Buena boys wrestling took down their reigning co-champs, the Rio Mesa Spartans in a nail biting league opening dual. The Bulldogs put up a great fight and powered through to beat the Spartans in the final match 37-34 for the second year in a row.

Before facing the Spartans, coach Dustin Sullivan felt confident in the abilities of his wrestlers based on their performance against the Spartans last year. 

“Tonight sets the tone for the year,” Sullivian said. 

After a rough start to the dual with the first two matches ending in a loss Junior David Lopez put up the first win for the Bulldogs. 

“ [I was] a little nervous. But once I stepped on the mat, I felt confident,” Lopez said. 

He won his match 13-3 putting the Bulldogs back in a good spot to battle back after the first two boys lost their matches.

 “[I feel like I] got the momentum going for the team,” Lopez said. 

After Lopez set a more positive tone for the day, matches four and five of the dual, senior Keenan Gibson and junior Orlando Beltran continued the strong wrestling going for the team. Gibson ended his match with a pin in a minute and thirty-one seconds in the first period, and Beltran beat his opponent in a minute and twenty-four-second pin in the first period as well. The score was now 16-7 in favor of the Bulldogs.  

After Gibson and Beltran beat their opponents, giving the team a good lead. Matches six and seven of the dual were lost for the Bulldogs until senior Mark Acevedo shifted the momentum away from Rio by pinning his opponent in a minute and ten seconds. Bringing the Bulldogs to a score of 22-16 Bulldogs still in favor.

The Spartans continued to put up a good fight against the Bulldogs which was anticipated from last year. Matches nine and 10 were won by the Spartans in a pin, putting the score at 22-28 with the Spartans in the lead. That meant the Bulldogs had to lock in for the last four matches. 

Matches eleven and twelve were both won in a pin by Bulldogs, Junior Rylan Pedroza and sophomore Ryan Homan. Pedroza took down his opponent in a minute and six seconds of the second period and Homan took his opponent down in one minute and seventeen seconds in the second period. The Bulldogs now 34-28 and back on top.

Match 13 was lost for the Bulldogs and stakes were high putting the score at a tie of 34-34 with just one more nail-biting match for the Bulldogs to take down the Spartans. It was Junior Rockoe Martinez’s job to pull through to bring the Bulldogs to the win. 

“I felt like I had so much pressure on my shoulders, especially with the score tied,” Martinez said.

Martinez was trying to do his best for not just himself but the rest of the team as well. Martinez started the match off strong with the crowd going crazy, he was tied up with his opposing Spartan throughout the whole match. With the score being 8-8 at the end of the third period, the boys went into overtime where the first take down would win. 

Martinez did exactly what he needed to do and took him down. 

“I beat him before but it still felt good to do it again especially under pressure,” Martinez said, ending his match with a final score of 10-8 and 37-34 for the final score of the dual against the Rio Mesa Spartans leading the Bulldogs to a victory against their 2023 co-league champions.Setting the Bulldogs up for another great season.