On a scale from 1 to 10, San Lorenzo Valley High senior Grady Cloyd was clocking in at a high eight or nine when it came to pain on his strained back during last weekend’s league wrestling championships.
The Cougars’ standout athlete still went on to capture his third straight Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title after he pinned Soquel junior Marcos Phelps in the 190-pound weight division championship match Feb. 7.
“I was nervous, but I know I can beat all these guys,” Cloyd said. “In the end, it doesn’t matter. Excuses are for wusses.”
Cloyd walked around most of the day with a bag of ice strapped to his back, trying to ease the discomfort. He had a bye in the first round, followed by wins over Aptos junior Ben Martin and Phelps.
“It was more heart than [Phelps],” Cloyd said. “I just wanted it more.”
Teammate sophomore Gabriel Attia pinned Soquel senior Javier Pinedo-Gonzalez in the 285-pound heavyweight division championship en route to his second consecutive league title.
“We’re all friends, all the heavyweights,” Attia said. “So, it was kind of tough having to fight someone I know really well. But it was a pretty good match.”
Aptos won the team title with a score of 153.5, followed by Soquel (134), Santa Cruz (129), Harbor (87), SLV (85) and Scotts Valley (79.5).
Scotts Valley junior Angelo Vignato defeated Santa Cruz junior Julian Ysselstein in a 13-4 major decision to capture the 132-pound weight division title.
Vignato’s teammate freshman Coleton LaFontaine, who was dealing with pneumonia for the past two weeks, defeated Santa Cruz senior Luke Brower in a close 12-11 decision to win the 175-pound weight division championship.
“I feel like it affected me, but it’s all mind over matter,” LaFontaine said. “Do what you want and you’ll go far.”
The Falcons’ rising star was stunned in the first period after Brower took a commanding 7-0 lead.
“I was a little shocked,” LaFontaine said. “I wasn’t expecting it. I’ve wrestled the kid a couple of times, but I wasn’t expecting [Brower] to come out like that. He’s a super hard wrestler, one of my best matches I’ve ever had was with him.”
A sudden change in momentum gave LaFontaine an 8-7 lead in the second period, followed by a strong push in the third for the victory. The scorers table initially had Brower winning the match, but a series of stalling penalties called by the referee negated it.
“I was like, ‘No way,’” LaFontaine said.
SLV junior Ollin Bates lost in a grueling 1-0 decision to Aptos senior Lucas Zuniga in the 215-pound weight division championship.
Scotts Valley junior Vinny Noce (285 pounds) took fourth, junior Micaiah Trujillo (144) placed second, senior Jace Thompson (138) took fourth and junior Caleb Mendoza was fourth in the 165-pound division.
Scotts Valley’s Simeon Wheeler took third and SLV sophomore London Brown took fourth in the 150-pound division.
San Lorenzo Valley sophomore Morgan Prajapati was fourth in the 113-pound division, senior Noa Roton (157) placed fourth and freshman Jackson Bates (175) took third.
On the girls’ side, SLV junior Jennifer Black pinned Scotts Valley’s Citlali Lopez in the 115-pound weight division championship. Black’s teammate senior Gabriella Brasuell won the 155-pound division championship by default.
SLV senior Adessa Lewis took second place in the 145-pound division, and Scotts Valley junior Lila Moseley (105) took third place.
Santa Cruz won the team title with a score of 140, followed by Harbor (76), Aptos (47), SLV (42), Soquel (38) and Scotts Valley (21).
The top two finishers in each division advanced to the Central Coast Section South Regionals tournament at Watsonville High on Saturday at 9am.
The top eight boys and top 10 girls finishers will advance to the championship masters meet at Independence High School in San Jose on Feb. 22.
“I’m gonna look at my videos and work on my stuff,” LaFontaine said. “Try to just get better at it, and mentally get better.”
