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FEBRUARY 16, 2018
Liberty wrestlers take second at NCS meet by Michael Dixon Correspondent
Liberty’s wrestling team enjoyed a successful trip to the North Coast Section Dual Team Championships. The second-seed Lions held to their rank, finishing second to top-seed De La Salle. Liberty received a bye to the second round, during which the Lions’ grapplers matched up against Granada after the Matadors defeated Pittsburg in the first round. The matchup against Granada wasn’t exactly welcome for Liberty head coach Greg Chappell.
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“I had done homework ahead of time,” Chappell said. “Other than De La Salle, I was most worried about Granada. They matched up well to us. There were certain key matches that I thought would be important.” Chappell’s concerns were well founded. The Lions barely escaped the Matadors, winning 39-38. The final points were secured when Adrian Chavez pinned his opponent. But celebration was temporarily delayed when a scoring error from the judges accidentally credited Granada with a forfeit that should have gone to Liberty. Eventually, the issue was resolved and
the Lions moved on. In the narrow win, Chappell actually credited two Liberty wrestlers who lost their matches – Francis Ricigliano and Logan Morris. Both were defeated but did well to keep their matches close enough for the rest of the team to pull through. “I talked to the kids,” Chappell said. “I credited Francis and Logan for not giving up pins and really winning that for us.” Liberty’s semifinal against College Park was much less stressful. The Lions disposed of the Falcons 48-37 to earn a spot against De La Salle in the
finals. The top performers for Liberty included Chavez, who won all three of his matches. Wyatt Word was also undefeated, winning his first two matches and winning by forfeit over the Spartans. Daniel Cannon and Nate Paulson both went 2-1, losing only against De La Salle. “Overall, I thought the team did well; that’s about where I thought we’d place,” Chappell said, before turning his attention to the league championships. “I told them that we took care of see Wrestlers page 19
Athlete of the Week by Tony Kukulich Staff Writer
Athlete: Jorge Rondan
School: Freedom High School Year: Senior Sport: Soccer forward and midfielder Coach: Sal Acevedo
About:
Jorge Rondan is soft-spoken senior at Freedom High School, but that quiet persona is instantly transformed when he walks onto the soccer pitch. There his athleticism, intuition and hard work have made him a leader
on the Falcons’ varsity soccer team. “Jorge’s greatest attribute is his ability to read the game,” said varsity head coach, Sal Acevedo. “He has great vision to assist his teammates, but he also has the ability to beat defenders and finish scoring opportunities with amazing skill which places him as one of the top players in (Bay Valley Athletic League) and (North Coast Section).” Rondan grew up in Oakley and Brentwood and got started playing soccer nearly as soon as he could walk. In-
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see Athlete page 19
Photo by Tony Kukulich