Sultana wins game, suffers serious player injury

Sultana High School football is coming off a win, and still has eight games left in the regular season, but it can’t be easy for the Sultans to focus on anything other than their player who wears No. 29, senior defensive end Bruce Henderson.
Henderson suffered a brain injury late in Friday’s 7-0 win over Riverside Norte Vista and was taken to the hospital.
According to tweets from Sultana assistant coach Chris Fore’s Twitter account, Henderson suffered the injury on a play in which “it was a hit on a running back. Might have been that hit, might have been contact with the ground.”
Fore tweeted that Henderson “came off the field under his own power. Then our staff had him see trainer when they knew he wasn’t ‘right.’”
He eventually underwent emergency brain surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.
Since then, the official twitter account of Sultana Football reported: “Keep fighting Bruce. Everyone is here for you. Great news, Bruce has been giving thumbs up on command now. We love you.” Monday, the account reported “amazing news. They have taken the tubes out and Bruce is doing better and better. He’s even trying to talk. God is gr8. Keep praying.”
An online fund through youcaring.com had raised $4,070 of a $10,000 goal as of Tuesday evening for Henderson and his family.
Through two games, Henderson is second on the team with 29 tackles.
Messages to Sultana coach Keith Locklear and principal Larry Bird were not returned.
On Thursday, the following update was given:


Rough night, big win
A secondary story was the fact that Sultana beat Norte Vista, a big win for Sultana. Norte Vista was a playoff team last year and Sultana’s win was likely the Sultans’ most impressive since 2012.
In 2012, a year after Sultana last made the playoffs, Sultana defeated Pomona 26-24. Until Friday, that was the last time Sultana had beaten a team that had finished the previous season with a winning record.
Obviously a big part of the 7-0 win was defense, which included four fumble recoveries off six forced fumbles. Special teams also averaged 40.0 yards per kick in the game.
That was a week after Norte Vista routed Claremont, 49-21.

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Mojave River League cross country results

I haven’t posted other league finals results on the blog, but I’ve written stories about several of them.
For Mojave River League, I’m not writing a story, so here are just the results. First the girls, where Serrano’s team and Stevie Gaskell of Sultana have the best chance to go to state. On the boys side, Sultana dethroned defending league champ Serrano.

MRL girls individuals

MRL girls team

Continue reading “Mojave River League cross country results” »

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A glance at the 17 San Bernardino County wrestlers competing at state Friday

Here is a glance at the 17 San Bernardino County wrestlers competing at state. Rankings are from TheCaliforniaWrestler.com. I will be reporting live from Bakersfield at the State Championships. I will have updates on this blog, and also on twitter.com/PeteMarshallLaw

Toughest draw: Matt Williams, Sultana (182) and Kenny Clark, Carter (285).
Williams, ranked No. 7 has an easy first-round match, but then would face the No. 3 ranked wrestler in the second round and likely the No. 8 wrestler in the third round just to get to the quarterfinals. That’s a loaded section. Clark, also ranked No. 7, should have an easy second round match, but would face No. 1 Nick Nevills of Clovis in the third round.

Best first match: Corey Griego, Sultana (170)
Someone was going to be unhappy when Griego defaulted and took 6th at CIF-SS Masters. That person is Jonathon Costa of Escalon. Costa, ranked 10th, will face No. 1-ranked Griego.

Best chance to place for someone ranked outside of top 8: Garrick Gurney, Chino Hills (170).
Gurney, ranked 13th, doesn’t have to face anyone higher than No. 12 en route to the quarterfinals.
Continue reading “A glance at the 17 San Bernardino County wrestlers competing at state Friday” »

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San Bernardino County sending 17 wrestlers to state

San Bernardino County is sending a total of 17 wrestlers to state after Saturday’s CIF-SS Masters Meet.
Here’s a look at the area qualifiers:
106: Martin Garcia, So. Rialto 1st at divisionals, 6th at Masters
113: Jorge Carbajal, Sr., Bloomington, 2nd at divisionals, 9th at Masters
120: Hector  Ruvalcaba, Sr., Victor Valley, 3rd at divisionals, 8th at Masters
126: Daniel Romero, Sr.., Montclair, 4th at divisionals, 5th at Masters
132: Justus Cervantes, Sr., Los Osos, 3rd at divisionals, 8th at Masters
138: Uzo Owuama, Jr., Bloomington, 4th at divisionals, 5th at Masters
145: Brad Pearce, Jr., Alta Loma, 3rd at divisionals, 9th at Masters
170: Jon Solano, Sr., Los Osos, 1st at divisionals, 3rd at Masters
Garrick Gurney, Sr., Chino HIlls, 4th at divisionals, 5th at Masters
Corey Griego, Jr., Sultana, 1st at divisionals, 6th at Masters, ranked No. 1 at state, defaulted final 3 matches as precaution
Blake Fifer, Jr., Victor Valley, 3rd at divisionals, 8th at Masters
182: Matt Williams, Jr., Sultana, 1st at divisionals, 3rd at Masters
Marcus Vargas, Sr., Bloomington, 2nd at divisionals, 9th at Masters
195: Dylan Bollinger, Jr., Sultana, 3rd at divisionals, 4th at Masters
Anthony Hernandez, Sr., Oak Hills, 2nd at divsiionals, 9th at Masters
220: Derrick Jones III, Jr., Bloomington, 1st at divisionals, 1st at Masters, ranked 2nd in state.
285: Kenny Clark, Sr., Carter, 1st at divisionals, 2nd at Masters

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22 from San Bernardino County still alive after Day 1 of CIF-SS Masters wrestling

After Friday’s Day 1 of the CIF-SS Masters Meet, each weight class is whittled down to the final 12. Those in the semifinals have guaranteed a trip to Bakersfield for next weekend’s CIF State Championships. The other eight still alive in consolation in each weight class will be vying for the final five spots. The 4 winners in the consolation quarterfinals in the first consolation round Saturday advance, with the four losers dropping into the ninth-place bracket and will need to win their final two matches.

There are 22 San Bernardino County wrestlers alive, including six in the semifinals. Bloomington leads the way and is fourth overall with two in the semis and six total still alive.
Here they are, by weight class. All are in consolation except those designated otherwise:
106: Alex Garcia, Rialto (faces Vincent Parra of Covina Northview in the semis)
113: Jorge Carbajal, Bloomington

Continue reading “22 from San Bernardino County still alive after Day 1 of CIF-SS Masters wrestling” »

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San Bernardino County wrestling highlights from Saturday

Here are some highlights for San Bernardino County schools at wrestling tournaments on Saturday.
Sultana: The Sultans took only eight wrestlers to the Megatron Tournament in L.A., and seven of them placed. Chris Mesa (106), Corey Griego (170) and Matt Williams (182) all won,  and other placers included second: Dylan Bollinger (195), third: Evaristo Sena (113) Trent Smith (126), fourth: Ryan Gonzalez (132). No team scores were available.Thanks for Sultana coach Rocky Humphrey for sending that in. I know Bloomington was there too, but I had a hard time figuring out the tpurnament web site.

Montclair: The Cavaliers took second behind Rowland at the Bishop Amat Tournament. Montclair had one champion (K. Silva, 120)  and nine placers.

Los Osos: The Grizzlies won the Damien Invitational, although it was small, only 12 varsity teams. Los Osos had seven champs, Mike Pajaro (120, lower MVP), Dustin McNicholl (126), Justus Cervantes (138), Alex Miller (145), Sebastion Salsgiver (160), Travis MacChessney (170, upper MVP), Jon Solano (182). Other county champs in the tournament were: John Odenbaugh of Grand Terrace (106), Sam Ring of Cajon (132), E. Mendez of Etiwanda (152), and Frankie Valenzuela of Fontana (220).

Victor Valley: According to the Daily Press, the Jackrabbits were second in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, behind only San Clemente. Blake Fifer (170) was a champion for VVHS. Michael Lopez (third, 152), Efrain Velasquez (fourth, 140), Jonathan Oliveira (fifth, 160) and Hector Ruvalcaba (seventh, 120) also placed.

Oak Hills: Also according to the Daily Press, the Bulldogs were 30th out of 78 teams at the Zinken Classic in Fresno, as heavyweight Justin Gillham (fifth) and 182-pounder Anthony Hernandez (seventh) placed.

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Early season wrestling rankings are out

The wrestling season is less than 2 weeks old, but www.thecaliforniawrestler.com has already put out individual wrestling rankings. Here are the county wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the state in their respective weight classes.

103: Anthony Soto, Colony (No. 20)
119: Ray Delgado, Oak Hills (No. 6), Tim Maldonado, Los Osos (No. 16).
125: Alec Smith, Sultana (No. 17)
130: Chris Mecate, Redlands East Valley (No. 4)
135: Michael Gonzalez, Sultana (No. 4)
152: Juan Alvarado, Bloomington (No. 7), Ryan McWatters, Sultana (No. 8),
160: Jonathan Solano, Los Osos (No. 17)
171: Robert Marchese, Oak Hills (No. 5), Anthony Ballinger, Apple Valley (No. 18)

–Pete Marshall

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Mojave River League playoff scenarios

I could basically copy and paste the Sunkist League breakdown in here, as the three playoff participants have already been decided, with one game to decide seeding to be played Friday.

1. Serrano (8-1, 3-0): The Diamondbacks have clinched the league title and the No. 1 seed no matter what they do Friday against Hesperia due to their head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Oak Hills and Apple Valley.

2. Oak Hills (6-3, 2-1): The Bulldogs have clinched a playoff spot and are playing Apple Valley for the No. 2 seed. Should Oak Hills lose, it will get the No. 3 seed out of the league.

3. Apple Valley (5-4, 2-1): The Sun Devils have clinched a playoff spot and are playing Oak Hills for the No. 2 seed. Should Apple Valley lose, it will get the No. 3 seed out of the league.

4. Sultana (2-7, 1-3): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

5. Hesperia (1-8, 0-3): Elimianted from playoff consideration.

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Tight team races for MRL, Granite dominates in DSL

Victor Valley College hosted the cross country finals for both the Mojave River League and the Desert Sky League on Wednesday.
Granite Hills, as expected, dominated the DSL. The boys’ 23 points, led by winner senior Cody Jordan (16:01) easily defeated runner-up Ridgecrest Burroughs (49).
In a race that had only 23 runners and three scoring teams, the Granite Hills girls (ranked No. 1 in the county) scored a perfect 15 with the first five finishers and seven of the top nine. Granite Hills sophomore Chelsea Bennis won in 19:15. Burroughs was second with 54.

As opposed to the four-team DSL, the five-team MRL had close finishes for both team titles. For the boys, Apple Valley, with five finishers in the top 12, edged out Serrano, 31-38. Serrano’s Ben Minick won in 16:23, while Apple Valley’s Nick Reynolds was runner-up in 16:38.

The MRL girls has two of the top teams in CIF. Sultana entered the week ranked No. 7 in CIF-SS Division 2, while Serrano is right behind them at No. 8.
And that’s how it played out Wednesday. Sultana won with 29 points, to edge out Serrano, with 34. Again Serrano had the individual winner (Melissa Fairchild, 18:01), but not the team winner. Sultana’s Hannah Munyan was second in 18:04.

Results were received by The Sun late on Wednesday and will not appear in Thursday’s paper. Hope is they will run in Friday’s paper.

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REV volleyball tournament to be played Saturday

Redlands East Valley will be hosting a one-day, eight-team volleyball tournament Saturday featuring many of the top teams in Southern California. The REV Volleyball Classic will start at 8 a.m. with two pools of four teams each. Pool number one will feature REV, the No. 2 team in the most recent Division 1-A poll, Riverside King, Temescal Canyon and Sultana. Pool No. 2 will feature Palm Springs — the No. 5 team in D2-A — Wildomar Elsinore, the No. 7 team in D2-AA, Redlands and La Quinta.

Pool play will take place in the morning, with each match being played under the best-of-3, rally-scoring format. The top two teams from each pool will be placed in the Gold Bracket, with the championship game from that bracket being played at approximately 2 p.m. The bottom two teams from each pool will be placed in the Silver Bracket.

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