THE RIO AMERICANO MIRADA
13 Sports
BOYS BASKETBALL OFF TO ROUGH START Varsity Basketball works to dominate the court for the rest of the season GREG LOPEZ MIRADA STAFF With a 2-3-0 record, the Varsity basketball team intends to get the ball rolling after a tough start to their season. The Jack Scott tournament began with a loss to Roseville 65-56, but Rio came back with a victory against El Camino 55-51. “Yeah the El Camino game was completely nuts! The energy was booming inside of the gym and everyone was sweaty, but it was defi-
nitely chill and worth it,” spectator Garrett Wills said. After winning against El Camino, their last game of the tournament was a tough loss to Kennedy. The first two games of the official season were a win at River Valley and a loss against McClatchy on Rio’s own court. “All the guys were working really hard the whole game against McClatchy, we just weren’t able to get in those couple extra shots to
WRESTLING
GOING TO THE MAT SMALLER TEAM YIELDS BIG RESULTS
Wrestling season has arrived and the team is ready to deliver. With a smaller team than in previous years, they make up for in quality what they lack in quantity. The majority of the team wrestles JV, but due to their many wins at the last scrimmages and tournaments, some of the boys may reach Varsity level before the season comes to a close. Vasyl Potov conveys his ambition as he says “It’s senior year and I intend to make the most of it.” At the last two tournaments at Woodland HS and Inderkum, brothers Vasyl and Petya Potov medaled. Sophomore Petya took first at Woodland and second at Inderkum, while Vasyl took second at Woodland but suffered an injured elbow at Inderkum. Also, sophomore Robert “Robbie” Crandall
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SEE BASKETBALL• 15
Should college athletes get paid?
photo by patrick o’neill Senior Patrick O’Neill holds his opponent in a cradle long enough for the referee to call a pin and end the match. O’Neill has been on the wrestling team for three years.
PATRICK O’NEILL MIRADA STAFF
win the game,” said senior center Jude Aka. This years team will be lead by senior tri-captains Harrsion Ashen, Basil Okoroike, and Jake Jensen. “Being a young team, us three are returning players so we can mentor most of the kids,” said Ashen. The teams strengths are that they are very quick and pressure the
took second at both tournaments. Inderkum was actually a Varsity tournament, so the fact that the team did so well foreshadows a promising future for Rio’s JV Wrestling. The Encina and Sac High scrimmages held similar results, with both teams being nearly shut out by Rio’s JV. The Varsity team did just as well. For the tournament at Vista del Lago, nearly every wrestler medaled. Senior Gabe Fuentes took second, senior Patrick O’Neill took fourth, junior Peter Cardinale took fifth, and sophomore Brandon Young also took fifth. Young unfortunately was forced to drop out of the tournament due to spraining his ankle during his third match, but held his focus to win the match first and address his injury later. For the Curt Mettler Tournament at Elk Grove High School, the Varsity team faced much tougher opponents. Due to injuries and
complications only four wrestlers competed, but Fuentes was able to take fifth. There was another injury at this tournament, but instead of an ankle being damaged it was O’Neill’s shoulder. Junior Cody Wilson faced a tough day at the tournament. He was placed in an out-bracket, “which is a sudden-death match, where they pair the best ranked wrestler with those who are unranked.” Cody was unranked, so he got paired with a state qualifier and unfortunately lost. “However, I intend to redeem myself at the American River Classic Tournament next week at Rio,” said Wilson. After the tournament at Rio, varsity seniors will head off to Reno to compete in the Sierra Nevada Classic. Among those competing is Gabe Fuentes who says “The tournament has 64-man brackets that incorporate wrestlers from three
UP NEXT American River Classic: Varsity & JV Wrestling Tournament When: Dec. 19 (Varsity), Dec. 20 (JV) Starts: 9 a.m. At: Rio Americano or four states.” At this level, the competition will be high. “I expect to place, so I just got to do my best and wrestle smart,” Fuentes said. The season has just started and the team is already full of morale. Vasyl is wrestling for the first time, and says “It’s awesome, I love it, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.” With the rest of the team sharing this same mentality, Rio Wrestling’s 2011-12 season will produce nothing short of greatness.
In a modern world filled with profe ss i on a l athletes pulling in major bank, some LOGAN people have CONE begun to question whether or not college athletes who are good enough to go pro should receive a salary in college. While some make a valid point that these kids will play professional sports in the upcoming years, so why not pay them now, the reality is that these athletes are in college where they not only are getting the opportunity to play sports, but they also have the opportunity to earn a quality education from some of the top notch schools our country has to offer. And to top it all off, they get these benefits for free. And its not like athletes who will soon move on to the pros have to pay for college tuition. They are given full ride scholarships, that cover everything from their tuition, meals, room and board, and even include some spending money. These top level athletes have nothing to worry about money wise, as they are pampered to the max. And if they are seriously concerned about not making enough money to support their families once they have left college, well then they should think about sticking around in college for the full four years so they can have a future income outside of sports. I mean after all they are getting the best possible education absolutely free. Take for example recent Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. He has already stated that even though he has won the most prestigious award in college sports, and will likely go on to do big things in the NFL, he is going to attend Law School and take advantage of the opportunities that free college tuition has given to him. Other critics have complained that athletes should be paid because they are forced to attend at least one year of school before they can go pro in sports such as football and basketball. However, pro sports have implanted these rules because they believe athletes who attend college will mature and develop many important characteristics that will help them have a better future. There is absolutely no need to pay college athletes as they are already given many opportunities which some people in our world can only dream of having. If they are good enough they will go on to earn millions in professional sports, and if they are worried about not being able to make it in the bigs, then they can attend college for the full four years and receive a quality education for free.