Area Roundup: Hesperia's Paulo Valdez captures the 106-pound crown at Reno Tournament of Champions
Competing in one of the biggest tournaments in the country, Hesperia’s Paulo Valdez struck gold over the weekend.
A sophomore, Valdez took first place in the 106-pound division at the 2022 Dollamur Reno Tournament of Champions, dubbed the “toughest tournament in the USA.”
Valdez entered the tourney unseeded and upset his way through the division over the two-day tournament with six victories.
Valdez began the tournament with a pinfall victory in the first round against Caron’s Jesse Oliva, followed by a tech fall and a 7-5 decision on the first day.
Valdez began the second day of action with a 17-7 major decision over Spanish Springs’ Tobey Forman and then a 4-2 decision in the semifinals over St. John Bosco’s Sean Wilcox, the No. 4 seed.
In the title match, Valdez outlasted Josiah Maestas, of SLAM Academy, by an 8-4 decision in overtime.
While Valdez was the area’s only tournament participant, his teammates competed over the weekend in Clovis.
Three Hesperia wrestlers, along with Serrano’s Blake Chaffee and Victor Valley’s Avian Singh, were placed at the Zinkin Classic at Buchanan High School.
Matthias Valdez (138) and Michael Salazar (195) each took seventh place in their divisions, while Frankie Stevenson (182) placed eighth.
Matthias Valdez began the tournament with a 5-0 and 3-0 decision before losing in the quarterfinals. Once in the consolation bracket, he picked up a 7-2 decision before being pinned.
Salazar also began with two victories, both by pinfall, before losing to Buchanan’s Keanu Trelles, who placed second in the quarterfinals. He picked up a pinfall victory in the consolation bracket before being pinned.
Stevenson won his first match by pinfall before losing by pinfall to Chaffee and dropping to the consolation bracket. Stevenson then won two matches by pinfall and another by forfeit before being pinned by Clovis’s Adrien Reyes, who also beat Chaffee in the third-place match.
Chaffee began the tourney with three pinfall victories before being pinned in the quarterfinals to Buchanan’s Sloan Swan, who placed first place.
Chaffee won by pinfall in the consolation round, then again over Frontier’s Bryan Velasquez before losing to Reyes.
Singh battled his way through the consolation bracket after losing a 5-4 decision in the first round. Singh picked up five victories in the consolation bracket, including two by pinfall, before losing a 4-0 decision.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Hesperia Christian 68, Excelsior 9
At Hesperia, the Patriots improved to 3-1 in Cross Valley League action after holding the Eagles to nine points.
Peyton Houlemard led the way for Hesperia Christian with 19 points, and Hannah Audent and Kailey New followed with 16 points. New ended with a double-double as she also snagged 10 rebounds.
The Patriots (8-4) are back in action Friday at home against University Prep.
PREP BOYS SOCCER
Oak Hills 3, Hillcrest 2
At Oak Hills, the Bulldogs picked up their fifth victory of the season Monday afternoon.
Julian Alvarez, D’Angelo Martinez, and Nick Rodriguez scored a goal for Oak Hills on assists from Ryan Callaway, Sean Hernandez, and Raul Becerra.
The Bulldogs (5-3-1) are back in action Thursday afternoon with a doubleheader in the San Gorgonio tournament against Silverado and Los Osos.
PREP GIRLS SOCCER
Oak Hills 3, Rim of the World 0
On Monday at Oak Hills, the Bulldogs got goals from three players in a nonleague victory over the Scots.
Alyssa Vernon, Mollie Zielke, and Natalia Pulido each scored a goal for Oak Hills. Zielke, Sasha Thierren Dominguez and Takoah Castillo each picked up an assist.
Kendall Ness recorded a save in goal for the shutout.
The Bulldogs (3-4) are back in action Thursday at Etiwanda.
Didn’t you see your team’s scores in this roundup? All local varsity scores and results can be reported by email to Daily Press reporter Jose Quintero at JQuintero@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @J0seQuintero to report any developments throughout the season.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Area Roundup: Hesperia's Paulo Valdez captures the 106-pound crown at Reno TOC
