Wrestling Archive 2002

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2002

2002 Championship Shasta College Wrestling Team
Knights Reap Awards
COACH BURCH NORCAL COACH OF THE YEAR
(12/17/02/Shasta College) The Shasta College wrestling team, just two years removed from a 19-year hiatus, is enjoying an award-winning season. Knights Coach Max Burch was named the Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year. Shasta won the championship and finished 4-1 in the BVC this season and placed fifth at the state finals on Saturday. He was also named Coach of the Year at the California Community College Regional Championships after the Knights placed second in the Northern California regionals. Preston Irvin (149 pounds) and Bobby Stack (157 pounds) were named to the all-BVC team, while Raul Lopez, Eli Reni, Eddie Locke and Sean Reid received honorable mentions.
Reid & Lopez All-American!
KNIGHTS TAKE FIFTH IN STATE TOURNEY
(12/14/02-Cypress) In just its second year after a 19-year layoff, the Shasta College wrestling team placed fifth at the California State Championships on Saturday at Cypress College. Two Knights earned all-America honors: Sean Reid placed third in the state at 184 pounds, defeating Jimmy Becerra of Santa Anna after falling in the semifinals. Raul Lopez (133 pounds) placed fourth. Wrestlers placing in the top four earn all-America honors. Matt Coonfield (197 pounds) placed fifth. Preston Irvin (149 pounds), Eli Reni (165 pounds) and Eddie Locke (174 pounds) finished sixth in their respective divisions. Shasta finished second behind Fresno City among Northern California squads. The wrestling program lay dormant at Shasta for 19 years before it was brought back in the 2001 season. The Knights finished 15th at the state meet last season.
NorCal Regional Tournament
RAUL LOPEZ WITH A FIRST!
(12/7/02- Saratoga) Shasta College earned second place with a team score of 113 and had all nine wrestlers that they sent qualify for the State championships. Raul Lopez was awarded first place in the 133 pound class and Sean Reid earned second in the 184. Matt Coonfield got third in the 197 class, Preston Irvin (149) and Eli Reni (165) both placed fourth, Robbie Fogliasso fifth (141), Bobby Stack (157) and Eddie Locke (174) both took sixth and while heavyweight Andy Ramirez was seventh.
Knights Win Invitational
FIRST BIG TOURNEY WIN
(11/16/02-San Francisco) The Shasta College wrestling team placed seven wrestlers in the top three Saturday in winning the 34th annual Community College Invitational at San Francisco City College, the first time the team has won such an event. Raul Lopez (133 pounds), Bobby Stack (157), Alijah Reni (165) and Shaun Reed (184) placed first in their weight classes. Robbie Fogliaso (141 pounds) and Eddie Locke (124) finished second. Matt Coonfield (184 pounds) took third place in his first appearance this season. The tournament wraps-up the regular season for Shasta (7-3 Golden Valley Conference) with only the regional and state championships remaining.
Knights Pin Delta, Win Championship!
RENI, LOCKE & REID LEAD THE WAY!
(11/6/02-Stockton) The Shasta College wrestling team defeated San Joaquin Delta 32-23 on the road in Stockton Wednesday. With the defeat and Santa Rosa losing to Sierra the Knights finish in first place tied with Sierra whom the Knights defeated earlier this season. Against Delta three Knights won by pin. Eli Reni scored a pin victory in two minutes, 25 seconds in his 174-pound match. Eddie Locke got a pin in 2:21 at 184 pounds, but the fastest pin went to Sean Reid at 197 pounds in 1:22. The victory gives Shasta a 4-1 record in the Bay Valley Conference and 7-3 overall.
Knights Stumble
DROP A MATCH
(10/20/02-Santa Rosa) The Knights picked a bad time to drop a match to Santa Rosa, 25-14. With the lose the Knights fall back into a tie for the conference lead with Santa Rosa and Sierra. Preston Irvin, Bobby Stack, Eddie Locke and Shawn Reed all came up with wins against the Bearcubs. Irvin pinned Rock Arakaki in the 149 pound class, Stack defeated Tyson Griffin 8-5, Locke beat Christian Seaman 4-2 and Reed dominated Mark SMith 8-1. The Knights have one more conference match against Delta College.
5th at the NorCal Duals
EDDIE LOCKE A PERFECT 5-0
(10/26/02-Santa Rosa) Despite only taking eight wrestlers to the NorCal Duals, the Knights took a fifth place with a 3-2 team record in the tournament at Santa Rosa Junior College. Eddie Locke (184 pounds) went 5-0 while Robbie Fogliasso (141), Abie Elemen (149), Bobby Stack (165), Alijah Reni (174) and Sean Reid (197) went 4-1 overall in the tournament. For his outstanding performance, Eddie Locke was named Shasta College's Outstanding Performer. Eddie's feat was that much more impressive because he wrestled up at 184 pounds. (His normal wrestling weight is 174 pounds!) Shasta beat Questa, Santa Rosa and Delta before losing to Chabot by one point. Chabot took second overall behind Fresno City. Locke, Reid and Raul Lopez were nominated to represent Northern California in next Saturday's All-Star tournament in Fresno.
Knights Take 5th at West Valley
BOBBY STACK LEADS
(10/19/02-Saratoga) The Knights placed six wrestlers en route to a fifth place finish at the West Valley Invitational on Saturday. Bobby Stack placed third at 157 pounds for the Knight's highest finisher. Raul Lopez (141), Preston Irvin (149) and Eddie Locke (174) all placed fourth in their eight classes. Ely Reni (165) and Shawn Reed (197) both finished in sixth place.
Knights Making BIG Strides
REVIVED WRESTLING PROGRAM
(10/17/02-Redding Record Searchlight article by Jeffery Jen) This is an eating-thy-column-free zone because there are other topics worth writing about besides how this is being printed with soy-based ink. One is the Shasta College wrestling program. After running a successful junior college wrestling program back in 1970s, the program was dropped in 1982. Twenty years later, Shasta College wrestling is back and laying the smackdown on opponents. In just its second season back from hibernation, the Shasta wrestling program is 4-0 in dual meets, including 3-0 in the Bay Valley Conference. The Knights were recently ranked fifth in the state. "I felt like we had good material coming in," Knights wrestling coach Max Burch said. "I didn't realize that we would be this good. I though we would be competitive. If we can keep the team healthy, it should be a reat year." How have the Knights become so successful so fast? A combination of good recruiting and some luck. Burch landed some top prep wrestlers from last year like Preston Irvin (149 pounds, Orland High School), Robbie Fogliasso (133, Shasta) and Eli Reni (165, Oroville). But Burch also got some surprises, such as freshman Bobby Stack, a 157-pounder from Terra Nova High School in Pacifica. Stack came up to Shasta for a fire-training course and stayed to wrestle. Perhaps the top Knights wrestler this year, Raul Lopez at 141 pounds, took a detour from the sport by working and joining the Marines. But Lopez returned to school to get a business degree and has become the second-ranked wrestler in the state in his weight class. Others have transferred in. Sean Reid (197) wrestled a year at Sac City, while Eddie Locke (174) was a redshirt at Oregon State. Burch is hopeful his team can earn a top-five finish in the state team competitions. As for individual goals, a wrestler earns All-American honors by placing in the top four in the state. Burch believes up to four Shasta wrestlers can earn that distinction. Unfortunately, Shasta doesn't have any more home meets following Friday's win over Modesto. A Nov. 15 home meet against Southwest Oregon has been moved to their place because of scheduling conflicts. Burch hopes Shasta can one day host its own wrestling tournament to gain more credibility and attract more recruits. Right now, though, the Knights are doing just fine as is.
Knights Roll Modesto
BOBBY STACK WITH A PIN
(10/11/02-Shasta College) The Knights improve their record to 4-0 with a 32-13 rout of Modesto College. Leading the way for Shasta was Eddie Locke who got a technical decision by beating Modesto's Brad Sausser, 18-2 at 174 pounds. The Knight's Bobby Stack pinned Modesto's Matt Green in 2 minutes and 47 seconds in the first round of his match. Alija Reni also had a great match for the Knights with a 12-2 superior decision over Modesto's Ian Richardson.
Wrestlers Smack Down Sierra
LOPEZ & McCALISTER GET PINS - KNIGHTS STAY UNDEFEATED!
(10/9/02- Rocklin - Record Searchlight staff) In just its second season back off the mat, the Shasta College wrestling team improved to 3-0 this season with a 33-16 victory at Sierra College in Rocklin on Wednesday. Raul Lopez and Rob McAlister both pinned their opponents to lead the way for the Knights. Lopez pinned Gabe Ruhkala in four minutes, 21 seconds at 141 pounds. Raul is ranked #2 in the state wrestling rankings. For his outstanding season, so far, he was named the Shasta College Outstanding Performer. To read all about Raul, select this link! McAlister got his pin on Brody Barber in 5:31 at 184 pounds. At 149 pounds, Tyler Miranda won a 15-0 major decision over Jacob Vincent. Chance Studer had a 9-1 superior decision over Robert Bashnaw at 125 pounds. Robbie Fogliasso defeated Chris Davis 12-6 at 133 pounds, while Eli Reni defeated Justin Stanley 8-1 at 165 pounds. The Knights host Modesto College at 7 p.m. on Friday in their last home dual meet of the season.
Knights Ranked #5 in the State!
RAUL LOPEZ RANKED SECOND!!
(10/10/02-Shasta College) Shasta College wrestling, in just its second season back, is ranked No. 5 in the state in the California JC team rankings and No. 7 in the California Wrestling Newsletter. The newsletter also has four Knights wrestler ranked in their respective weight classes. Chance Studer is sixth at 125 pounds, while Robbie Fogliasso and Sean Reid are fourth at 133 and 197 pounds. And Raul Lopez is ranked second at 141 pounds.
Knights Top Sac City
EDDIE LOCKE WITH A PIN!
(10/2/02-Shasta College) The Knights (2-0) knocked off Sac City 19-16 in a home meet on Wednesday. Chance Studer got things going with a 3-0 decision over Josh Synhorst at 125 pounds. Raul Lopez scored a major decision at 141 pounds, beating Marcus Moore, 16-7. At 174 pounds Eddie Locke pinned Brad Martin. Also getting wins for the Knights were Preston Irvin at 149 pounds, Bobby Stack and Sean Reid at 197 pounds.
Knights Manhandle Skyline
McALISTER & REID WITH PINS!
(9/6/02-Shasta College) The Knights (1-0) found themselves behind early, 9-3, in their match with Skyline College of San Bruno. But with Preston Irvin besting Skyline's Joe Sarsour 7-1 at 149 pounds, the Knights were rolling. Preston's match started a string of Knight wins highlighted by Rob McAlister pinning Skyline's Ty Thompson in the 184 pound match and Sean Reid pinning Kyle Torre in the 197 pound division. Shasta's, Ryan Trusso won at 157 pounds while, Eli Reni also took a decision at 174 pounds. Final score had the Knights on top big, 36-9.

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