AMERICAN CANYON >> Siblings Jacob and Mavis Pyorre of Lakeport added two more wrestling medals to their growing collection on Saturday during the 19th annual United States Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) and United States Boys Wrestling Association (USBWA) National Championship Tournament at American Canyon.
This year’s event also was attended by international team members from the Philippines. Both the USGWA and USBWA are separated into three divisions – elementary school, middle school and high school. Medals are awarded to the top six placers in each division’s weight classes.
Jacob Pyorre finished third in the 120-pound division for high school boys while Mavis Pyorre placed fourth in the 103-pound division for middle school girls.
Jacob Pyorre
Jacob lost 4-2 to eventual 120-pound champion Anthony Arcilla Jr. of Safehouse Wrestling of Manilla (Philippines) in his first match, but pinned a Vallejo opponent in his next match with a double leg lift to a half.
In one of the day’s more exciting matches, Pyorre rallied from a 10-6 deficit in the third period to force overtime against his American Canyon opponent but lost 12-10 on a takedown in the overtime period.
Mavis Pyorre
Like her brother Jacob, Mavis had a tough first-round draw in Emma Lopez, the 103-pound middle school state runner-up from Fairfield. While Pyorre took a 2-0 lead into the second period, she made a mistake that Lopez capitalized on, resulting in a pin.
Mavis bounced back with a pin of her own in her next match against a Vallejo opponent.
In a match that followed, Pyorre went up against Miranda DiBenedetto of Sacramento, the fourth-place middle school state medalist at 107 pounds. Fighting her way out of a couple of head-and-arm holds, Mavis scored a reversal, a takedown and near fall points and just missed pinning DiBenedetto before settling for a 9-4 victory, DiBenedetto’s only tournament loss.
In the third-place match, which took place not long after her win over DiBenedetto, Pyorre held a 5-3 lead early in the third round against an American Canyon opponent but tired and eventually lost by pin.
“Both Jacob and Mavis had some close (and) exciting matches throughout the day,” said coach and dad Rick Pyorre. “While some did not go their way, I am extremely proud how hard they fought. A couple mistakes is all that kept them from the championship, all very fixable.”
