Casa Grande wrestlers defeat American Canyon

The Casa Grande High School wrestling team brought toughness and tenacity to the mat last Wednesday night in their match-up against American Canyon.

The Gauchos were stellar on every level in the Vine Valley Athletic League dual held Jan. 17, winning 30-24 in junior varsity, 50-24 in girls varsity and a very solid 63-18 in boys varsity.

“What you saw out here was excellence,” said Casa Grande head coach Isaac Raya. “We’ve been working on this all year.”

On JV, winning Gauchos included Joe Demo with a pin, Jonatan Padilla, Jack Laughlin and Ty Ervin, who won on a decision.

For the girls team, among some forfeits in favor of the Gauchos – including for Aliyah White and Ibeth Rivera (118 pounds) – Casa extended its wins with pins such as the one by Bella Woldemar and Luella Pulido (113 pounds).

For boys varsity, Zeke Fellman (146 pounds) opened with a win by pin, followed by another from Caleb Quintua (152 pounds) and then Camden Bushey (159 pounds).

Cole Campagna (167 pounds) also took a win, as did Gustavo Marin Buenfil (177 pounds) by decision. Joe Heaney (192 pounds) then won on a pin, as did Noah Padecky (217 pounds).

Multiple other Gauchos – Dylan Boden, Evan Winzeler (128 pounds) and Raymond Wang (140 pounds) – rounded out the night with more pins against American Canyon.

Casa Grande has two more league duals before NCS Team Duals and the VVAL finals, which take place in early February. The Gauchos are set to face Justin-Siena on Jan. 24 and Petaluma on Jan. 31, which will also be Casa’s Senior Night.

Going forward, Raya said the team is focusing less on the overall outcome and more on their wrestling techniques and habits. The Gauchos are also keeping an eye on Napa, which they fell to earlier in January. Napa’s competition going forward could play a key role in how the postseason goes for Casa Grande.

“We’re gunning for the league championship,“ Raya said. ”There’s been a lot of work going on for these Gauchos.“

Amelia Richardson is a staff writer for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at amelia.richardson@arguscourier.com or 707-521-5208.