NEW Prep 40 Rankings

The Prep Top 40 have been updated and with their POWERade performance, the Cougars have climbed the list to #15!

Amateur Wrestling News Prep 40 - December 31, 2008
1. Blair Academy N.J.
2. St. Paris Graham Ohio
3. Central Dauphin Pa. - POWERade Champions
4. Northampton Pa.
5. Apple Valley Minn.
6. Central Mountain Pa.
7. Huxley Ballard Iowa
8. Wyoming Seminary Pa.
9. Don Bosco Iowa
10. St. Mark Del.
11. St. Edward Ohio
12. Massillon Perry Ohio
13. Park Hill Mo.
14. Blue Mountain Pa. - POWERade 3rd Place
15. Clovis Calif. - POWERade 4th Place
16. Reynolds Pa.
17. Cumberland Valley Pa.
18. Christiansburg Va.
19. Omaha Skutt Catholic Neb.
20. Brandon Fla.
21. Simley Minn.
22. Wausau West Wisc.
23. Roseburg Ore.
24. Montini Catholic Ill.
25. Iowa City West Iowa
26. Waverly-Shell Rock Iowa
27. Collins Hill Ga.
28 Blue Springs Mo.
29. Buchanan Calif.
30. Havre Mont.
31. Grand Island Neb.
32. Billings Skyview Mont.
33. Sturgis S. Dakota
34. Catoosa Okla.
35. Phillipsburg N.J.
36. High Point N.J.
37. Ponca City Okla.
38. Goddard Kans.
39. Poway Calif.
40. Lake Stevens Wash.

POWERade Results

After two days at the 4th toughest tournament in the nation, the Clovis Cougars walked away with 5 medals, a 4th place team finish, and a POWERade Champion.

Scott Sakaguchi (145) won the first POWERade individual title by a Cougar since Gabe Flores, Troy Tirapelle, and Jason Williams in 2002. And he won in dominating fashion. Scott pinned four opponents in route to the finals before defeating New York State Champion Brian Sewalt of Waverly 13-6 in the finals, scoring 6 takedowns and not allowing an offensive point in all 5 matches.

Clinton McAlester capped an impressive run to the finals with a 2nd place finish at 125lbs, losing his finals match to nationally ranked Nathan Pennesi of Latrobe (PA) 7-2. Madison Gambrell came back for a strong 4th place finish after losing in Round 2 to match his seed for the tournament.

Both surprising and impressive performances came at 160 and 171 for the Cougars. Sophomore Blake Thompson wrestled his way to an 8th place finish at 160lbs. Ironically, it was Blake's first time placing at a 1st team varsity tournament and it comes at one of the best tournaments in the country! Freshman phenom Zach Nevills continued his ascent of the wrestling world, coming from an unseeded pigtail start to finish 7th at 171lbs, defeating 7 opponents along the way including the #6 and #2 seeds in the tournament!

Final Team Scores:
1. Central Dauphin - 206.5
2. Shady Side Academy - 172
3. Blue Mountain - 165
4. Clovis (CA) - 157.5
T5. Hempfield - 136
T5. Westmont Hilltop - 136
7. Bellefonte - 132.5
T8. Latrobe - 128.5
T8. Penn Trafford - 128.5
10. Benton - 125

Team photos and podium pictures on http://www.poweradewrestling.com/.

Clovis Wrestling - Streaming Video

**Important Notice**
Unless you want to be sorely disappointed, get the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player NOW (Version 10.0.12.36) so you can watch Clovis Wrestling feeds throughout the year! Just click that link, uncheck the 'Free Google Toolbar' button, and hit 'Agree and install now'. Follow the instructions and you're there!

POWERade After Day 1

The Clovis boys held their own against some of the nation's best, finishing the first day of competition with 7 wrestlers competing for a medal in one of the Top 5 tournaments in the country. Clinton McAlester (125) and Scott Sakaguchi (145) will wrestle today in the semi-finals while Madison Gambrell (112), Alec Dieter (140), Blake Thompson (160), Zach Nevills (171), and Tommy Burriel (189) will wrestle for a place on the medal stand.

After Day 1, team scores are as follows:
1. Central Dauphin - 141 (#3 in the Nation)
2. Blue Mountain - 114 (#15 in the Nation)
3. Clovis (CA) - 107.5 (#29 in the Nation)
4. Bellefonte - 104.5
5. Hempfield - 100
6. Shady Side Academy - 92
7. Penn Trafford - 91.5
8. Latrobe - 91
T9. Bethel Park - 87
T9. Derry - 87

Latest Amateur Wrestling News Top 40 Prep Rankings:
1. Blair Academy N.J.
2. St. Paris Graham Ohio
3. Central Dauphin Pa.
4. St. Mark Del.
5. Northampton Pa.
6. Apple Valley Minn.
7. Central Mountain Pa.
8. Huxley Ballard Iowa
9. St. Edward Ohio
10. Wyoming Seminary Pa.
11. Massillon Perry Ohio
12. Cumberland Valley Pa.
13. Don Bosco Iowa
14. Park Hill Mo.
15. Blue Mountain Pa.
16. Christiansburg Va.
17. Iowa City West Iowa
18. Eastern Regional NJ
19. Brandon Fla.
20. Omaha Skutt Catholic Neb.
21. Simley Minn.
22. Wausau West Wisc.
23. Roseburg Oreg.
24. Montini Catholic Ill.
25. Waverly-Shell Rock Iowa
26. Collins Hill Ga.
27 Blue Springs Mo.
28. Buchanan Calif.
29. Clovis Calif.
30. Havre Mont.
31. Reynolds Pa.
32. Catoosa Okla.
33. Phillipsburg N.J.
34. High Point N.J.
35. Billings Skyview Mont.
36. Sturgis S. Dakota
37. Hastings Minn.
38. Ponca City Okla.
39. Goddard Kans.
40. Oak Park River Forest Ill.

They're off!!!

Coming home:
Flight # 587 - Pittsburgh to Phoenix
Flight #2716 - Phoenix to Fresno

POWERade Seeds

103
1. Greg Flournoy - Fauquier - VA (10)
2. Tyler White - Ripley - WV (11)
3. Stevan Knoblauch - Clovis West - CA (10)
4. Rob Heuler - Bethel Park (10)
5. Chace Small - Latrobe (10)
6. Jimmy Gulibon - Derry (9)
7. Corey Keener - Blue Mountain (9)
8. Shyheim Brown - Central Dauphin (9)

112
1. Nico Megaludis - Franklin Regional (10)
2. Zach Zimmer - Clovis West - CA (11)
3. Geoff Alexander - Shady Side Academy (10)
4. Madison Gambrell - Clovis - CA (12)
5. Ryan Hunsberger - Fauquier - VA (11)
6. Tanner Hough - Westmont Hilltop (10)
7. Ryan Bohince - Penn Trafford (11)
8. Alex Dunaway - McGuffey (11)

119
1. Shane Young - Penn Trafford (12)
2. Simon Rice - Central Dauphin (12)
3. Frank Goodwin - Mt. St. Joseph - MD (11)
4. Mitchell Port - Bellefonte (11)
5. Mike Rhone - Benton (11)
6. Kyle Bratke - Parkersburg - WV (11)
7. Chris Martinez - Clovis West - CA (11)
8. Peter Mosher - Harrison - GA (12)

125
1. Nathan Pennesi - Latrobe (12)
2. Jake Swink - Connellsville (12)
3. Clinton McAlester - Clovis - CA (11)
4. Jordan Toledo - Pleasant Valley (11)
5. Dave Makara - Burrell (10)
6. KJ Bell - Harrison - GA (12)
7. Josh Craig - Chapel Hill - NC (12)
8. Graceson Pastirik - Mt. St. Joseph - MD (12)

130
1. Cort Choate - Blue Mountain (12)
2. Nick Catalano - Canon McMillan (10)
3. Luke Parsons - Ripley - WV (11)
4. Frank Martellotti - Shady Side Academy (11)
5. Trevor Kushner - Westmont Hilltop (11)
6. Tyler Buckman - Central Dauphin (11)
7. Jordon Nolan - Parkersburg - WV (11)
8. Erik Galloway - State College (11)

135
1. Josh Kindig - Blue Mountain (11)
2. Corey Mock - Chapel Hill - NC (12)
3. Travis Shaffer - Derry (10)
4. Conner Miller - Fauquier - VA (11)
5. Zach Sheridan - Mt. Pleasant (12)
6. Brett Sewalt - Waverly - NY (12)
7. Benny Schaufele - Mt. St. Joseph - MD (11)
8. Chad Morrison - Parkersburg - WV (11)

140
1. Dane Johnson - Shady Side Academy (12)
2. Jack Bachman - Hempfield (12)
3. Kenny Stank - Central Dauphin (12)
4. Chris Smith - Chancellor - VA (12)
5. David Heis - Ripley - WV (11)
6. Ethan Saylor - Connellsville (11)
7. Eric Kemp - Derry (12)
8. Joey Walters - Latrobe (12)

145
1. Scott Sakaguchi - Clovis - CA (12)
2. Eric Hess - Benton (11)
3. Brian Sewalt - Waverly - NY (12)
4. Mike Ganley - Bethel Park (12)
5. Greg Lanctot - Council Rock North (11)
6. Aaron McKinney - West Allegheny (10)
7. Danny Orem - Mt. St. Joseph - MD (12)
8. Peter Ormsby - Chancellor - VA (11)

152
1. Marshall Peppelman - Central Dauphin (11)
2. Shane Alterio - Bellefonte (12)
3. Chris Moon - Fauquier - VA (11)
4. Craig Chelednik - Hempfield (12)
5. Logan Walker - Waverly - NY (12)
6. Devan Jones - Penn Trafford (12)
7. Andrew Farbarik - Franklin Regional (11)
8. TJ Keklak - Westmont Hilltop (12)

160
1. Daniel McGillivray - Fauquier - VA (12)
2. Matthew Cunningham - Shady Side Academy (11)
3. Corey Lear - Benton (12)
4. Nick Bonaccorsi - Bethel Park (10)
5. Kenny Courts - Central Dauphin (10)
6. Zach McCutcheon - Waverly - NY (12)
7. Bobby Bowman - Mt. St. Joseph - MD (11)
8. Tyler Leitza - Derry (11)

171
1. Jake Kemerer - Hempfield (12)
2. Ronnie Mullins - Ripley - WV (11)
3. Troy Reaghard - West Allegheny (11)
4. Matt Mullett - Mt. St. Joseph - MD (11)
5. Greg Stodgel - Chancellor - VA (12)
6. Nick Sofranko - Derry (11)
7. Christian Oberle - Bellefonte (12)
8. Clint Morrison - Cedar Cliff (11)

189
1. Roman Sandoval - Shady Side Academy (12)
2. Tony Dallago - Central Dauphin (12)
3. Tommy Burriel - Clovis - CA (11)
4. Zach Benzio - Connellsville (12)
5. Dallas Brown - Delone Catholic (12)
6. Chris Nocchi - Waverly - NY (12)
7. Jake Leninsky - West Allegheny (12)
8. Jamie Callender - Council Rock North (11)

215
1. Zac Bennett - Westmont Hilltop (12)
2. Colby McCutcheon - Ripley - WV (12)
3. Jeremiah Karpency - Albert Gallatin (12)
4. Brian Beattie - Burrell (10)
5. Tim Giel - Shady Side Academy (12)
6. Ryan Watson - Burgettstown (12)
7. Adam Lazenga - Bethel Park (11)
8. Nate Gaffney - Connellsville (11)

285
1. Sam Brownlee - Canon McMillan (12)
2. Karl Green - Mt. St. Joseph - MD (11)
3. Keith Graeff - Blue Mountain (12)
4. Zach Baker - Penn Trafford (11)
5. Ben Horwatt - Derry (11)
6. Marty Kisla - Chartiers-Houston (12)
7. Nick Ciesielski - Shady Side Academy (11)
8. Ryan Collins - Cedar Cliff (12)

POWERade Updates

A couple updates as the Clovis wrestlers prepare for the POWERade.

Seeding Information
-released at 6:00pm (EST) on the official POWERade Tournament website

Live Audio Broadcast
-the WJPA Webcast will start Monday night for Session II (during the Quarter Finals)
-make sure you have Windows Media Player to listen to the broadcast

• Monday night - 6:00pm EST - Quarterfinals
• Tuesday morning - 10:00am EST - Semifinals
• Tuesday evening - 5:00pm EST - Consolation Finals
• Tuesday evening - 7:30pm EST - Championship Finals

Live Video Streaming
- watch right here all day Monday & Tuesday as we attempt to stream Clovis matches LIVE to the blog

Clovis POWERade Lineup
103 – Daniel Gaytan
112 – Madison Gambrell
119 – Bryan Lopez
125 – Clinton McAlester
130 – Jonathan Gay
135 – Sonny Cervantes
140 – Alec Dieter
145 – Scott Sakaguchi
152 – Ben Kelley
160 – Blake Thompson
171 – Zach Nevills
189 – Tommy Burriel
215 – Jesus Castaneda

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! May the new year bring new challenges, new joys, and new memories.

California State Rankings Released

On the eve of Christmas, the first official state rankings were released for the 2008-2009 wrestling season. Like the end of last year, the Cougars find themselves again in the top spot, carrying a #1 state ranking into the POWERade Tournament. 8 Clovis wrestlers are listed amongst the state's best, also the most from any one school.

State Ranked Clovis Wrestlers:
103 - Daniel Gaytan - Honorable Mention
112 - Madison Gambrell - #4
125 - Clinton McAlester - #4
130 - Jonathan Gay - Honorable Mention
135 - Alec Dieter - Honorable Mention
145 - Cameren Kelley - #3
152 - Scott Sakaguchi - #1
189 - Tommy Burriel - #4

Top 5 Teams
1. Clovis
2. Selma
3. Calvary Chapel-Santa Ana
4. Poway
5. Gilroy

For a complete list of California State Rankings, click here.

Clovis Just Short at Zinkin

11 medals. 8 finalists. 5 champions. 3 falls in the finals. 2nd place?

After taking home 5 tournament titles and placing over half the team in the finals, the Cougars came up 10 points short (258 pts) of overtaking champion Buchanan (268 pts) at the 7th Annual Zinkin Classic. It was an impressive two days of wrestling, highlighted by championships from Daniel Gaytan (103), Clinton McAlester (125), Cameren Kelley (145), Scott Sakaguchi (152), and Tommy Burriel (189). Also reaching the finals were Madison Gambrell (119), Ben Kelley (140), and Zach Nevills (171). The three other Cougar A Team place winners were Bryan Lopez (7th at 112), Sonny Cervantes (7th at 130) and Taylor Ferguson (8th at 215).

In addition, the Cougars had a B Team wrestle in the Zinkin Classic for the first time. Ryan Davies (8th at 160) and Jesus Castaneda (4th at 215) took home medals with many wrestlers falling only one match short: Juan Salas (125), Brady Bersano (130), Chase Bohny (140), Dakota Gordon (145), and Colby Thompson (152). The B Team finished a remarkable 12th amongst the 34 teams, proving Clovis wrestlers at any level can compete against other’s best.

John Caton Photography

Check out the following link to some great action photos by John Caton at the Zinkin Classic. http://johncaton.smugmug.com/Clovis%20High%20Wrestling%202008-9

Watch Clovis at the POWERade Live!

The distance from Clovis High School to Canon-McMillan High School is 2,541 miles.


View Larger Map

So for all Clovis Wrestling fans, the POWERade Christmas Classic in Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania is a bit overwhelming cost-wise in today’s economy. But thanks to a little technology know-how and the graciousness of Frank Vulcano Jr. (POWERade Tournament Director), this Pennsylvania classic may be only a few mouse clicks away!

Clovis Wrestling is going to try and pull off the improbable feat of streaming ALL Clovis matches live over the Internet to our own personal site for the two-day tournament!

Tune in to either of two locations:
· Right here! – the feed will appear on the day of the tournament
· UStream (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/clovis-wrestling)

Every match. Every second. Every part of wrestling action from your Clovis wrestlers brought to you as it happens!

So get your comfortable chair, your portable refrigerator, and set your clocks for 8:30am Eastern Standard Time on Monday, December 29th and prepare to cheer on our boys against some of the nation’s best!

Clovis Dominates El Diamante JV Duals

The Cougar JV squad was way too much for the other participating teams at the 2nd Annual El Diamante JV Duals. The Cougars dominated the competition, allowing only 24 points over 5 duals, scoring a whopping 366 in return! Congrats on another 1st place finish for a Clovis team!

Team members included:
Matt Gay
Lloyd Thomas
Zach Gilman
Vicente Hernandez
Devin Everk
Brady Bersano
Jake Cap
Christian Velarde
Steven Corner
Colby Thompson
Ryan Davies
Christian Jackson
Matt Rocha
Kyle Cruz
Orem Camarena
Max Howard

Scores round by round:
Clovis 83 - Hanford 0
Clovis 81 -Tulare Western 0
Clovis 62 - Golden West 9
Clovis 69 - Mt Whitney 9
Clovis 71 - El Diamante 6

Clovis West Shootout Photos

Here are some Clovis West Shootout photos, courtesy of our assistant coach and photographer extraordinaire, Nara Sihavong!
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=0dbdf845fc2dbee4&sid=8AZNWbFs3bNWTb

POWERade Money Due Wednesday, Dec 17th!

The Clovis Wrestling Team is only 13 days away from departure to Pennsylvania.

POWERade trip money is due Wedensday, December 17th. Please have your trip money turned in to Cindy McAlester by that date! Contact Cindy at (559) 289-4351.

Tournament Unbeaten Streak Ends (technically)

After over a year of consecutive tournament victories, including an unbeaten streak in 2008, the Clovis High School wrestling team came up only a technicality short of continuing the trend. After two days at the toughest dual tournament in the state, the Clovis West Shootout, the Cougars and Buchanan Bears undefeated records (both 7-0) had to be settled by a 'points against' tie-breaker, leaving the Bears winners by only 4 points.

It's one time where a loss doesn't feel like a loss, as the Clovis team dominated 7 opponents over two days, including a decisive victory over one of the top teams in the state, the Selma Bears, in the tournament's final match.

Round by Round Results:
Clovis 65 - Turlock 5
Clovis 71 - Stockdale 10
Clovis 58 - Crater (Oregon) 12
Clovis 69 - Los Banos 4
Clovis 45 - Vacaville 22
Clovis 62 - Royal 6
Clovis 43 - Selma 28

The Cougars had some outstanding performances, including All-Tournament selections Alec Dieter (140), Cameren Kelley (152), and Tommy Burriel (189), along with several one-loss performances. Due to his own selflessness, Scott Sakaguchi sacrificed individual recognition in order to help the team, defeating several top-ranked opponents at 152lbs and 160lbs. His only loss came to nationally ranked Brock Gutches wrestling up at 160lbs, or he would have earned All-Tournament status as well. In addition, several underclassmen turned in marked performances at their first Shootout experience including Daniel Gaytan, Tyler White, Chase Bohny, Dakota Gordon, Zach Nevills, and Taylor Ferguson.

In all, an incredible weekend of wrestling showed that the Cougars are both once again a state power in 2009 AND a team that won't be going away anytime soon with young talent unmatched at the event.

Up next for the team is a big weekend of wrestling. The first and second Varsity teams travel over to 'Bear Country' to the Zinkin Classic Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School. Another team will travel to the Central Varsity Tournament on Saturday and a fourth team will compete at the Bullard JV Tournament on Friday.

Clark goes Three for Three

Congratulations Clark Chieftans for defending the Exeter Middle School Invitational Championship!! Three tournaments... three wins!!! Great job Coach Martinez & Coach Flores!!!

Two years in a row the Clark team has won this tournament. The top 3 now qualify for the NOR-CAL TOC Tournament in March.

BUILDING CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE!!!!

Live Coverage of Shoot Out

FYI.... For those who can't be there,,,, from thecaliforniawrestler.com

Clovis West has come together with matdaddy.com on Friday and Saturday of the shootout, providing live coverage of matches during the day.

Clark Goes Two for Two

The Clark Chieftans picked up right where they left off from last year's undefeated dual and tournament season, winning their second straight tournament in dominating fashion last Saturday. The Kastner Duals featured some of the Central Section's best middle school teams, yet they were no match for the Clark squad. The Chieftans defeated Porterville, Bakersfield, Rio Vista, Alta Sierra, and Kastner to win both the 'Home' and the 'Overall' team championship.

Three-Peat!

Congrats to the Clovis High School 'younger' varsity group for winning the McLane Duals for the 3rd year in a row, making the Cougars the only champions in the tournament's three-year history. In five duals, the Cougars outscored the competition 292-78.

• Clovis 51 - Golden West 25


• Clovis 66 - Terra Nova 9


• Clovis 81 - Roosevelt 0


• Clovis 45 - Madera South 26


• Clovis 49 - Buchanan 18

Up next is the toughest dual tournament in the state, the Clovis West Shootout!

POWERade Tournament

Final payment is due December 17th!! I am sending out flyers tomorrow with the amount due for each wrestler. Please make check payable to Cougar Foundation.

Team Gear

We are just about there!!!! Shoot Out next weekend... Lets show our team spirit!!! Got 8 T Shirts & Sweatshirts available! $25.00 Sweatshirts - $10.00 T Shirts... Still have some of the Gold Clovis wrestling sweatshirts/tshirts.. Large & Xtra Large only!

Clark Wrestling

Congratulations to the Clark Wrestling team! Clark's wrestling team started this year with a victory at the Eastside Invitational @ Clovis East. Congratulations to the three champions Xesus Velarde, Adrian Salas, & Nick Nevills. Thanks to Coach Martinez & Coach Flores for the great job you guys have done with the boys. Good luck next week at the Kastner Shootout!

Team Score:
1. Clark
2. Reyburn
3. El Capitan

Thanksgiving Week Update

Just because school is out, practice is not. As is always the case, Clovis Wrestling will practice during Thanksgiving week on every day but Thanksgiving Day. Monday, Tuesday & Friday, practice will be at the standard time – 4:30-6:45pm. On Wednesday, we will practice from 9:00-11:00am in order to accommodate families traveling out of town for Thanksgiving Day. Plan to attend practice EVERYDAY during the Thanksgiving school break. All Fall athletes on the wrestling team that have completed their season by Sunday, November 23rd are expected to attend ALL practice days over the school break.

We will also do our first team runs of the year after practice on both Monday & Friday. Bring your running shoes and sweatshirt (if needed) to practice on running days!

In addition, the Clovis East JV Tournament will run all-day Friday at Clovis East High School. We will be sending available 9th and 10th graders to compete in this first official competition of the year.

First Event Weekend

The first weekend of wrestling has arrived for the 2008-2009 year, albeit still in the pre-season phase.

On Friday, Clovis will host an Elementary Takedown Tournament with schools throughout Clovis Unified participating. Clovis High School wrestlers will work the tournament and provide support the future of our sport.

On Saturday, Clovis will host our inaugural High School/Junior High Takedown Tournament. All Clovis wrestlers are required to be at the boy’s locker room at Clovis High School promptly at 7:00am for the start of weigh-ins. We will both work the tournament, compete, and clean-up. Plan on all day Saturday. Wrestlers will ONLY be allowed to leave the tournament at the conclusion of tournament clean-up.

On Sunday, all team members are welcome to travel up to UC Davis to watch the Aggies take on the visiting Northwestern Wildcats. The match is scheduled for 6:00pm in the ARC Pavillion. Team members wishing to travel up for the match will meet at Coach Tirapelle’s house on Sunday at 2:00pm. We will travel up, watch the match, and return that night. This is an opportunity to see some of the best wrestlers in the United States as Northwestern boasts returning NCAA Champion Jake Herbert (184lbs) as well as highly ranked wrestlers #4 Brandon Precin (125lbs), and #10 Keith Sulzar (141lbs). Also wrestling for Northwestern in his true freshman year is former 3x California State Champion #16 Jason Welch (157lbs) of Las Lomas HS. This level of wrestling is not available very often on the West Coast, so take advantage of the opportunity!

"Team Gear" Available!!

Hooded Light Weight "Got 8" Sweatshirts - $25.00
"Got 8" Tshirts - $10.00
Clovis Wrestling Stadium Chairs - $40.00

We are also gathering up the "old" sweatshirts & tshirts that Steve may have stashed in his garage and will be selling those Friday & Saturday at discounted pricing. Great for workouts!

Clovis wrestlers and parents have first priority on the "Got 8" clothing, we will start selling to the Jr High kids/parents in a couple weeks so get your gear early!! Please make check payable to Cougar Wrestling

Thank you,

Meet & Greet A Success

Wanted to thank all that attended the 1st Annual Meet & Greet last Saturday! Nice to see so many parents! Looking forward to a very rewarding year on and off the mat! We have a great group of parents and your support is vital to the success of this program! Special thanks to Skip & Rhonda Dieter for putting the food together!

If you have not been contacted yet about volunteering Friday & Saturday.. please contact Kerri Nevills @ 260-5092 ASAP!!!

First Event Weekend

This upcoming weekend is the first action of the year for Clovis Wrestling. More info to follow on these 3 days of events...

Friday, November 21st - Elementary Takedown Tournament
Saturday, November 22nd - Junior High/High School Takedown Tournament
Sunday, November 23rd - Northwestern University @ UC Davis, 6pm

Clovis Wrestling Goes National

In a rare opportunity, the Clovis Wrestling program will extend it’s reach outside of the state not one, but two times this year in entirely different ways.

First, long-time head coach Steve Tirapelle and son Adam Tirapelle travel to the land of Lincoln to be featured clinicians at the annual University of Illinois Coach’s Clinic in conjunction with the team’s wrestle-offs. This two-day clinic will feature coaches from throughout the state of Illinois, who will travel to Champaign to hear how the Tirapelles have built the Clovis Wrestling program and what keeps this public school program on top, year after year. The honor is unique in that it is one of the only times a high school coaching duo has presented at the clinic, a spot usually reserved for college wrestlers, college coaches, and private club coaches. Additionally, this will be Adam Tirapelle’s second time as at least one of the featured clinicians, performing the clinic as an NCAA Champion after graduating from the University of Illinois in 2001.

Secondly, in late December, the team will travel to the confines of the best wrestling state in the union for the 42nd Annual POWERade Christmas Classic in Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania. The tournament is rated the 4th best high school competition in the United States with some of the top teams from around the country participating. This will be only the 3rd time a Clovis High School team has wrestled in a nationally ranked Top 5 event. The others came when Clovis attended the POWERade Christmas Classic in 2002 and the Beast of the East Tournament in 2003. This year, the field is headlined by Central Dauphin (PA), the 2007 & 2008 large school division (AAA) Pennsylvania State Champions and early favorite in 2009, Shady Side Academy (PA), the 2008 small school division (AA) Pennsylvania State Champions and returners of 13 of 14 starters from last year’s championship team, and your Clovis High School (CA), the 2008 overall California State Champions and one of the preseason favorites to repeat in 2009. Central Dauphin is ranked #4 in the United States. Shady Side Academy is ranked #19 and Clovis rounds out the Top 40 at #23. The tournament is audio broadcast live on the Internet for the entire two-days, called by Pennsylvania wrestling experts and available to all. Details on the broadcast will be posted in December.

Meet & Greet Revision

The time has been changed for the Meet & Greet to 5:00pm to 7:00pm from 3:00pm to 5:00pm due to a Jr. High School wrestling conflict!! Revised flyer's are going out tomorrow!! If you have any questions or have not received your flyer, please give me a call

Cindy McAlester - 289-4351

Reminders

Team Shoes - Shoes are on the way!  Get the money ($70) in now.

Weight Certification - For those that have NOT done the weight certification yet, there will be one this Sunday at the Central High School wrestling room at 11:00am.  This is located on Central's East Campus.  You'll need:

• 2 forms filled out/signed
• $10
• Shorts

Official Start to the Season - Next Monday, November 3rd marks the first official day of wrestling season for our squad.  Practice is EVERYDAY from 4:30-6:45pm.  Do NOT miss practice for ANY reason!

Athletic Clearance - Clearance to participate in athletics is required through the Clovis High Athletic Office.  This includes getting your physical examination taken care of.  If you do not have this done and the paperwork completed & turned in as of Monday, November 3rd, you will not practice until it's completed.  If you miss practice because of this, you will not compete in events.

22-Hour Round Trip Successful

Though it wasn't how we planned it (and with us it usually isn't), the trip to Cerritos College for the pre-season Halloween Open was a huge success.  24 kids made the journey, bringing back a ton of both hardware and more importantly, experience.  We had a couple minor setbacks injury-wise but nothing that will keep kids out long or take our eyes off the prize ahead.  Here were the Cougar placewinnners.

In the Varsity Division:

4th - Madison Gambrell

2nd - Ben Omata

2nd - Clinton McAlester

3rd - Jon Gay

2nd - Alec Dieter

3rd - Ben Kelley

3rd - Scott Sakaguchi

6th - Cameren Kelley *injury default

1st - Tyler Ceremello

6th - Zach Nevills *technically 2nd and undefeated

2nd - Tommy Burriel

1st - Jesus Castandea

In the Frosh/Soph Division:

2nd - Andy Ia

1st - Daniel Durant

3rd - Brady Bersano

7th - Christian Velarde

2nd - Tyler White

2nd - Dakota Gordon

2nd - Christian Jackson

National Rankings

The pre-season national high school team rankings have been released by Amateur Wrestling News. For the 2nd consecutive year, Clovis HS is ranked in the Top 40. However this year, we’re going to see the real deal up close and personal at the POWERade Tournament on December 29th & 30th. Two of the top-rated Pennsylvania schools, Central Dauphin (2007 & 2008 AAA State Champions and a favorite in 2009) and Shady Side Academy (2008 AA State Champions and this year’s favorite in 2009), will headline the field and give us a feel for where we’re really at nationally.

The only other California school in the pre-season rankings is Selma at #35. Pennsylvania leads the nation with 7 teams ranked in the Top 40 nationally, including 5 in the Top 15 spots.


Amateur Wrestling News – Top 40 Prep Teams

1. Blair Academy (New Jersey)
2. St. Paris Graham (Ohio)
3. Northampton (Pennsylvania)
4. Central Dauphin (Pennsylvania) – POWERade Team!
5. Apple Valley (Minnesota)
6. St. Edward (Ohio)
7. Wyoming Seminary (Pennsylvania)
8. Catoosa (Oklahoma)
9. Huxley Ballard (Iowa)
10. Montini Catholic (Illinois)
11. Iowa City West (Iowa)
12. Central Mountain (Pennsylvania)
13. Massillon Perry (Ohio)
14. Bishop Lynch (Texas)
15. Cumberland Valley (Pennsylvania)
16. Eastern Regional (New Jersey)
17. Don Bosco (Iowa)
18. St. Mark (Delaware)
19. Shady Side Academy (Pennsylvania) – POWERade Team!
20. Brandon (Florida)
21. Simley (Minnesota)
22. Providence Catholic (Illinois)
23. Clovis (California)
24. Wausau West (Wisconsin)
25. Roseburg (Oregon)
26. Goddard (Kansas)
27. Reynolds (Pennsylvania)
28. High Point (New Jersey)
29. Oak Park (Missouri)
30. Colonial Forge (Virginia)
31. McDonogh (Maryland)
32. Holt (Missouri)
33. Flathead (Montana)
34. Waverly-Shell Rock (Iowa)
35. Selma (California)
36. Campbell County (Wyoming)
37. Christiansburg (Virginia)
38. Oak Park River Forest (Illinois)
39. S. Dade (Florida)
40. Havre (Montana)

Thanks to our Coaches

On behalf of all the parents, I wanted to thank the all the coaches that were coaching at the Halloween Open this weekend!! Our boys are so lucky to have such a dedicated and talented group of coaches! If you have a moment, go to cloviswrestling.com and click on Staff, you will begin to understand why our boys are champions!!

For a complete list of results, go to TMI.150M.com - Find the Halloween Open and Click on Varsity or Fr/Soph and you will see the completed brackets.

Nice way to start the season boys! Keep up the hard work!!

Cindy McAlester

Halloween Open Details

As planned, the team will be traveling down to the Halloween Open (10/25) at Cerritos College this Saturday for a tune-up, preseason event. It's a great tournament and the kids had lots of fun last year on the trip. However, details regarding the trip have changed due to unforseen district policies. For the wrestlers going, there are two options:

(1) Travel down on Friday night with your parents or another team member's parents, stay in a hotel (of your choice), and meet the team at the tournament at 8:00am on Saturday morning.

(2) Meet at Coach Tirapelle's house at 3:45am on Saturday morning and travel down with the coaches in vans.

The team is precluded from traveling down on Friday and staying overnight in a hotel, but parents may do so. With either option, we will be wrestling at the tournament on Saturday, meeting at Cerritos College at 8:00am, and traveling back late Saturday night at the conclusion of the event. Please start making arragements if you plan to travel down on Friday night. Otherwise, plan to be at Coach Tirapelle's house VERY EARLY (3:45am) on Saturday!

Flowrestling is the ULTIMATE Resource

If you have never been to Flowrestling, now is the time to not only visit the site, but make it a bookmark.  Only a decade ago, these types of resources were not available, especially to wrestlers in California.  I should know (ok, it was a little over a decade ago but who's counting).  We had no idea what real intensity was, or what it meant to go into a practice like you're going into a fight.  We only understood wrestling at the high school level and that was the pinnacle until...  Unfortunately for us poor souls, we had to just walk into our first college practice blindly and proceed to get the living snot beat out of us for weeks on end, until we "figured it out".  The Internet and more specifically, Flowrestling, have changed that.

Now, as we teach what it takes to be a successful wrestler, our wrestlers have tools to use and examples to follow.  We talked about 'intensity' in our wrestling room yesterday and what it means to put in 'time' vs. 'quality time'.  Take 10 minutes to watch this typical practice in the University of Iowa wrestling room, the defending Division I NCAA Wrestling Championship Team.  Watching something like this let's you know how much harder & further you can push yourself, and how much higher you can go in this sport if you truly aspire to reach the top.  If we can bring only 1/2 of this intensity to our room daily, we will be an unstoppable force in high school wrestling.

Upcoming Important Events/Reminders

Team Shoe Order - If you need/want new shoes for the upcoming season, Clovis Wrestling has secured a team discount.  Shoes are available to try on this week only as all orders will be placed this Friday, October 17th!  If you want to order shoes, see Coach Tirapelle to try on a sample pair for sizing and let him know this week!  Shoes are the Asics Cael V3.0 (White/Navy/Gold) and will cost team members $70.

Team Schedule Poster - If you've been collecting business card advertisements, they are due to Cindy McAlester by Friday, October 17th!  The poster picture will be taken soon and the posters printed to get the competed poster out by the start of the season.  If you can help secure an ad this week ($150 per ad), please do so to help the kids!

Halloween Open Trip - Wrestlers wishing to compete in the Halloween Open next Saturday, October 25th need to confirm this week.  We have a limited number of spots due to travel arrangements.  Invitations will be extended this week to wrestlers who have fulfilled workout requirements this past Spring, Summer, & Fall.

Team Meet & Greet - The Team Meet & Greet has been set for Saturday, November 15th.  Details, including pot luck sign up, will follow shortly but please save the date.

Elementary & Intermediate/High School Takedown Tournaments - This is our first fundraiser/competition of the year, set for Friday & Saturday, November 21st & 22nd.  Details from the parent coordinators - Skip Dieter, Cindy McAlester, Kerri Nevills - will follow but please set aside some time to work these events.  In order to continue to compete at the highest level, our program needs significant funding.  These fundraisers allow your kids the best opportunities available.

Wrestling Poster

****UPDATE****

We need all business card ads in by October 17th!! Adam has committed his team from Merrill Lynch, Shelli Sakaguchi has her ad in and mine is in as well.... Dave Jackson has committed two ads..

We want to get to print in next couple of weeks so we can get the posters out before the season starts!!!

Thank you!! ,,, any questions please call 289-4351

Cindy McAlester

Eight in '08 - Available Via Internet

If you missed the two-hour DVD production of last year's historic run to an eighth state title, you can now catch the entire documentary online at the Clovis Wrestling website. Watch Eight in '08 in its entirety, divided conveniently by chapters, on your home computer to relive the magic of last season.

October Team Update

Now that letters have been sent out and people are becoming aware of the blog, I thought I'd give an update of the team's progress this pre-season.

First, great work on saving as it looks like the POWERade Trip is a 'GO' as 16 wrestlers have turned in the required deposit!  It's going to be an incredible experience for the boys and a chance to showcase our program to the entire country.  As I mentioned before, the POWERade Christmas Classic (www.poweradewrestling.com) is rated the 4th best high school tournament in the United States.  We'll need to bring our 'A' game but I'm confident our group is up to the challenge.

Through the first 5 weeks of the pre-season, I can't remember a group putting in more effort in the weight room.  With each new challenge, like this year's new & improved, "no joke" weight program, the boys have brought their intensity and commitment up another level.  I know that no other team in the state is lifting as hard as we've lifted this off-season and it's going to show on the mat, both with our physical development and the results of our wrestling.  This will be the most developed, strongest pound-for-pound group we've ever had at Clovis HS.  We need to maintain this fire & intensity into and through the wrestling season.

As we creep into October, the focus slowly needs to shift towards wrestling.  Starting next week, we'll be wrestling on Tuesdays & Thursdays to ease into the grind of the season.  We'll still be lifting weights on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but that will slowly phase out as we approach November.  All athletes not in a Fall sport are expected to attend ALL days from now forward.  This sport is one that takes a lot of commitment, hard work, and sacrifice.  We don't have the best program around because we take shortcuts.  Being part of the Clovis Wrestling team means making a commitment to excellence, and that will require all the workouts that we schedule.

For a first practice competition, we will be taking a group down to Cerritos Community College for the Halloween Open on October 25th.  Last year, it was a fun trip and the kids got a lot out of the experience.  We'll go down together on Friday evening, wrestle Saturday, and drive back Saturday evening.  If you plan join the team on the trip, the entry fee into the tournament is $15.

An excellent September needs to be followed by an excellent October.  We're on our way to where we need to be.

Save The Date

Skip Dieter came up with a great idea this year!! Meet & Greet the Wrestlers!!!...
We will forward details.. but save the date for November 15th!!! We will be having a potluck with menu and sign ups to follow.

This is a great opportunity to come meet the 2009 Clovis High Wrestling Team & Coaching Staff!!

Parents this is one week before the Takedown tournament. Great time to meet your fellow parents... season is long, it's nice to get to know each other... we will be spending a lot of time together,,,,,,,,,,

Keep checking in for updates!!

9 in 09

Wrestling Poster

We are doing a wrestling poster this year.. Looking for business card sponsors.. $150.00 per business card advertisement.. The card will also be included in the program for the Temecula Valley Dual... let me know if you have any questions.., 289-4351.. Thanks!! Cindy

Please get back to me at your earliest convenience.. have a short time frame.. Want to get it done ASAP!!!.....

Thanks!!

Due Dates

We have a couple of due dates coming up in the next couple weeks.

First, the POWERade Trip initial deposit of $300 is due on Tuesday, September 30th. In order to purchase the plane tickets early and thus keep the cost down for each wrestler, we have to have the deposit in. Plane tickets will be purchased on October 1st and anyone who has not turned in money, their spot will be opened up to another wrestler.

Second, if wrestlers/parents are interested in getting team wrestling shoes, we've secured a deal to purchase the Asics Cael V3.0 (White/Navy/Gold) as a team for $70 each. If you would like to purchase shoes, please know what size you are going to order and have the money turned in by Friday, October 10th.

Last, personalized singlets have been ordered for this year. Thanks to everyone for getting the money in on time!

Welcome

Welcome to the replacement for the old Clovis Wrestling forum. This will be an easy way to keep people updated and connected to the program. I'm looking for a few more Blog Authors to post now and then, especially as things develop throughout the season and to keep people updated during tournaments. If you're interested, please let me know.