Page 9 - Mid Valley Times 12-10-20 E-edition

Fall prep sports
practices pushed
back indefinitely
Season starts to football, volleyball, water polo and cross country pushed back until at least mid-January
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Dinuba Wrestling Club
ByJon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The California Interscho- lastic Federation's revised fall season for prep sports underwent a second drastic revision on Dec. 1. And it's one that eliminates any post- season competition.
After the Times' section went to press last week, the state CIF announced that it was pushing back the start dates of practice for fall sports (football, volleyball, water polo and cross country) to next month at the earliest. Initially, official practice was to begin this week at Central Section and state schools, with the season fully beginning the first week of January.
But the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the state caused the California De- partment of Public Health to decide to postpone the is- suance of its updated youth sports guidance. That meant the CIF didn't expect to re- ceive any guidance from CDPH allowing for schools to return to full practice and competition until at least Jan. 1.
Because of the action, all
full practices and competi- tion start dates officially are on hold until updated guid- ance from CDPH is issued. More important, the goal for athletes to experience a limited postseason playoff schedule in these "Season 1" sports was dashed. The CIF State Office announced it was removing all region- al and state championship events from the Season 1 Sports calendar.
"By canceling regional and state championship events, more student-ath- letes will have the oppor- tunity to participate in a longer season, rather than a truncated season with re- gional and state post-season play for a limited number of schools," the CIF said in a Dec. 1 news statement.
Another federation deci- sion is that boys volleyball, normally a spring season sports that was moved to fall in the first revised schedule, will now shift to Season 2. The CIF said the move was made to avoid the loss of a second full season. An up- dated Season 2 calendar that includes boys volleyball will be made public in January.
Dinuba Wrestling Club / Photo Contributed
Six members of the Dinuba Wrestling Club participated at a non-sanctioned high school event in Bull- head City, Ariz., the weekend of Dec.5-6. Currently, there are no athletic events taking place in California because of state-mandated COVID-19 restrictions.
Six members compete at Arizona tournament
Loss ends Bulldogs MWC title hopes
MVT Staff Report
Fresno State's hopes for a shot at a Moun- tain West Conference football championship were dashed on Dec. 5, when the Nevada Wolf Pack pulled away in the fourth quarter to post a 37-26 shootout victory at Mackey Stadium in Reno.
The Bulldogs (3-2) needed a victory over
Nevada (6-1) to stay in the hunt for a top-two finish in conference. Cur- rently, San Jose State and Boise State are unbeaten in conference and the favorites to play for the title on Dec. 19.
Sanger High prod- uct and Parlier native Jalen Cropper experi- enced highs and lows in the loss. The Bulldogs' sophomore wide receiv-
er had seven catches for 107 yards — his sec- ond straight 100-yards plus receiving effort — but lost a fumble on a fourth-quarter kick return that led to a Wolf Pack touchdown and 37- 20 lead.
Also in the game, Bulldogs' linebacker Ar- ron Mosby registered
one assisted tackle. Fresno State closes out the regular season Saturday, Dec. 12, with a MWC road contest against the University of New Mexico. The 7:30 p.m. game will be played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, and will be telecast on Fox Sports 2
(FS2).
MVT Staff Report
COVID-19 restrictions in California didn't stop the Dinuba Wrestling Club from gain- ing experience through competition this past weekend. Club wrestlers with the team sim- ply went out of state.
The club competed in a tournament Dec. 5-6 at the Anderson Fieldhouse in Bullhead City, Ariz., across the Colorado River from Nevada. Six members competed in the non- sanctioned high school event.
Cannen Quintana turned in the top finish, going 9-1 to place second at 106 pounds. Coen Quintana went 7-2 and finished fifth at 126 pounds, while heavyweight Javier Martinez won all five of his exhibition matches.
Other club competitors were JJ Martinez
(4-6 at 195 pounds), Richie Moreno (1-2 at 132) and Jesus Loreto (3-2 at 126).
The club is coached by Kent Olson, who accepted the head wrestling coach position at Dinuba High earlier this year. The veteran coach had longtime stints at Lemoore High School and then West Hills College Lemoore. He most recently coached at Pioneer Valley High School on the Central Coast, leading the team to a Division II section title.
The club plans to return to Bullhead City at the end of the month to compete in another non-sanctioned event featuring teams from schools in the western U.S. Currently, no ath- letic events are taking place in California be- cause of the present state at home order from Gov. Gavin Newsom.