By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
The Red Bluff Spartans had a record-breaking performance last year in winning their third Northern Section championship in four years. This year, they could do it again.
With one champion and 12 placewinners, the Spartans scored 231 points to break the Northern Section tournament record for points in a section final. With eight of those placewinners returning this year, the Spartans have a good chance at breaking the mark they set last year because four of them start the season ranked No. 1 in their weight class in the MaxPreps Northern Section wrestling rankings.
Travis Shaefer (152 pounds), Dustin Reid (160), Kevin Daugherty (171) and Stephen Hampton (189) give the Spartans a Murderer's Row in the upper weights as they all return to claim the No. 1 rankings. Shaefer finished third at 162 pounds last year while Reid, Daugherty and Hampton all finished second in their weight classes.
Two other Spartans, Nick Foushee (135 pounds) and Forrest Garner (215) start the season ranked No. 2 in their class while two more, Sultan Beardsley (119) and Chad Walrath (145) begin the season ranked No. 3.
The Foothill Cougars finished second to Red Bluff last year and begin the season ranked No. 2 as a team. The Cougars have one of the top wrestlers in the state in 125-pounder Caleb Vallotton, who is a defending section champion. Travis Gallegos, a sophomore, advanced to the state meet last year after winning a true-second match over Enterprise's Jeremy Moreno. He also starts the season with a No. 1 ranking at 140 pounds.
Shasta has proven to be one of the top programs in the section over the past seven seasons, finishing third last year with eight placewinners. Most of those wrestlers graduated, however, but the Wolves do return Tim Navarette at 135 pounds. He is the only two-time returning section champion this year.
From Division 2, Sutter has the majority of its wrestlers back from last year when it finished second in the division behind Corning and seventh at the masters. The Huskies don't have any No. 1 ranked wrestlers, but they do place eight in the initial rankings including Timmy Nevarez (125), Derek Carothers (160) and Jon Garcia (189) at No. 2 in their weight class.
Corning, the returning Division 2 champion and a fifth-place finisher at the section meet, have a No.1 ranked wrestler in 112-pounder Kodie Brown. The Cardinals have four ranked wrestlers, not including Jared Minoletti, who is out until January with a broken leg.
Willows heads the Division 3 team rankings thanks to a strong group of underclassmen. The Honkers will be solid with ranked wrestlers Shoua Yang (103), Jeno Yang (112), Nathan Long (145) and Kent Thayer (152), along with a solid group of freshmen that placed in the top 5 as a team at the NorCal TOC in Loomis last year. The Honkers will be without 215-pounder Matt Candelaria this year after he suffered a knee injury during football season.
103 pounds
1 Cody Pack, Quincy 10; 2 Shoua Yang, Willows, 12; 3. Jess Silva Chico, 9; 4 Thomas Ocegueda, Pleasant Valley, 10; 5. Sean Simmons, Los Molinos, 12; 6. Bryce Blanchard Red Bluff, 10.
112 pounds
1 Kodie Brown, Corning, 11; 2. Zach Gleason, Foothill, 12; 3. Jake Bolen, Chico, 11; 4. Ben Gacayan, Sutter, 10; 5 Jordan Gleason, Red Bluff, 11; 6. Jeno Yang, Willows, 10.
119 pounds
1 Tanner Herman, Portola, 11; 2 Randall Pagenkopp, Oroville, 11; 3 Sultan Beardsley, Red Bluff, 10; 4 Evan Passavant, Chico, 10; 5 Brandon Bently, Trinity, 12; 6. Phillip Woods, Shasta, 10.
125 pounds
1 Caleb Vallotton, Foothill, 12; 2 Timmy Nevarez, Sutter, 12; 3 Stewart Enck, Orland, 12; 4 Daniel Keeton, Lassen, 12; 5. J.T. Reid, Red Bluff, 11; 6 Phong Lee, Chico, 11.
130 pounds
1 Chris Williams, Anderson, 12; 2 Kevin Maelfeyt, Trinity, 10; 3 Kenny Hicks, Sutter, 12; 4 JT Weigand, Las Plumas, 12; 5. Ha Lee, Chico, 12; 6. Steven Alvarez, Live Oak, 11.
135 pounds
1 Tim Navarette, Shasta, 12; 2 Nick Foushee, Red Bluff, 11; 3 Tyler Diamond, Oroville, 11; 4 Nolan Atkins, Chico, 11; 5 Marcus Zachary, Anderson, 10; 6 Jon Konkel,, Foothill, 12.
140 pounds
1 Travis Gallegos, Foothill, 10; 2 Jeremy Moreno, Enterprise, 12; 3 Marcus Ocegueda, PV, 12; 4. Montana Payne, Sutter, 12; 5 Dustin Arevalos, Esparto, 12; 6 Casey Deitz, Corning, 11.
145 pounds
1 Brandon Nickas, Pleasant Valley, 11; 2 Craig Simmons, Orland, 11; 3 Chad Walrath. Red Bluff, 12; 4 Nathan Long. Willows, 12; 5 Rowdy Robinson. Sutter, 11; 6 Matt Hulsey. Wheatland, 11.
152 pounds
1 Travis Schaefer. Red Bluff, 12; 2 Deniko Sisk. Gridley, 12; 3 Willie Lyons. Burney, 12; 4 Kent Thayer. Willows, 12; 5 Jack Wood. Paradise, 12; 6 Billy Anderson. Chester, 11.
160 pounds
1 Dustin Reid, Red Bluff, 12; 2 Derek Carothers, Sutter, 12; 3 Spencer Anderson, Gridley, 12; 4 Shawn Adams, Quincy, 11; 5 Layn Strickland, Fall River, 11; 6 Ken Skillman, Paradise, 11.
171 pounds
1 Kevin Daugherty, Red Bluff, 12; 2 Jesse Hellinger, Winters, 11; 3 JT Minto, Corning, 12; 4 Joey Forseth-Deshais, Enterprise, 12; 5 Matt Rasmussen, Wheatland, 11; 6 Rye Muller, Esparto, 12.
189 pounds
1 Stephan Hampton, Red Bluff, 12; 2 John Garcia, Sutter, 11; 3 Weston Skillicorn, Chico, 12; 4 Brandyn Harned, Live Oak, 12; 5 Brandon White, Winters, 12; 6 Austin Bergstedt Paradise 10.
215 pounds
1 Josh Wood, Modoc, 11; 2 Forrest Garner, Red Bluff, 12; 3 Cameron Lugauer, Paradise, 12; 4 Jim Longnecker, Chico, 12; 5 Matt Van Doorn, Corning, 12; 6. Jeremy Holt, Sutter, 11.
285 pounds
1 Alex Pinto, Wheatland, 12; 2 Andrew Leedy, Central Valley, 12; 3 Corey Luguaer, Paradise, 12; 4 Jeff Jones, Durham, 12; 5 Jacob Kettler, Modoc, 12; 6 Luke Haight, Chico, 11.
Team Rankings
Overall
1. Red Bluff, 2. Foothill, 3. Sutter, 4. Shasta, 5. Corning.
Division 1
1. Red Bluff, 2. Foothill, 3. Shasta
Division 2
1. Sutter, 2. Corning, 3. Anderson
Division 3
1. Willows, 2. Modoc, 3. Trinity
