FORT BRAGG, Calif. – On Saturday, Dec. 21, the Clear Lake Cardinals wrestling team closed out its final tournament of the decade in glorious fashion.

Even with several of their top wrestlers out due to injury, illness or other reasons, the team pulled together, just as they have done all season and accomplished their goal: to bring home a Tournament Team Trophy.

The Cardinals sent 22 wrestlers – 17 boys and five girls – to compete at the Timberwolves Holiday Bash Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

As the 2019 Holiday Bash came to an end, the Cardinals team finished with 18 medals: eight firsts, three seconds, seven thirds and the first place team trophy, beating out teams like Middletown (second), Las Plumas (third) and Fort Bragg (fourth).

“Sadly we have to wait for our medals and trophy (due to holiday shipping issues), but no hardware comes close to the feeling of triumph and the roar for our Cards in the stands after being announced victorious! The last tournament victory by the Cardinals was my freshman year in 2011 so it’s nice to have our first win together. I see many more in this team’s future as we continue to raise our competitive standard,” said Head Coach Nathan Powers.

Gold medalists:

Boys: Asher Reese (113 lbs.) went 3-0 with two pins. Ayden Williamson (124 lbs.) was 3-0 with three pins. Hayden Fowler (138 lbs.) and Axel Alvarez (182 lbs.) each went 2-0 with one pin. Anthony Gersalia (170 lbs.) and Raymond Gonzales-Shoaf (245 lbs.) were each 2-0 with two pins.

Girls: Keara Alonso-Lopez (101 lbs.) and Mavis Pyorre (118 lbs.) each went 2-0 with two pins.

Silver medalists:

Boys: Elijah Alvarez (140 lbs.) and Dominic Legendre (285 lbs.) were each 1-1 with one pin.

Girls: Ashley Pyorre (wrestling in the 106 lbs. Boys bracket) went 2-1 with two pins.

Bronze medalists:

Boys: Hernan Romero (122 lbs.) went 2-1 with 1 pin. Drake Chesebro was at (245 lbs.). Mujtaba Akbari (120 lbs.), Mohammad Akbari (126 lbs.) and Nicholas Williamson (132 lbs.) each went 1-2 with one pin.

Girls: Tara Wong was at (101 lbs.) and Ximena Soto (118 lbs.).

Also battling hard for the Cardinals were Luis Aguilar, Isaac Vigil, Samuel Vanoven and Zachary Wilcox.

“We are excited to take some time to celebrate the Holiday season with our families as we gear up for our next tournament in the New Year,” Coach Powers said.

He added that 2019 has been great for the team and “2020 will be even better with all the hard work these young men and women have committed to.”