Falcons’ wrestlers make quick work of Vikings

FAIRFIELD — For those in a hurry, Fairfield High’s Ronald D. Thompson Gymnasium was the place to be on Wednesday night.

Fairfield took on Vanden in the Solano County Athletic Conference finale for both teams with only one of the six matches contested – there were eight forfeits – making into the third period.

And even that one didn’t go the distance as the Falcons ran away for a 54-23 victory.

After earning a forfeit to Joey Zambori at 106 pounds, the visiting Vikings (1-4) upped their lead to 12-0 when Allison Denn pinned Grecia Mora-Calderon in 3 minutes, 1 second.

The first round was especially competitive with Denn starting things with a takedown, Mora-Calderon reversing and getting a two-point near fall, Denn reversing back and being awarded a penalty point for a 5-4 lead.

Denn then needed 59 seconds for the pin.

Fairfield (2-3) then took command by winning the next five matches, including forfeits to Alberto Martinez at 120 and Apai Broytubtim at 126.

Feliciano Padilla of the Falcons battled Derek Bruner to a 4-4 tie after the first round before getting the pin in 3:47 to win at 132.

Fairfield’s Mark Benckendorf took control early against Christian Bronson at 138, getting a take down and three-point near fall in the first round, a reversal and three-point near fall in the second. He got the pin at the 4:52 mark in the only match to go beyond two rounds.

Following a double forfeit at 145, Russell Sales of the Falcons earned two points each for a takedown, reversal and near fall to hold a 6-3 lead over Albert Bernales at 152. Sales then reversed early in the second round and worked into a pin in 3:20.

A second highlight on the night was Kyle Tygart’s dominating performance at 160. He blitzed Jesse Martinez for a 13-0 lead in the first round and sealed the 15-0 technical fall by reversing early in the second.

The final contested match of the night featured Fairfield’s Anthony Roofner-Ramos battling Nick Palacios to a 2-2 draw after the first round and then turning a reversal into a pin 30 seconds into the second.

The proceedings concluding with a parade of forfeits going to Vanden’s Brandon Dontogan at 182 and Fairfield’s DiShon Olison at 195, Rito Gomez at 220 and Cedric Page at heavyweight.

Russell Sales and Anthony wrestled a weight class higher (than usual),” Falcons coach Kyle Holsworth said. “They both did an outstanding job doing that. They got pins and used great technique. They gave 110 percent out there. They gave their all tonight.”

Vikings coach Lloyd Wilson was singing a different tune.

“We didn’t wrestle good – except for the guys that won,” he Wilson said. “We’ve wrestled better in tournaments. We wrestled very poorly. I thought we wrestled better (last week) against Bethel.”

The girls regional tournament is Friday and Saturday at McNair of Stockton with the top five advancing to the state meet at Lemoore, Feb. 22-23.

The SCAC championships is Feb. 8 at Vallejo.

Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646, ext. 264, or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pfarmerdr.