Bakersfield College’s wrestling team felled its opponents.
The Bakersfield Duals Sept. 29 showed the Renegades sustaining victories, albeit hard-won victories, all day long. Five different schools came to BC to compete.
BC and Mt. San Antonio College engaged in a match after Mt. SAC and West Hills had tussled.
BC’s Josh Reyes faced off Mt. SAC’s Danny Avila in the first match. During their first period, they both locked shoulders at some point. Avila took a fall by Reyes, and Reyes had control of Avila’s leg.
“Get control,” head wrestling coach Bill Kalivas yelled. “Keep going to that back leg,” he yelled.
Avila escaped and dived for Reyes’ torso. Reyes soon pinned Avila’s arms to his back. Avila struggled to cause a reversal by grabbing Reyes’ ankle. The referee whistled, and both were back in the neutral position.
At the start of the third round, Reyes had the standing position while Avila kneeled. Soon Reyes had Avila in a fall and Avila’s head was sliding across the floor. During the third round, Reyes took down Avila to the mat, but Avila soon tossed Reyes off. However, at the conclusion of the third round, Reyes won 13-5.
BC’s Jaime Rodriguez challenged Mt. SAC’s Nick Cardosa in the 149-weight class.
At the conclusion of this match, BC led 20-0.
The next match was between BC’s Chris Smith and Mt. SAC’s Steven Griffin. Griffin grabbed Smith’s neck, but Smith escaped, quickly knocking Griffin’s hands off. Smith grabbed Griffen’s elbow.
“Watch his feet. Do something with it,” Kalivas hollered to Smith.
Smith dived into Griffin’s stomach and took him down to the mat. Mt. SAC’s side yelled to Griffin to lift his head. The BC side screamed at Smith to grab his opponent’s wrists.
Within the first period, BC took a fall by Mt. SAC at 2:58 on the clock. As a team, BC stood at 20-6.
The next match consisted of BC’s Guillermo Molinas and Mt. SAC’s Sam Gaxiola at the 165-weight class.
“Circle in, c’mon,” Kalivas coaxed.
At different points, they both knocked each other off of the mat. Soon, only four seconds were left in the first period, and Molinas knelt to the floor. Gaxiola soon straddled Molinas, and at some point, Molinas got his leg between Gaxiola’s. Molinas caused a reversal, but Gaxiola eventually knocked Molinas off. The referee called the match with one minute left in the current period. Their score was 6-4.
BC’s Zach Johnson faced off with Mt. SAC’s Josh Villagomez in the 174-weight class. The two grabbed each other’s heads and circled each other. Johnson grabbed Villagomez’s hand. Johnson pinned Villagomez to the mat. Kalivas hissed to Johnson to grab Villagomez’s wrists. Villagomez reversed and pinned Johnson to the mat.
The referee called out that there were 25 seconds left. The score came to 3-2 between Johnson and Villagomez. As the next period began, Kalivas cautioned Johnson to stay on his feet. Johnson soon pinned Villagomez’s arms while they struggled on the mat. The score eventually came to 8-2 in BC’s favor.
At the start of the next period, Johnson pressed Villagomez’s head to the mat, but Villagomez escaped. Johnson finished with a 9-3 victory.
The next match featured BC’s Mike Cavanaugh and Mt. SAC’s John Anderson at the 184-weight class. Cavanaugh grabbed Anderson’s knee and knocked him to the mat. Within the first period, Cavanaugh kept Anderson straddled to the mat and the referee yelled for time.
With 30 seconds left in the period, Cavanaugh held Anderson’s hands while both were on the mat. Kalivas yelled to Cavanaugh to get on Anderson’s hip while both were on the mat. Anderson grabbed Cavanaugh’s ankle, and Kalivas ordered Cavanaugh to get his leg back up. Eventually, BC won this match. The match between Mt. SAC’s Greg Fill and BC’s Corbin Maricich ended 3-2 in Mt. SAC’s favor.
BC also faced West Hills in a later match.