BH wrestlers second in section

LIVINGSTON — Bret Harte High School's wrestling team

knocked off two league champions and made the finals

of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Dual Team

Tournament on Saturday at Livingston High.

The Bullfrogs (10-2) won 48-17 over Pioneer Valley

League champion Lincoln of Placer County in the first

round, and 42-30 over Trans-Valley League champion

Ripon in the semifinals. In an all-Mother Lode League

championship match, Bret Harte fell to archrival

Calaveras 49-15.

"It was a great day," Bret Harte coach Jan Schulz

said. "I'm extremely happy, really proud of our

wrestlers. And I'm proud that the MLL dominated."

Calaveras won its fourth straight championship to

extend its own section record for consecutive titles,

and tied Hughson of the TVL for the most overall

titles with six. But Bret Harte made the Redskins,

who've won 52 straight dual matches, work for it.

"The score is not indicative of how close that match

truly was," Schulz said. "There were five matches that

could have gone our way."

The result was similar to the teams' meeting Thursday

for the MLL championship in Angels Camp, where

Calaveras won 49-13 but Bret Harte let three pins get

away that could have made a difference.

Saturday's match also was like Thursday's in that

112-pounder T.J. Dillashaw scored an impressive

victory over Calaveras' Sam Fragoza, who's ranked No.

4 in the state. Dillashaw won 7-5 in overtime

Thursday, but needed no such dramatics Saturday as he

built a 10-2 lead before pinning Fragoza 13 seconds

into the third round.

The season series between the two is now even at two

victories apiece, with Fragoza winning at the Hatler

tournament in Sonora and the Foothill tourney in

Sacramento.

Bret Harte's other winners against Calaveras were

Justin Middleton, 5-3 over Ryan Tanaka at 125 pounds,

and Thomas Smith, who pinned Cole Lanning in 1:10 at

152.