Sports Briefs: Novato’s Madayag, Stathopoulos lead Marin wrestlers to State
Novato High’s Kekoa Madayag is bringing gold back to Marin County after he claimed the North Coast Section championship in the 113-pound weight class Saturday at James Logan High.
Madayag and Archie Williams’ John McKenzie, who finished second at 145 pounds, secured their berths in the CIF State Championships, to be held Febuary 23-25 in Bakersfield.
Madayag, the MCAL champion scored a 9-2 decision over Arcata’s Dakota Sanders to clinch the title. The Hornets senior began this week ranked seventh in the state.
To earn his NCS title shot, however, Madayag had to get past rival Ali Hamzia of Redwood in the semifinals, a rematch of the MCAL championship match just a week earlier. Madayag dominated the competition Friday and didn’t slow down Saturday as he kicked off the day’s action with a 11-0 victory over Hamzia.
Hamzia, who was seeded fifth at NCS, finished sixth after he lost a 7-5 decision in the fifth-place contest, a rematch with Benicia’s Nicolas Trujillo, who he defeated in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Redwood’s Niko Sellers (126) also placed sixth after he was pinned by James Logan’s Isaiah Davis in his final match, on the heels of a pinfall loss to Windsor’s Austin Frederickson in the consolation semifinals. Sellers placed fourth at 113 pounds in NCS last year.
Falcons junior John McKenzie stormed through the field with four quick pinfall victories to place second at 145 pounds. The MCAL champion upset the NCS second and third seeds along the way, to carve his route to the title bout Saturday. Faced with top-seeded Max Wise of Foothill in the championship, McKenzie faltered in a 17-0 loss.
At 120 pounds, the Giants’ Jose Ordonez placed third with a 6-3 victory over De La Salle’s Giovani Cuevas.
The Giants’ Evan Daley (195) bounced back from a pinfall loss to Petaluma’s Edward Berncich in the consolation semifinals to pin Del Norte’s Jase Mintonye and secure fifth place. The win was a bit of revenge, as Mintonye pinned Daley in Friday’s quarterfinals, knocking him into the consolation rounds.
Novato’s Ikaika Madayag locked up seventh place in the 132-pound class with a 10-4 decision over James Logan’s Alex Chu in their final match of the day, rounding out the top eight.
Archie Williams’ Alex McKenzie scored a 10-0 major decision over Del Norte’s Colton Schaad as they rounded out the top eight, with McKenzie placing seventh.
Other wrestlers in action Saturday were Novato’s Diego Ramos (106) and Redwood’s Alexander Berkowitz (138), both of whom were 4-2 and were consolation finishers.
• Novato High’s Luana Stathopoulos pinned crosstown rival Lyla Kondrashoff for the NCS girls championship in a 143-pound clash at Albany High on Saturday. Stathopoulos got the win in 3 minutes, 40 seconds of a hotly contested bout between two of Marin’s standout wrestlers.
The Hornets’ 131-pounder Olivia Munoz finished third with a 4-3 decision over Monte Vista’s Maci Stemmons. The Mustangs’ Jakayla McKee, at 101 pounds, won her consolation semifinal bout with a 12-8 decision over Castro Valley’s Maya Trujillo, but could not answer the bell for the third-place match due to injury, and placed fourth.
All four Marin wrestlers advance to the CIF State Meet.
Boys basketball
Third-seeded San Domenico will challenge No. 2 Head Royce on Tuesday in the NCS Division V semifinals. The Panthers advanced with Friday’s 64-47 victory over No. 11 Berean Christian.
Panthers sophomore Gavin Early scored 15 of his 19 total points in the first half as San Domenico built a 33-20 lead. Senior Gytis Gervickas finished with 23 points, including five 3-pointers. Sophomore Chidera Onyeukwu finished with eight points and 12 rebounds during a solid night on the glass.
Girls basketball
San Domenico continues to dominate the opposition with Friday’s 51-8 victory over Sonoma Academy on Friday. The Panthers advance to Tuesday’s NCS Division V semifinals at University.
San Domenico juniors Nayeli Aguirre and Averey Conklin held Sonoma Academy’s leading scorer without a basket. The Panthers’ Lily Reeser launched four 3-pointers to lead the offense.
Girls soccer
Danica Blix and Imogen Jenkyn scored goals to give Marin Academy the cushion it needed to see out a 2-1 road victory against Encinal in the NCS D-III girls quarterfinals on Friday. Blix netted in the first half and Jenkyn doubled the lead in the second half. The No. 6 Wildcats conceded shortly thereafter but were able to finish off the victory. MA is set to face top-seeded Cardinal Newman in the semifinals on Tuesday.
• Sarah Farese scored to give No. 5 Redwood an early lead but the Giants were unable to hold it, falling 3-1 at No. 4 Casa Grande in the NCS D-II girls playoffs. Maya Greenholz assisted on the goal for the Giants (15-3-5) who took a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute. Casa Grande scored twice late in the first half to take the lead for good.
College baseball
Folsom Lake scored twice in the top of the third inning and made its lead stand up in a 4-2 victory over host College of Marin on Saturday. Mariners starter Jake Tirk went six innings as he surrendered three runs on six hits and three walks. Relievers Josh Idell and Zach Coleman combined to close out the game.
Steven Elsner doubled and tripled for the Mariners, who also got a double from Jacob Campbell.
Women’s tennis
Dominican University put up a fight in singles but could not top Academy of Art, falling 6-1 Saturday afternoon. Audrey Rafols picked up the Penguins’ only win at No. 1 singles when her opponent withdrew due to injury.
Boys tennis
Tam’s Asa Moore and Race Sallady held on for taut victories at Nos. 2 and 3 singles to help propel the Red-tailed Hawks past San Rafael 6-1 on Friday. Emmett McEvilley took the win at No. 1 singles and the Bulldogs’ Jack Blair scored San Rafael’s only win at No. 4 singles.
Women’s basketball
Senior Brittney Cedeno finished with 19 points while adding nine rebounds to lead Dominican University of California past Holy Names University 90-58 Friday night. Junior Jenna Duley scored 15 points for the Penguins (16-10, 14-5), who also got 11 points from Olga Faasolo, 12 from sophomore Alaiyah San Juan and 11 from freshman Keyonee Neal.
The victory gave Penguins head coach Tim Lakose his 500th career win.
Men’s basketball
Dominican University fell 88-76 Friday night to Holy Names, despite getting 23 points from Jaayden Bush, who also had seven steals and five rebounds. Garrett Siebels added 20 points and five rebounds.