‘We all knew our job.’ Merced High wrestlers snap 22-match losing streak to Golden Valley
Merced High wrestling coach Clayton Schneider spent Tuesday night pacing back and forth behind the Bears bench.
For 12 consecutive matches, Schneider walked back and forth, shouting instructions, encouraging his wrestlers as the Bears battled Golden Valley with at least a share of the Central California Conference championship on the line before a large crowd at Cougar Arena.
Finally, after Merced’s Mike Wilson defeated Chufu Her 6-3 in the 120-pound match to clinch the victory over the Cougars, Schneider finally took a seat for a few moments.
The streak was over.
The Bears snapped a 22-match losing streak to their crosstown rival with a 38-27 victory to improve to 6-0 in the CCC and 9-1 overall.
Schneider was happy for his wrestlers to finally snap the streak.
“It means everything,” said Schneider, who only took a seat for a quick moment before he was back standing and pacing as he coached the final two matches. “This is what we work for all year long. Tonight we found a way and got through it. Good for them, I’m proud of them.”
The Cougars dropped to 5-1 in the CCC and 13-2 overall. Golden Valley can still claim a share of its fifth consecutive championship by winning the CCC tournament on Febreary 2 at Atwater High.
It was an annual matchup of two programs who are led by two coaches in Schneider and Golden Valley’s Chopper Mello, who have been coaching at their respective schools for decades.
The Bears had some near misses to ending the streak, including last year’s loss that came down to the final match.
The Bears wrestlers are well aware of what was on the line.
“They all know,” Schneider said.
“I know the streak goes back to coach Schneider’s first year as head coach,” said Merced junior Nate Granados. “We wanted to get this for him. I know I wanted to get it done at least once while I’m still in high school.”
The Bears came in with plenty of firepower to be the team to overcome 22 years of frustration. Merced has four wrestlers in Granados (106 pounds), Elijah Valencia (113), Eric Almanza (192) and Anthony Nixon (217) who are appear in “The California Wrestler” state rankings.
Granados is ranked second in the Sac-Joaquin Section and Valencia is ranked third.
“We all knew our job,” Valencia said.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 15-3 lead after Isaac Le Blanc earned a third-round pin in the 159-pound match.
The Bears battled back as Almanza tied the match at 15-15 after a first-pound pin. Nixon followed that with a 14-3 major decision victory to give Merced’s it’s first lead at 19-15 with six matches to go.
Golden Valley’s state-ranked heavyweight Trytin Gastlelum responded with a second-round pin to give the Cougars a 21-19 lead.
Then Granados and Valencia took care of business. Granados needed just 36 seconds to earn a pin. Valencia followed with a pin in 51 seconds to give the Bears a 31-21 lead.
Wilson followed with a hard-fought 6-3 win in the 120-pound match to give the Bears a 34-21 lead to clinch the victory as long as Merced wasn’t penalized any team points the rest of the way.
“I was thinking don’t give up any team points,” Schneider said. “You never know what’s going to happen. Good for (Wilson) to be able to clinch it with that win. This is good for my coaches because they put in the work also.”
After the match Scheider seemed to be going through a receiving line as he was congratulated by fellow coaches, former wrestlers and friends, including a bear hug from Merced football coach Rob Scheidt.
“We just kept fighting,” Schneider said. “They wrestle for six minutes. There were a lot of key team points we picked up. We were tired and our guys just kept wrestling.”
The Golden Valley girls wrestling team picked up a 60-12 victory over the Bears to improve to 6-0 in conference to clinch a share of the CCC championship.
The Cougars were led by Jesmerelda Lara (117), Sammie Vasquez (127), Yurhelly Burgos (132) and Elyse Flores (137), who all pinned their opponents.
