Page 9 - Dinuba Sentinel 1-11-18 E-edition

Sports
“We had a lot of young guys who fought hard.”
- Michael Wright, DHS Wrestling Coach
The Dinuba Sentinel
Orosi girls stay
perfect with win
over Lady Emps
Said Vega of Montemayor, “She normally plays on defense, but we moved her to offense and she has really played well.”
Though Dinuba put up a better defensive effort in the second half, keeping the Lady Cardinals scoreless for most of the half, the Lady Emperors struggled on offense and failed to score any goals.
“They’re a really good team,” said Dinuba High girl’s soccer coach Herman Quevedo.
Orosi added another goal in the final three minutes of the game to keep their undefeated season alive.
It was a special victory for the Lady Cardinals before entering league play this week. “It means a lot for these girls,” said Vega of the rivalry victory. “These girls want to beat Dinuba. If they don’t win anything else they want to win this game.”
Orosi will now enter East Sierra League play in first place and as the heavy favorite to repeat as the league champions. And given that second place McFarland is 2-9-2, the Lady Cardinals also have a strong chance at running the table this year.
B1
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Dinuba High junior Daniel Long grapples with Rafa Zumudio of Shafter in the championship match on Saturday at the Dinuba Invitational. Long pinned Zumudio to take the title in the 170 lb. weight class.
Five Emperors place at Dinuba Invitational
Sure enough, within a minute, Long had Zumudio pinned to take the championship in his weight division.
“He is strong,” said coach Wright of Long.
According to Wright, though Long is wrestling in the 170 lb. weight division, he is actually weighing closer to 162 lbs. “He will go down to 160 for the Battle of the Belt (this
weekend). He will be even stronger there we think.”
Long’s win was Dinuba’s second title victory of the day, as light-weight Lorenzo Arreola also won his title match at 113 lbs.
Arreola, who also received byes for the first two rounds, pinned his first two opponents, Vincent Carrillo of Independence and Gio Villegas of Turlock, before capturing the title by defeating Will Giron of Turlock in the championship match 8-6.
Dinuba’s Julius Rangel also made it to the championship round but lost a tough matchup against David Vardanyan of Bullard at the 182 lb. weight division. Prior
to his loss in the championship match, Rangel won his first match against Jack Pafford of South High by pin and then
See Wrestling, Page B6
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Though not the results the team is used to having, five Dinuba High wrestlers placed at this past weekend’s Dinuba Invitational, with two wrestlers taking first place in their weight class. Emperor junior Daniel Long and sophomore Lorenzo Arreola both made it all the way
to the championship round and both walked away as champions on Saturday, helping Dinuba finish in the top ten, 9th place, out of 45 schools.
Long was perhaps the team’s most dominant wrestler in the tournament. After byes in the first two rounds, Long, who wrestled at 170 lbs, went on to pin all three of his opponents, including Rafa Zumudio of Shafter in the championship match.
In that match, both wrestlers locked up
for the first two minutes without a take-
down. After winning the toss, Long elected
to go top and before taking his position he looked over at Dinuba High wrestling coach Michael Wright and gave him a wink, indicating he was confident the match was now in his hands.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
The year before Orosi High girl’s varsity soccer coach Sarah Vega took over the program, the Lady Cardinals were 5-10 with three ties. The year Vega took over the team their record improved to 11-9, with just one tie. Last year the team went 23-5, winning a league title for the first time in school history and making it all the way to the valley title game.
This year, as you can imagine, has been a continuation of the previous years and the Lady Cardinals are undefeated, going to 15-0, with two ties, after defeating Dinuba on Friday 4-0.
It didn’t take long for Orosi to get started in Friday’s matchup with their cross-town rivals, as freshman Kimberly Caballero scored a goal in the opening minute to give the Lady Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead.
Orosi then added two more goals in the first half, one by junior Mikala Montemayor and the other by freshman Victoria Quevedo, who scored with less than three minutes left in the half.
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
“I was very happy with the effort and fight they showed. We will continue to work and get
better.”
— Michael Wright Dinuba High wrestling
Dinuba soccer beats Cardinals, enter league play this week
Emperors are ready to defend league title
Orosi High junior Mikala Montemayor makes a play on the ball past a Dinuba defender in Friday’s rivalry game. Montemayor, who recently transitioned from defense to offense, scored a goal in the first half of the Cardinals 4-0 victory.
2017 Year In Review
JUNE-DECEMBER
JUNE - We learned of two Orosi High students who took a friendship and love of soccer to new heights as Hugo Soto and Eduardo “Lalo” Espitia both signed to play soccer for UC Merced.
By Rick Curiel
Tuesday, and Central Valley Christian tonight in Visalia.
“We are ready for league,” said Dinuba boys soccer coach Ramiro Rodriguez. “We are the defending league champs so we are ready to defend that title.”
Last year’s Dinuba boys soccer team finished the season with a 20-3-5 overall
record, going undefeated in league to capture a league title and go on to win the Div. III Valley Title.
Friday’s matchup was one of four games held on Claud Hebert field, with both boys and girls JV and varsity teams having games at Dinuba High School.
Both Soto and Espitia are the first in their family to go to college. Espitia chose UC Merced over colleges such as UC Berkeley and UC Davis because it offered him the same small town feel he enjoyed growing up in Orosi. Soto will be majoring in Business Management while Espitia will be majoring in engineering.
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
For the second time this year the Dinuba High varsity boys soccer team defeated their cross-town rivals Orosi, as the Emperors once again got the best of the Cardinals by defeating them 2-0 on Friday at home.
In a first half that had twelve shots at goal, nine by Dinuba and three by Orosi, it was the Emperors who struck first nearly 30 minutes into the game, when Dinuba senior Ivan Hernandez scored after getting past Orosi’s goal keeper on a pass from teammate Jesus Flores. His sliding kick gave Dinuba a 1-0 lead.
Nearly three minutes later, Hernandez found himself in the same position, kicking in a point-blank goal that seemingly gave his team a two-goal lead. The play, however, was negated after Dinuba was called for being offside.
Though Orosi was able to keep the game tight in the second half, a goal by Dinuba senior Angel Serrano would subsequently ice the game for the Emperors.
Dinuba also beat Orosi on Dec. 8, defeating the Cardinals 3-2 to win their bracket in the Jim Ingils Soccer Tournament in Lemoore.
With the win the Emperors varsity boy’s soccer team improved their overall record to 7-5-2. They enter league play this week with games against Exeter,
JULY - In the world of summer youth athletics, no other player dominated the diamond like that of 11-year old Mia Castillo.
Orosi Cardinal, turned UC Merced Bobcat soccer players, Hugo Soto and Eduardo Espitia.
Dinuba High senior Pedro Rodriguez dribbles past two Orosi defenders during the team’s matchup on Friday. Dinuba won the match 2-0 and will now look to defend their league title as they enter league play this week.
Ace softball picher Mia Castillo
Photos by Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
She will be continuing her dominance on the mound as she is preparing for more games this Spring. Castillo is currently a 7th grader at Washington Intermediate School. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
As the ace pitcher for the Dinuba City League’s Running Rebels, Castillo led her team to a fourth consecutive league title. The Running Rebels lost only one game throughout the season and went on to beat the Lady Dodgers in the championship game.
In the championship game, Castillo had eleven strike-outs. Castillo also played softball in a traveling league, where she was also the ace pitcher for the OC Knights, a 10 and under league that also won the title in their league.