LOWER LAKE, Calif. – On Friday, Dec. 6, the Clear Lake Cardinals sent 28 of its 37 wrestlers – 23 boys and five girls – to compete at the CMC Novice Tournament.

As one of the largest teams the Cardinals have had, it is also a young team, made up of 25 freshmen, four sophomores, four juniors, four seniors and full of siblings of current and former wrestlers.

This Cardinals team started off the season with some very exciting matches and was able to bring home 19 total medals: five gold, 11 silver and three bronze.

Gold medalists:

Boys – Nathan Pyorre (105 lbs.) went 2-0. Hernan Romero (122 lbs.) was 3-0. Elijah Alvarez (138 lbs.) went 3-0 with two pins.

Girls – Ashley Pyorre (108 lbs.) went 3-0 with 3 pins. Anyssa Perez (126 lbs.) went 3-0 with 2 pins.

Silver medalists:

Boys – Asher Reese (112 lbs.) was 2-1 with a pin and Tech Fall. Mohammad Akbari (121 lbs.), Nicholas Williamson (134 lbs.), Hayden Fowler (136 lbs.), Vicente Ortega (142 lbs.) and Christopher Krack (213 lbs.) each went 2-1 with 2 pins. Liam Davis (148 lbs.) went 2-1 with 1 pin. Sterling Wong (167 lbs.) was 2-1 with a pin and Tech Fall. Raymond Gonzales-Shoaf (265 lbs.) and Dominic Legendre (285 lbs.) each went 1-1.

Girls – Kiley Bartell (159 lbs.) went 2-1 with 2 pins.

Bronze medalists:

Boys – Axel Alvarez (178 lbs.) went 2-1 with 1 pin. Drake Chesebro (229 lbs.) was 1-2 with 1 pin. Johnny Glass (118 lbs.) and Rowan Salinas (143 lbs.) each went 1-2.

Also wrestling some tough matches for the Cardinals but just missing out on medals was Rodolfo Arias (138 lbs.) going 1-2 and Isaac Vigil (120 lbs.), Mujtaba Akbari (121 lbs.), Quinnlan Frick (122 lbs.), Ayden Williamson (124 lbs.), Samuel Vanoven (134 lbs.) along with Tara Wong (108 lbs.) and Ximena Soto (126 lbs.) for the girls.

“I am so proud of each and every one of them; this is going to be an exciting season! I would also like to thank everyone for their help and support for this team; from coaches to volunteers, local businesses, parents, family and friends!” said Head Coach Nathan Powers.

Coach Powers also mentioned they are still continuing their $1 per Push-up Challenge, where he and the team are matching push-ups per dollar raised to help support the wrestling program (especially since it has over tripled in size in one year). So far they have raised more than $1,600.

So if you would like to help aid in the team’s success, or just want to make them do more push-ups, you can find them on Facebook by searching @wrestlingCLHS.