Of the eight matches contested on the mat, the Flames won six, leading to a 66-12 Lodi win.
Lodi (1-0 in the TCAL, 7-4 overall) took a 9-0 lead after Styles Schmidli (103-pounds) defeated Joey Togninali by an 8-4 decision and Cody Loveall (115) won by forfeit.
Then in the 120-pound class, St. Mary’s Lew Furey registered take downs on the Flames’ Justin Cotta in the first period but Cotta escaped each time. Fuery continued to record more take down points in the second period that led to a 7-2 score before he caught Cotta with a cradle move for a pin and cut into the Flames’ score at 9-6.
After Lodi’s Dylan Crawford pinned the Rams’ Jordan Frils in the 126-pound class to increase the Flames’ lead to 15-6, St. Mary’s Kevin Gines was unable to hold down Lodi’s Jacob Lalonde at 132, but with 1:45 left in the second period, came away with a pin to bring the contest to 15-12.
“I was pleased with our lower weights,” said St. Mary’s head coach Rico Molina, whose squad consists mostly of underclassmen. “The guys work hard every day and it shows on the mat.”
Mettler added, “They’ve (St. Mary’s) got some good athletes. They always have tough individuals.”
Gines’ win would be the last for the Rams on the evening. The Flames’ Andrew Staley (138) and Tucker Purdy (152) won by forfeits, while teammate Olin Pettit (145) pinned St. Mary’s Hunter Low in the 145-pound class to increase the lead to 33-12.
After the Flames’ Jonathan DeLaTorre (160) won by forfeit and Nathan Tipton (170) by a narrow 2-1 decision that bumped the score to 42-12, the Justins came up winners. Flame grapplers Justin Medeiros (182) pinned Nick Carrusco in the second round at 11 seconds and Justin Loveall (195) won by forfeit.
Mettler feels Crawford, Medeiros and Loveall, all of whom reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament last season, could have another chance of having stronger regular season that could be rewarded at the TCAL Tournament and post-season action begins next month. And he wants to see more Flames light it up on the mat as TCAL action continues.
“I have other guys who I feel are state worthy,” Mettler said.
Molina added, “I have respect for Lodi’s program. They are solid every year.”
The final match of the league contest was concluded when Lodi’s Ryan Rentena pinned the Rams’ Adrian Rodriguez in the second at 28 seconds.
Lodi wrestling coach Keith Mettler, center, barks instructions at one of his athletes during Lodi’s 66-12 victory over St. Mary’s on Wednesday in Stockton.
