On January 10th and 11th, the Terra Nova Varsity Wrestling team participated in the prestigious Apple Cider Classic at Watsonville High School, a 2 day tournament that consists of a dual meet team tournament and a separate individual tournament the next day.
On the first day of competition, the Tigers began their bid for the dual meet title against Leland High School from San Jose. Terra Nova won 9 of the 14 separate weight class matches – 6 of which were won by pin. It's important to pin your opponents because that is the highest number of points awarded toward a team score. The final score was 53-24. In the next dual of the day, the Tigers faced off against Newark Memorial High School. Terra Nova won all but 2 of the matches, 5 of them by pin. The final score was 54-12. In the third dual of the day, the Tigers faced off against Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, a WCAL school. Terra Nova handily defeated the Irish 48-24 winning 9 of the 14 contests, 6 by pin. Terra Nova advanced to the finals where they met Aptos High School, a perennial CCS powerhouse. The Tigers lost that match, finishing the tournament in second place out of 16 teams including Alisal, Watsonville, Salinas, and Coalinga.
The second day of competition, Terra Nova continued to excel, facing down a field of 44 teams, most of which had not competed in the tournament the previous day. The following team members placed. Justin Pesino - 2nd place, 113lbs; Patrick Palomata - 1st place, 120lbs; Sam Nelson, a freshman and first year novice - 7th place, 134 lbs; Chase Edgington- 5th place, 134lbs; Ryan McGannon- 5th place, 147lbs; Iakona Simpliciano - 7th place, 154 lbs; Leo Grabowski - 7th place, 172lbs; David Melton-3rd place, 195lbs.
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Several Tigers turned in outstanding performances. Danny Borrego, a freshman, took advantage of his background in judo to stun a seasoned opponent from Coalinga with a throw before pinning him, and in his final round, Iakona Simpliciano defeated an opponent from Soledad by taking him down and pinning him within the first 9 seconds of the match.
Patrick Palomata received the honor being named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament for the the lightweights.
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While the wrestlers competed as individuals on the second day, team scores were also tallied. At the end of the day, Terra Nova came out on top, winning first place as a team, beating out Bellarmine College Prep by more than 30 points, followed by Monta Vista of Cupertino and Coalinga.
You can watch the Terra Nova team in action at their upcoming dual meets. January 23 against El Camino High, January 30 – ALUMNI NIGHT – against South San Francisco, and the last dual of the season, February 13 against Half Moon Bay. Admission for kids will be just $1 for the HMB meet.
