Tiger Varsity One Point Away from Victory against Vikings

Terra Nova’s young varsity team lost a close dual meet to the Mills Vikings 36-37 last week.

After several years of fielding just a handful of wrestlers, this is the first year back in the Bay Division of the PAL for Mills. The Vikings have been rebuilding for the past two years with the help of thriving middle school programs on the peninsula, and they were able to put several returning varsity wrestlers on the mat Thursday night.

Terra Nova’s head coach, Alek Butler, knew that the score would be close and that his novice wrestlers would have to put forth Herculean efforts to get their team over the top in a varsity dual. Despite the team falling short by just one point, the Tigers had some outstanding performances.

Freshman and first year wrestler, Adam Louie - 120lbs, bested his Mills opponent 9-3 scoring all of the takedowns in the match. Louie continues to improve and impress with his athleticism and natural ability. It’s no small feat for a freshman to wrestle varsity against young men who are often 2-3 years older than they are. If you can imagine putting a 120lb freshman in a varsity football game, this will give you some idea of what Louie is facing and overcoming on the mat.

Returning wrestler, Sam Nelson -152lbs, drew the toughest match of the night against Charlie Rojas, the returning PAL champion who is currently ranked 5th in CCS. Undaunted, Nelson scored the first takedown of the match and successfully fended off several shots by Rojas. Nelson was able to keep Rojas to just one takedown per period, and although he lost with a final score of 2-11, his efforts limited the Mills team score to only 4 points in a match where they expected to pin. First year wrestler, Sepronio Ruiz - 170lbs, faced Mills’ Justin Kim who is currently ranked 17th in CCS. Kim expected to pin Ruiz, but Ruiz fought hard off his back, bridging and resisting being turned. Kim had to settle for a win by techfall near the end of the 2nd period, which contributed 5 points to the Mills team score instead of the 6 that would have come from a pin.

The most exciting match of the night pitted Terra Nova’s Chris Rigling against Morgan Nosqueda. Rigling normally wrestles at 145lb, but he was able to weigh in at over that amount to qualify to wrestle at 160lbs, filling in a vacant spot for the Tigers, and keeping the Vikings from an easy 6 points for forfeit. Even a loss by several points would have helped Terra Nova’s team score, but Rigling surprised everyone. He exploded off the whistle and scored a takedown early in the first period. He wrestled confidently and aggressively. At the start of the 3rd period, Nosqueda chose to start on the bottom in referees’ position, hoping to score a point by escape. Rigling held Nosqueda down the entire round to walk away with a 6-3 victory and 3 team points for Terra Nova. Brian Alvarez won his match by pin in the 2nd round. Terra Nova earned the rest of its team points by forfeits for Nick Didonato – 106lbs, Edward Ruiz – 113lbs, Jared Abellera - 138lbs, and Michael Pitts - 145lbs.

Terra Nova’s girls continued their winning streak. Senior, Natalia Ruiz – 116lbs, won by pin in eleven seconds, which may well be the fastest pin all year. Padma Armstrong – 131lbs also won by first round pin at 1:16. Vicky Borrego – 106lbs pinned her Mills opponent in the 2nd period. Minnah Adam, who has been wrestling up at 189lbs this year, faced a bigger and very strong wrestler from Mills, Piprena Langi. Entering the 2nd period down 4-6, Adam chose the bottom of referees’ position and scored 2 points by reversal. Adam, who wrestles with a steely, calm demeanor, patiently worked into a pinning position and made several thoughtful adjustments to pin Langi at 3:43. Shana Hussain – 101lbs and Teagan Allen – 111lbs both took forfeits for Terra Nova. Final team score was 36-6. The JV boys were all uncontested, and Terra Nova won that portion 36-6 as well.

Terra Nova’s final home dual meet of the season will be against Half Moon Bay, Thursday, January 28.

Pictures in this article were taken by Ross Capdeville.