Braeden Carroll was almost as puzzled as his opponent when the referee slapped his hand on the mat, giving the Novato High junior the pinfall victory Saturday.
Carroll wrapped his legs around the torso of Arroyo’s Austin Celzo, with his knee on Celzo’s chest, then forced his weight down to get the pin and capture the championship in the 285-pound weight class at the Green & Gold Tournament, hosted by San Marin.
“I just felt it,” said Carroll, the two-time MCAL champion. “His weight was off and he was on his side, then I got him on his back and just sat on him. … It’s not a move I’ve ever used, or even practiced. I just felt it.”
As Carroll jogged to the scorer’s table to collect his medal, he asked “Will this (champion’s) shirt fit me?”
Carroll carried the banner not only for his team, but also for the Marin County contingent that got its best look so far at some of the competition they could face at the North Coast Section championships.
“I just enjoy the competition,” Carroll said. “It’s fun for me to wrestle against other guys who are actually heavyweights.”
Even a power outage early in the day couldn’t dampen the excitement of such a large tournament. Organizers used a manual scoring system instead of the electric systems until power was restored.
Hornets senior Jonathan Bartnicki (175) went 3-1 with a pin to claim second place. He lost in the finals by a first-period pin against Ukiah’s Dane Rensen, a quarterfinalist at 167 pounds in NCS last season. Novato’s Jiriah Vannasy (120) took fourth place.
Terra Linda’s Tristan Collins (190) took third place with a 13-7 decision over Richard Weir of Las Plumas. The Trojans’ Arthur Sepan (144) won two matches by pin before losing in the semifinals and later taking fifth place. Terra Linda sophomore Juanes McCarty (106) cruised to the semifinals in a thin bracket, before being pinned, then won his next match for a fifth-place finish.
“This tournament has meant a lot to me over the years,” Collins said. “I finished third here last year, but this year I moved up in weight class. I’ve been working hard all offseason… The competition I saw today was completely different from what I saw last week. The wrestlers were a lot better today.”
San Marin senior Tristan Lloyd (175) took fifth place. San Marin heavyweights junior Supasin Wongkhum (215) and sophomore David Coronado (285) both earned a sixth-place finish. Mustangs junior captain Levi Manville, in his second year on the team, had an adventurous day as he went 2-2. He won his opening-round match by technical fall, then his second round opponent forfeited after an accident during the match.
“He tried to take a shot, but I was sprawled out. I guess we were both going for the throw when my upper teeth hit his head and he was cut. He couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Manville said.
Tam High’s Dylan Van Doren (144) won his consolation championship and the Red-tailed Hawks’ Dylan Hayes (190) pinned Ukiah’s Trayvon McNeil to take fifth place.
Oliver Valente of Archie Williams High took sixth place at 165 pounds.
Novato finished ninth in the team standings, with Terra Linda 12th and San Marin 14th. Ukiah beat out Las Plumas for the championship.
