WATERFORD WRESTLING HISTORY -------- 2001 ----- 2017
The Early Years – 2001---2007
The Waterford wrestling program was introduced the very first year of the high school’s existence during the 2001-2002 school year. The team was coached by Head Coach Cesar Ruvalcaba; and assisted by Camil Valencia. From 2001-02 until the 2004-05 seasons, the Wildcats were not part of any league; but were allowed to enter the TVL tournament. During that first year, Jason Ortiz, finished 4th and went to the subsections as an alternate. Coaches for the 2002-03 season also included area legend, G.W.Wingo. In the 2003 League tournament, Vic Sanchez, finished 3rd at 157lbs. The 2003-04 team was a very successful team. In the League tournament, the Wildcats had 5 place winners. They were: Curtis Van Laar, Alex Velaquez, Jordan Lefler, Nathan Moran; and Cesar Gomez. All placed 3rd. The 2004-05 team had new assistant coaches, Josh Blagg; and Pedro Nunes. At the League tournament, Jordan Lefler again placed 3rd; he also became Waterford’s first Div. 5 champion and he placed 4th at the SJS Masters tournament and 6th at the CIF State Wrestling Championships. He became Waterford’s first state placewinner. The 2005-06 added Ron Conway as an assistant coach. The team finished with a 2-6 dual meet record. Nathan Moran finished 2nd at the League championships; 1st at the Div. 5 Championships; and 5th at the SJS Masters championships. Waterford tied for 30th place at the SJS Masters. The 2006-07 season started out with new head coach, Dave Exline; but Cesar Ruvalcaba again took over as head coach early in the season. This team finished as the TVL Dual meet runners-up and lost in the playoffs to Central Catholic. 13 out 14 wrestlers placed at the league championships. Eric Gomez and Jeff Moran were 1st. Ulises Gonzalez, Edgar Gonzalez, Sam Ascencio, Marcus McIlwain, Colton Whitehead, and Chance Arnett were 2nd. Chad Bonner, Andrew Zipzer, and Tom Morris were 3rd. Shawn Tennyson and Dan Davis were 4th. Jeff Moran placed 2nd at the Div. 5 Championships and Eric Gomez was 3rd.
The Middle Years 2007-14
The 2007-08 team finished as the TVL dual meet runner-up. Waterford defeated Hughson for the first time after tying last year. Waterford also finished 2nd in the league tournament behind Escalon. Eric Gomez and Jeff Moran were selected as the outstanding lightweight and heavyweight wrestlers, respectfully. League champions were Eric Gomez, Marcus McIlwain, and Jeff Moran. Placing 2nd were: Ulises Gonzalez, Christian Hernandez, Taylor Knight, and Tom Morris. Placing 3rd were: Miguel Duarte, Sam Ascencio, Dan Davis, and Omar Flores. Carlos Hernandez was 4th. At the Div. 5 Championships, Marcus McIllwain was 1st, Eric Gomez was 2nd, Sam Ascencio was 4th, and Jeff Moran and Omar Flores were 5th. At the SJS Masters Championships, Jeff Moran was 4th and Marcus McIlwain was 8th, Waterford finished in 31st place. The 2008-09 team finished 3rd in the TVL with an overall record of 5-6, including a second straight win over Hughson. Eric Gomez was 1st in the League championships and was again the Outstanding wrestler, this time for the middleweights. Placing 2nd were: Damian Villa, Daniel Alvarez, Russell Longworth, and Ellis Valdez. Placing 3rd were: Edgar Gomez, Christian Ayala, and Miguel Duarte. At the Div. 5 championships, Eric Gomez was 1st and Damian Villa was 2nd. At the SJS Masters Championships, Eric Gomez was 5th and Waterford placed 49th. The 2009-10 team added former Shaler Area head coach, Rick LaFerriere as an assistant coach. The team finished as the League Champions with an overall record of 8-1; the only loss occurring in the playoffs to Livingston. Coach Ruvalcaba was selected as the TVL Coach of the Year. League Champions were: Damian Villa, Phil Tubera, Eric Gomez, and Michael Robles. Placing 2nd were: Edgar Gomez, Ellis Valdez, and Andrew Zipser. Placing 3rd were: Jonathan Jimenez, Christian Ayala, and Eli LaMunyon. Placing 4th were: Daniel Alvarez, Rafael Sotelo, and Antonio Tellez. The team finished 4th at the Div. 5 Championships. Eric Gomez was 1st. Edgar Gomez was 2nd. Daniel Alvarez was 3rd. Michael Robles was 4th. Andrew Zipser was 5th. Damian Villa was 6th. Waterford finished in 27th place at the SJS Masters Championships. Eric Gomez was 3rd. At the CIF State Championships, Waterford finished 77th; Eric Gomez finished in 10th place at 160lbs. The 2010-11 team had a new head coach, superintendent and principal, Don Davis. Don had previously coached at Fresno State and Atwater HS. Don coached 2004 Olympic silver medalist, Jamill Kelly at Atwater HS. The team finished the year with an overall record of 8-7 and finished second in the new SAL league. The Wildcats won the new Div.6 SJS Dual Meet Championships with a second win over Mariposa. The Wildcats had 7 league champions. They were: Edgar Gomez, Archie Ainsworth, Ysaac Tubera, Daniel Alvarez, Phil Tubera, Jose Flores, and Mario Ramos. Placing 2nd were: Jesus Vega, Arthur Cervantes, Felix Robles, Ellis Valdez, Eli LaMunyon, and Anthony Elizarraras. The team placed 4th at the Div. 5 Championships. Edgar Gomez and Daniel Alvarez were 2nd. Mario Ramos was 3rd; and Archie Ainsworth was 4th. The 2011-12 team finished the season with an overall record of 6-5. They once again won the SJS Div.6 Dual Meet Championships with a win against Mariposa. The team also won the SAL League championships and had 7 champions. They were: Jesus Vega, Jonathan Jimenez, Ysaac Tubera, Arthur Cervantes, Jose Flores, Christian Gutierrez, and Robert Galvan. Taking 2nd were: Andre Vera, Matt Profeta, Antonio Robles, and Miguel Estrada. Assistant Coach, Rick LaFerriere, was selected as the SAL Coach of the Year. At the Div. 5 Championships, Waterford placed 14th. Jesus Vega was 2nd, Jose Flores was 4th; and Ysaac Tubera was 5th. The 2012-13 team finished with an overall record of 6-4. They were the SJS Div.6 Dual Meet Runners-up to Mariposa by the score of 37-30. At the SAL championships, Waterford had 4 champions. They were: Andre Vera, Jesus Vega, Elijah Singleton, and Robert Galvan. Placing 2nd were: Jacob Callahan, Matt Profeta, Juan Mendez, and Tory Larios. Jesus Vega was the Outstanding Middleweight wrestler. At the Div.5 Championships, Waterford placed 11th; and had two wrestlers take 4th place: Andre Vera and Jesus Vega. The 2013-14 team started with a new head coach, Cesar Gomez. Cesar was a former Waterford wrestler and league placewinner. The team finished with an overall record of 7-1. Their only loss was to Mariposa during the season. Waterford avenged the earlier season loss to Mariposa in the SJS Div.6 Dual Meet Championships with a 43-30 win. The Wildcats finished 2nd in the SAL league championships. They had 6 champions. They were: Ivan Gomez, Matt Profeta, Jesus Vega, Barrett Conner, Juan Mendez, and Tory Larios. Placing 2nd were: Andre Vera, Elijah Singleton, and Miguel Estrada. Placing 3rd were: Matt Singleton and Julian Tubera. Matt Profeta was selected as the Outstanding Lightweight wrestler and Tory Larios was selected as the Outstanding Heavyweight wrestler. At the Div. 5 Championships, Waterford finished in 7th place. Ivan Gomez, Matt Profeta, and Tory Larios were 3rd. Jesus Vega and Elijah Singleton were 4th.
Barrett Conner finished 5th.
2014-15 Wrestling Season
The team once again had a new head coach; former Waterford assistant coach and PA.Wrestling Hall of Fame member, Rick LaFerriere. Rick retired as Head Coach at Shaler Area HS in 2006. He had a career record of 267-100. At Shaler, he coached 2004 NCAA Champion, Troy Letters. The Wildcats finished the year with an overall record of 9-2. They once again avenged an earlier 40-33 season loss to Mariposa and won the SLS Div. 6 Dual Meet Championship by the score of 43-27. At the SAL championships, they finished 2nd and had 4 champions. They were: Ivan Gomez, Matt Profeta, Barrett Conner, and Tory Larios. Finishing 2nd were: Jacob Callahan, Andre Vera, Elijah Singleton, Moises Heredia, and Gabe Brown. Mike Simas finished 4th. The Wildcats finished 8th at the Div.5 Championships. Ivan Gomez and Matt Profeta were champions. Tory Larios was 5th; Andre Vera and Elijah Singleton were 6th. The Wildcats finished 44th at the SJS Masters Championships. Ivan Gomez was 4th. Waterford was the 10th smallest school in Ca. to qualify a wrestler to the state tournament and the first CIF qualifier from Waterford since 2010 when his brother, Eric, qualified. Ivan lost to eventual champion, Cade Olivares, ranked #1 in the country and #2 in the world.
2015-2016 Wrestling Season
This years team was coached by Jordan Lefler, Waterford's only state placewinner; and Erick Gomez, a former Waterford HS CIF qualifier and NAIA All-American as co-head coaches. Assisting them was Rick LaFerriere. The team finished with a dual meet record of 7-6. In the Div.6 Championships, they defeated the Delta League champions, Bradshaw Christian, 40-39; but lost in the finals to Mariposa, 66-18. This was the 6th straight appearance in the DIV. 6 finals for the Wildcats. The Wildcats finished 2nd in the SAL tournament. Ivan Gomez and Gabe Brown placed 1st. Mike Simas and Elijah Singleton were 2nd; Edmund Adams, Dale Stafford, Giovanni De La Torre, and Kyle Acuna finished 3rd. At the Div. 5 Championships, Ivan Gomez finished 3rd, Gabe Brown finished 5th and Elijah Singleton was 6th. Ivan Gomez qualified for the SJS Masters; but did not place.
2016 – 2017 Wrestling Season Summary
This year's team finished with a dual meet record of 4 – 8. The team finished 3rd in the league; 10th at the Div. 5 Championships, 38th at the Masters championships; and 131st at the CIF Championships. In addition, we finished 12th at the Riddle tournament, 11th at the Ca. Classic, 7th at Armijo Classic; and 41st at Morro Bay. At the SAL League Championships, 138lbs. Edmund Adams and145lbs. Kyle Brown won their first championships. Ivan Gomez won his 4th straight championship at 126lbs. He becomes only the second Wildcat wrestler to do that. Colin Towe, wrestling at 106lbs.; and Marcos Estrada-Lamb, wrestling at 172lbs. finished 2nd. Matt Modean finished 3rd at 132lbs. Finishing 4th were: 113lbs. Scott Ussery, 120lbs. Jakob Graham, 152lbs. Dale Stafford; and 220lbs. Jesus Vasquez. At the Div. 5 Championships, Edmund Adams and Kyle Brown both finished 3rd. Ivan Gomez won his 2nd Div. 5 championship by a fall over Bob Robertson of Mariposa. At the Masters Championships, Ivan Gomez finished in 5th place. He lost a close 4-1 match in the semis and a controversial 3-2 match in the consi semis. At the CIF Championships, Ivan lost in the first round to the eventual 5th place winner, won 2 matches; and lost 1 round short of the medals.
Matt Modean closes out his career with a record of 34-31 and a 2x SAL 3rd place finisher and 2x Div. 5 qualifier. Matt was 17-13 for the year and was 2nd on the team in takedowns with 44. Edmond Adams finished the year with a record of 22-9. He had 35 takedowns, and 12 falls. His 2 year record is now 42-27. Kyle Brown finished with a 21-10 record. He had 23 takedowns and 11 falls. His 2 year record is now 35-21. Ivan Gomez closes out his career with a record of 151-30. He is a 4x SAL champion, 4x Div. 5 placewinner; 3rd, 1st, 2nd, and 1st; 4x Masters Qualifier, 2x Masters placewinner; 4th, 5th; and 2x CIF Qualifier. He has led the team in points the last 4 years. He has 95 career falls, 10 career tech falls and 183 career takedowns. This season, he was 38-7 with 22 falls, and 58 takedowns.
Other varsity wrestlers who return for next year include: Colin Towe, Scott Ussery, Adrian Morales, Jakob Graham, Angel De La Torre, Giovanni De La Torre, Christian Jimenez, Adam Perez, Dale Stafford, and Jesus Vasquez.
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