De La Salle Spartans, Clayton wrestlers Cooper, Talmadge shine at North Coast Section
CONCORD, CA (Mar. 19, 2023) — De La Salle wrestling continued its impressive streak of North Coast Section championships when the Spartans of coach Jon Clark won their eighth successive team championship last month to go with an earlier capture of the NCS dual meet title.
The local wrestling power has now captured 13 of the past 14 team championships and won four individual Section weight titles at the 2023 finals. De La Salle sent a total of seven wrestlers to the State Meet in Bakersfield where senior Gavin Fernandez earned a podium spot in fifth place at 152 pounds to go with his fourth place showing a year ago.
NCS Boys Wrestling Championship Brackets
CIF State Wrestling Boys & Girls Brackets
Joining Fernandez as NCS champions were Manny Martir (106), Atri Feizi (138) and TJ Arvizu (160). Carlos Vasquez, Franklin Enkhmandakh and Caleb Tatad also qualified for state by finishing in the top three of their weight classes. Teammates Giovani Cuevas and Stefan Bakiev were fourth at NCS, just missing out on a state berth.
NCS Girls Wrestling Championship Brackets
Northgate’s Savannah Talmadge took fourth at NCS a year ago and moved up to second this year while qualifying for the State Meet at 101 pounds after being ranked No. 1 in Northern California at 106 late in the season.
Abbi Cooper from Clayton Valley Charter, like Talmadge a Clayton resident, won NCS at 106 pounds this year after taking the 111-pound championship last year as a freshman, making State for a second successive time.
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Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.