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KNIGHT WRESTLING 2007
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS - 1978, 1979, 2002

(above) Early season team picture for 2007
Knights to State!
Shasta College Wrestlers
Individual Accomplishments
2001-07

Rottenberg Leads Six Knights
ALSO NAMED OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
(Rocklin-12/2/07) Six Knights wrestlers qualified for the California State Junior College Championships on Saturday. Derek Rottenberg beat Ryan Surghue of Modesto, California's No. 1 wrestler at 184 pounds, 13-8 and was named the outstanding wrestler of the meet. Matt Thomas (149) took second and Kyle Sandate (174) placed fifth. Jayson Welborn (285), Todd Rucker (197) and Jake Bridges (167) took sixth. Shasta heads to the Junior College Championships on Friday and Saturday in Fresno.
Three All Big 8 Knights
THOMAS, BRIDGES & ROTTENBERG
(Shasta College-11/21/07-Coach Burch) Head Wresting Coach, Max Burch, has announced that three Shasta College wrestlers made the Big 8 All Conference wrestling team.  Rewarded for having outstanding seasons were Matt Thomas at 157 pounds, Jake Bridges at 165 pounds and Derek Rottenberg at 184 pounds. The All Conference Team selection is based on the wrestlers performance at a given weight class against conference opponents.  The over all season record for these three wrestlers is Matt Thomas 25-3, Jake Bridges 23-7 and Derek Rottenbert 18-7.  Shasta's next competition will be the Northern California Regional Tournament on December 1st at Sierra College.
Knights Roll Delta
THOMAS & ROTTENBERG WITH PINS
(11/14/07-Shasta College-Jeffrey Jen Redding Record Searchlight) Duals haven't been good for the Knights this year. An exception was made for final home dual meet of the season by the Shasta College wrestling team which defeated San Joaquin Delta 30-15 on Wednesday. Pins by Matt Thomas and Derek Rottenberg gave the Knights more than enough points to claim victory. Both teams had less than full squads, but Shasta's holes were limited to the lower weight classes at 125 and 133 pounds. The Mustangs had holes at 133, 165 and 174. So with only six matches on the slate, Shasta came away with victories in four. "It's good to get a win," Knights coach Max Burch said. "Dual meets haven't been good to us this year because of our lack of wrestlers at the lower classes. However, we have done a lot better in tournaments." Tyrel McDaniel got things started at 141 pounds against Paul Kellam of Delta. The match was low scoring until the final few seconds with McDaniel nursing a 3-2 lead, but Kellam was on top in both riding time and on the mat. However, McDaniel turned a reversal and added a two-point near fall in the final three seconds for a 7-2 victory. Tito Ceniceros evened things up for the Mustangs with a 7-1 win over Brent Nickley at 149. Then came Thomas, the freshman from Shasta High School. He dominated his match with James Myles using three takedowns do grab an 8-2 lead after one period. He then added a three-point near fall before sticking Myles with 50.3 seconds left in the period. After forfeit wins at 165 and 174, Shasta led 21-9 lead. Derek Rottenberg then needed less than two minutes to pin Mike Cearley at 184 to make it 27-9. At 197, the Knights' Todd Rucker and Delta's Roberto Salas went back and forth. Rucker led 7-6 going into the third and final period and quickly got a one-escape. When he added a takedown for a 10-6 lead, it appeared he had the match in hand. But, Salas scored a reversal and a three-point near fall with 20 seconds left to go up 11-10. Rucker managed to turn things around with a reversalwith five seconds left. With another point of riding time, he took the match 13-11. "He got sloppy near the end and it nearly cost him," Burch said about Rucker. The last match featured a battle of heavyweights with Shasta's Jayson Welborn and Tim Guerrero. It turned out to be a closely-contested, defensive match with both wrestlers avoided takedowns. Guerrero took a 1-0 lead on a one-point escape in the second period. Welborn tried to follow suit by taking the down position to start the final period, but couldn't escape Guerrero's hold. Instead, Guerrero threw him down on his back and scored a pin with 12.7 seconds in the match. "I was hoping that he (Welborn) could get out from under in the third period, but he couldn't quite do it," Burch said. This Saturday, Shasta travels to San Luis Obispo for a the state duals meet. But tournaments are where the Knights are gearing their season now. Thomas is expected to move down to 149 and be a strong state contender at that weight class. Rottenberg and Bridges are also expected to go far at both the NorCal meet in Rocklin on Dec. 1 and at the state meet in Fresno on Dec. 7-8. Reporter Jeffrey Jen can be reached at 225-8228 or at jjen@redding.com.
Knights 6th in SF
MATT THOMAS WITH A FIRST
(11/11/07-San Francisco) Three Shasta College wrestlers placed to push the team to sixth out of a field of 21 at the 39th San Francisco Invitational over the weekend. "Sixth was great. It was a tough tournament," Blake Mosher said. He added that the team was two points away from a fourth-place finish. Matt Thomas beat Diego Martinez of Rio Hondo Community College 8-5 to take first at 149 pounds. Jake Bridges beat John Labrecque of Sierra College 12-5 to take third at 165s. Derek Rottenberg took second at 184s. Shasta hosts Delta
at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Thomas Tops #1 Wood
KNIGHTS STILL FALL
(10/10/07-Jeffrey Jen) From 157 pounds and up, the Knights lineup is pretty strong. But, a program like Sierra College annually has a strong lineup from top to bottom. As a result, the Shasta College wrestling team fell to the Wolverines 31-13 in a home dual on Wednesday. Still, even with Sierra College heavyweight Erik Nye, the defending state champion and a Red Bluff High School product, not competing, the crowd still saw a few impressive individual battles. One of the best came at 157 pounds between Sierra's Travis Wood, the top-ranked wrestler in the state, and Shasta's Matt Thomas, ranked No. 8. Both won Northern Section titles, Wood at 154 in 2006 and Thomas at 137 in 2006 and 2007. Wood, who is a Modoc product, was recovering from a staph infection and the eighth-ranked Thomas grabbed a 12-5 upset victory. The former Shasta High standout scored a couple of near falls after his two takedowns to pad his lead. "From his stance, I knew he was trying to shoot for my left leg," Thomas said. "I kind of was baiting him and when he took his shot, I blocked with my hands and turned it around on him." All Wood could get on Thomas were two reversals, but it wasn't enough. "I haven't been able to practice for two weeks," Wood said. "I came out too aggressive and used up my load early on. The tempo was too high for me considering I was just getting back. Matt is a tough wrestler to face." At 184 pounds, the Knights' Derek Rottenberg scored a major decision with a 16-7 win over John LeBreque. Shasta heavyweight Jayson Welborn also scored a pin of Sierra's Tim Plummer 1:04 into their match. Sierra did win two other big matches, including No. 1 Mirgo Grant beating No. 2 Hashem Mirlohi of Shasta 5-2 at 197 pounds. Mirlohi had things tied 2-2, but was docked a point for an illegal hand hold late in the second period and couldn't recover. At 165, Sierra's Seth St. Clair, ranked sixth, defeated the Knights' Jake Bridges 14-8. Bridges was ranked fourth. The Wolverines got 22 points in the four lowest weight classes in addition to a 6-0 win by Mike Fucci over Shasta's Kyle Sandate at 174. However, the Knights are strong in the higher classes as all of its wrestlers considered among the top 12 in their weight classes. "We should do well in bigger tournaments since we have a lot of quality wrestlers," Knights coach Max Burch said.
Edged Knights
TWO COSTLY FORFEITS
(9/26/07-Jeffrey Jen) Having less than a full lineup is what cost the Knights in their duel with Santa Rosa. However, there are some members of the Shasta College wrestling team that have the look of going far this season. The Knights had to forfeit matches at 125 and 197 pounds against the Bear Cubs that proved to be the difference in Santa Rosa’s 26-22 victory at Shasta’s gym on Wednesday. But, from 157 pounds and up, it was all Knights. Jake Bridges and Derek Rottenberg got pins at 165 and 184 pounds, heavyweight Jayson Welbourn won by major decision and Matt Thomas (157) and Kyle Sandate (174) also won. Even the exhibition match at 197 went Shasta’s way with Hashem Mirlohi sticking the Bear Cubs’ James McNeese in 1 minute, 41 seconds. However, Mirlohi had spent the first month trying to cut down weight from 220 in order to fill the 197 hole in Shasta’s lineup. Knights coach Max Burch said he was certified to wrestling at the class Wednesday, but junior college wrestling rules states that Mirlohi must wait a few days before he can compete toward a record. The second forfeit came because Shasta didn’t have a 125-pounder, which put the Knights in a 12-point hole to start. The hole that deepened when Santa Rosa’s Miles Young pinned Daniel Timmons in 4:03 at 133 pounds. Jon Greenwood then beat Shasta’s Tyrel McDaniel 15-5 for a four-point major decision at 141 and his teammate Kyle Lew matched that with a 16-8 win over the Knights’ Brent Bickley at 149. That made it 20-0 Santa Rosa. Shasta also suffered a blow when the team lost regular 149-pounder Shane Harvey to a concussion at the Sacramento City Tournament. Burch said Harvey has had several concussions before and is out for the season and may not be able to compete in the sport again. “Shane out of the lineup really hurt our team,” Thomas said. “He’s one of our captains and had been doing very well this season.” Thomas did his part to help out, grabbing a quick 5-0 lead in the first period before topping Griffin Freitas 10-3.
Sac City Tops Knights
WELBOURNE WITH A PIN!
(9/19/07-Sacramento) Sac City 33, Shasta 15 -- The Knights had to forfeit matches at 125 and 197 pounds, falling to the Panthers. Shasta heavyweight Jason Welbourne scored a pin in 45 seconds over Brandon Hamilton. Shane Harvey defeated Sac City's Rick Inzunza 9-2 at 149 pounds, while Matt Thomas topped Robert Carothers 14-7 at 157. Jake Bridges also won 8-6 over Gavin Ludwig at 165. The Knights are at the Sac City tournament on Saturday before hosting its first home dual meet against Santa Rosa on Wednesday.
Knights Place Three
SAC CITY INVITE
(9/28/07-Sacramento) At the Sacramento City Invite Shasta had three wrestlers place at the event Saturday. Jake Bridges took second in the 165 pound class. Matt homas took third at 157 pounds. Derek Rottenberg placed at 184 pounds.
Greg Gibson,
Call to Another Hall
NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME
(Shasta College-Jeffrey Jen-6/14/07) The standard-bearer for north state wrestling is a man named Greg Gibson. A graduate of Shasta High School in 1972 and Shasta College in 1974, Gibson was inducted June 2 into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on the Oklahoma State University campus. Max Burch, Gibson's high school wrestling coach and current Shasta College coach, and his junior college coach, Leon Donahue, who made his mark coaching Knights in football and wrestling, joined the honoree. Burch presented Gibson with a marble plaque with Gibson's picture engraved on it during the banquet. Donahue presented him with a ring to honor his induction. Gibson's accomplishments are heady. He was a two-sport star at the University of Oregon in football and wrestling. Gibson started at linebacker for the Ducks and signed as a free agent out of college with the Seattle Seahawks. However, wrestling was the arena where Gibson would excel. He was a two-time All-American at Oregon, finishing second in the heavyweight class at the NCAA championships in 1975-1976 as a junior and a senior. It remained the highest finish by a north state wrestler at the NCAAs until a few months back. After graduation, Gibson joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1978 and, subsequently, the Marine wrestling team. In 1980, he became the first American to win a gold medal in the World Cup of Greco-Roman wrestling. He qualified for the world team in three wrestling styles: freestyle, Greco-Roman and sombo. He was the first American to ever win a World Sombo Championship in 1981, also winning freestyle silvers in 1981 and 1983, and adding a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman. He competed until 2001, and finished sixth in Greco-Roman at the World Team Trials at the age of 48. Burch said Gibson, who lives in Fontana, was a late starter. He didn't wrestle until his sophomore year at Shasta High as a 127-pounder, but got progressively better with each passing year. As a junior, he was up to the 154-pound class, and took third in state at 175 as a senior. He moved on to Shasta College, where he wrestled and played football. Donahue got him involved in weight training and he finished third in state as a freshman. With more time in the sport, he kept improving. "He just got better all along," Burch said. "He was tall and had long arms and that's why he was so good at getting double-leg takedowns." Gibson is already a member of the Shasta County Athletic Hall of Fame and he was inducted into the Shasta College Athletic Hall for football in 1994. Coincidentally, in his year of induction, Gibson's standard at the NCAA championships was eclipsed by another Shasta High product. UC Davis senior Derek Moore won the 141-pound NCAA title in March. Now, Moore's future could also follow along Gibson's, as he, too, is set to join the Marines this fall. Moore may have a leg up in terms of collegiate accomplishments, but he still has a long way to go match the rest of Gibson's feats. "Derek, what he did was fantastic," Burch said. "I know how hard it is to win nationals and, on top of that, be named outstanding wrestler of the tournament. Greg, you have to realize, has wrestled the best in the world in an international setting. A lot of people don't appreciate what he's accomplished." Now, with his induction, perhaps more will.Reporter Jeffrey Jen's notebook runs every Thursday. He can be reached at 225-8228 or jjen@redding.com.


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