WILLITS — The CORE Wrestling Club disbanded two years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out but is now back in business. On Saturday, 18 of the team’s 23 members participated in a tournament at Willits and 17 came home with medals.
Finishing first were Harrison “Trey” Thurman , Amari Carr, Jesse Saldana-Rivera, James Newman, and Wyatt Hooten, who won two separate brackets.
Coming in second were Gerardo “Tito” Rodriguez, Richard Occhino, Tucker Heywood, Ryan Ramirez, Cody McMaster and Camden Wylie.
Third-place finishes went to Leo Benavides, Abel Thom, Alexsis Castellanos , JoAnna White, Sampson Wetmore and Azalayah Saldana-Rivera.
Colton Kocher Park placed fourth.
“I am very proud of CORE’s wrestlers,” head coach Daniel Cuellar said. “Most of them are first-year wrestlers and they came out and fought hard. Our team as a whole came out on top and although we have a lot to learn and a lot of work to do, I couldn’t be more happy with our program. I have a solid coaching staff that is dedicated to teaching these youth wrestlers this sport and supporting them to be better individuals overall. I feel that this will be a very good season for our team. We are excited to se what this season has in store for our team as we are all very happy to be back on the mat.”
Next up for CORE wrestlers is the No Guts, No Glory Tournament on Dec. 31 in Sacramento followed by the NorCal New Year’s Bash on Jan. 8 in Folsom.
