Sports briefs: Teams prepare for holiday tournaments

DOWNEY - The Downey High School girls' soccer team currently has an overall record of 3-1-1 and have not started S.G.V.L. play.

The Lady Vikings tied Long Beach Poly 1-1 at Downey on Dec. 3, defeated Granada Hills Charter 2-1 at Granada Hills Charter on Dec. 5, defeated Pacifica 1-0 at Pacifica on Dec. 11, were defeated by Santiago 2-0 at the Soccer With Hope Tournament on Dec. 14 and defeated Lakewood 3-0 at Downey on Tuesday.

The Lady Vikings played La Mirada at Downey yesterday and will play La Mirada at La Mirada later today (scores unavailable at press time). The Lady Vikings will play Cabrillo at the North Orange County Classic on Dec. 27 and will host Millikan and Saint Joseph's on Jan. 2 and Jan 9, respectively.

The Lady Vikings begin league play against the Lynwood Lady Knights at Lynwood on Jan. 14, will travel to cross-town rival Warren to play the Lady Bears on January 17th, host the Gahr Lady Gladiators on Jan. 21, travel to Paramount to play the Lady Pirates on Jan. 24 and will host the Dominguez Lady Dons on Jan. 28.

The Lady Vikings finished last season with an overall record of 24-5-2 and San Gabriel Valley League record of 10-0. The Lady Vikings were undefeated S.G.V.L. champions and C.I.F. Division IV champions. The Lady Vikings also defeated C.I.F. Division II champion Long Beach Wilson at Downey on penalty kicks in regional play before losing in the next round.

The Lady Vikings are currently ranked 391st nationally and 170th in the state. Coaches Godfrey and Hitchcock, as well as their players, are looking forward to an exciting season and another run at a C.I.F. title.

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The Downey High School wrestling team competed in and won the 2013 Scott Davis Invitational at Mater Dei High School last Saturday. There were 28 teams competing and the Vikings finished with 228 points. Second place went to Diamond Bar with 154 points, third place went to Sonora with 151.5 points, fourth place went to Santa Ana with 149.5 points and the host Mater Dei finished fifth with 130.5 points, respectively.

Downey heavyweight Anthony Florido (285) earned upper weight MVP honors by recording the four fastest pins. Florido pinned his first opponent in 1:01, his second opponent in :15, his third opponent in :07 and his final opponent in 1:42.

None of Florido's opponents managed to get out of the first round.

The Vikings had 12 of 14 weight classes place in competition. The only two weight classes to not have a placer were 113 and 195. Martin Gevorkian (106) took third place, Carlos Rivas (120) and Ronald Casasola (120) placed fourth and seventh, Johnny Robles (126) took fourth place and Armando Padilla (132) took third place.

Downey's Antonio Santana (138) took third place, Bryan Puente (145) took fourth place, Dylan Moreno (152) took third place and Jacob Beltran (160) also took third place. Captain Juan Soto (171) took fifth place and Stephen Chavez (182) and Jorge Guerrero (182) took second and third place. Ben Cuellar (220) took sixth place and captain Anthony Florido (285) was the lone Downey champion.

Downey hosted Bell and John Glenn Wednesday (scores unavailable at press time). Coach Soto, his staff and wrestlers are looking forward to the tournaments scheduled over Christmas Break and the S.G.V.L. dual meets right around the corner in January.

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The Warren High School wrestling team took third place at the Beach Bash individual tournament at Edison High School in Huntington Beach last Saturday.

The Bears had nine of 14 individual wrestlers place at their respective weight classes. This was the first individual tournament for the Bears this season. The Bears are currently 7-0 in dual meet competition.

Warren's Ricky Medina (106) pinned Tyler Manalo of Santa Fe at the 2:54 mark to take third place. Warren's Adrian Duarte (113) decisioned Minh Nguyen of Westminster 6-4 to take third place. Warren's Justin Palacios (126) pinned Jose Peraza of Santa Fe at the 4:06 mark to take seventh place. Warren's Mario Martinez (132) was pinned by Johnny Chavez of Bishop Amat at the 3:26 mark and took eighth place.

Warren's Zac Brito (138) lost to Alejandro Mata of Westminster 3-2 to take fourth place. Warren's Julian Gutierrez (170) lost to Thomas Chen of Arroyo 12-3 to take sixth place. Warren's Brian Vives (182) decisioned Mario Gonzalez of Santa Fe 5-0 to take seventh place. Warren's Alex Mendez (220) decisioned Marco Gamez of Montebello 4-3 to take fifth place and Warren's Juaquin Durazo (285) lost to Josh Paul of Cypress 3-1 and took sixth place.

Warren will be competing at the Downey Invitational today and tomorrow, at the Mann Classic 12/27-28, the Tournament of Champions 1/3-4 and the Nogales Invitational on 1/10-11. The Bears certainly have a busy preseason schedule.

Head coach Tim Brogden and assistant coach Ryan Medina are very pleased with how hard their team is working. League competition starts in a few weeks and Warren, Paramount and Downey are all sharpening their skills to become league champs.

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The Long Beach Press-Telegram released it's annual Dream Team selections for the 2013 boys' cross country season on Wednesday. The Warren Bears were well represented after winning the C.I.F. Division I title and placing fourth in the state meet.

Warren head coach Ramon Miranda was selected as the Dream Team Coach of the Year and Bear standout runner junior Benjamin Gonzalez was selected as the Dream Team Runner of the Year.

The Bears also received Race of the Year Honors after defeating state and national champion Arcadia 69-77 at the C.I.F Division I finals.

Miranda has guided the Bears to five straight S.G.V.L. titles and seven overall in his 15 years as head coach. The Bears have qualified for the section finals in four of the last five years.

Gonzalez won the S.G.V.L. title at La Mirada Regional Park where he finished in an individual time of 15:11. Gonzalez took twenty seconds off his own course record time and led the Bears to a sweep of S.G.V.L. finals.

The Bears placed three runners on the first team of the Dream Team, two runners on the second team and one runner received honorable mention recognition. Junior Andres Barragan finished second at the S.G.V.L. finals, 22nd at the Division I finals and 25th at the state meet. Senior Michael Hernandez finished third at the S.G.V.L. finals and 24th at the state meet. Junior Jonathan Rodriguez finished sixth at the Division I final in a time of 15:01 and also helped boost the Bears to the title.

For their efforts, Barragan, Hernandez and Rodriguez received first team honors.

Senior Miguel Cabada was named to the second team as was senior Faustino Diaz. Sophomore Matthew Sanchez was given honorable mention recognition for his efforts as well.

********** Published: Dec. 19, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 36