all.”

He responded in Saturday’s first match with a 15-3 whipping of Nick Fiegener of Folsom (Sac-Joaquin No. 3) and that guaranteed a Top 8 finish and a third-straight medal. A 5-2 triumph over Righetti-Santa Maria’s Luke Wilson (Southern Section No. 3) followed before two losses: A tough 5-4 setback to Sam Duchene of Simi Valley (Southern Section champ) and a 3-1 loss to Lomas, whom he had defeated the day before.

None of his losses were blowouts, and Hendrickson finished his season with a second-place finish in the North Coast Section and a 4-3 record at state.

Tsarnas’ route was much more difficult, as he lost his first match of the tournament and had to fight his way back through consolation. The No. 9-ranked wrestler in the state drew eventual state champ Joey Davis of Santa Fe in his first match and was pinned in 4:17. That unlucky draw didn’t faze Tsarnas, though.

“There was some doubt in my mind, knowing that I was going to have to wrestle him,” Tsarnas admitted. “I was prepared to bounce back, and the mindset I had was to go one match at a time."

More like one win at a time. Tsarnas rolled off five straight victories to get into the medal rounds. He won 11-0 over Alisal’s Oscar Mendez (Central Coast Section No. 3), 4-3 over Oakdale’s Dustin Harris (Sac-Joaquin No. 7), 6-3 over Laguna Hills’ Jason Newcomer (Southern Section No. 3), 12-0 over Sultana’s Matthew Williams (Southern Section No. 5) and 3-2 over Poway’s Steve Cervantes (San Diego Section No. 3). The bouts with Mendez, Harris and Newcomer were Friday.

“Matthew turned it on at the right time,” Weidemeir said. “I figured Matt would get to about fifth or sixth.”

His last two matches, just like Hendrickson, were losses: A pin to Adrian Salas of Clovis (Central Section champ) and 7-1 to Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills wrestler Keaton Subjeck (Sac-Joaquin Section No. 2).

All told, Tsarnas went 5-3.

Ricardo Sandoval (182) also competed for Healdsburg and got a win, but bowed out Friday. He lost 10-0 to Trevor Smith of Ripon (who finished sixth) before pinning Ryan Sarmiento of Palma-Salinas in 2:27. His day ended with a 6-1 loss to Mike Tenorio of Firebaugh (Central Section No. 4).

Just as important for the program was that Healdsburg tied for 33^rd in the team standings. That shows the program is still one of the state’s better ones, and it is a source of pride for Weidemeir, the kids, the school and the community. Furthermore, the success that Tsarnas and Hendrickson had at the state meet serves as motivation for other wrestlers in the program.

“We’ve been doing this (placing kids at state) for 15 years, it just keeps cycling through,” he said. “The other kids (on the team) got to see how two state medalists practice and prepare every day.”