Sportstars
SportStars’ Bay Area 75 Athlete Rankings 2022 | Nos. 25-1
Our 10th Annual Bay Area 75 Athlete Rankings Honoring The Top High School Athletes From The ’21-’22 School Year Concludes With Nos. 25-1 • PICTURED ABOVE: No. 16 Talana Lepolo of Carondelet-Concord (Chace Bryson photo) Welcome to our tenth annual Bay Area 75 rankings — SportStars’ countdown of the... Read more
Ike’s Ironmen/Ironwomen | All-NorCal Wrestlers 2022
Oakdale’s Ceasar Garza, Whitney’s Leah Brown Lead The Way As 20 Different Programs Are Represented In SportStars’ Fourth Annual All-NorCal Wrestling Honors • PICTURED ABOVE: Leah Brown of Whitney-Rocklin (Ike Dodson photo) The return of wrestling was a resounding success for many of the grapplers represented by SportStars’ NorCal... Read more
Laguna Creek Wrestling | Reversal Of Fortune
How Elk Grove’s Laguna Creek High Suddenly Became A Sac-Joaquin Section Wrestling Stalwart With Three CIF State Wrestling Qualifiers •  This story will also appear in the March 2022 PDF edition out Feb. 24. Until 2022, Laguna Creek High of Elk Grove was to wrestling what socks are to... Read more
Chase-ing Perfection | NorCal Section Wrestling Championships Review
Undefeated Champion, Record-Setting Tournaments Highlight Section Wrestling Championships Weekend As NorCal’s Finest Set Sights On Bakersfield And The CIF State Championships • PICTURED ABOVE: Oakdale’s Michael Torres celebrates his 126-pound Masters title. (Ike Dodson photos) Chase Nutting’s championship mullet had to be styled with performance-enhancing substances Friday and Saturday at... Read more
Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling Championships Preview
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: Ike Dodson Delivers A Weight-By-Weight Breakdown Of The SJS Masters Wrestling Championships That Begin Friday Below is the most comprehensive Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling Championships Preview you will ever read — mostly because we are the only ones crazy enough about wrestling to write one. With... Read more
SportStars NorCal Wrestler Rankings (106-145) | Feb. 17
Postseason Weight Class Movements Compelled Us To Dial Up New NorCal Wrestler Rankings Prior To Section Championship Weekend • PICTURED ABOVE: Julian Sanchez of Ponderosa-Shingle Springs (No. 9 @ 113s). (Ike Dodson photo) Bonus content! We saw enough changes in divisional action from the Sac-Joaquin Section and weight class... Read more
SportStars NorCal Wrestler Rankings (152-285) | Feb. 17
Postseason Weight Class Movements Compelled Us To Dial Up New NorCal Wrestler Rankings Prior To Section Championship Weekend • PICTURED ABOVE: Jason Brauning, top, of Vacaville (No. 5 @ 152s). (Ike Dodson photo) Bonus content! We saw enough changes in divisional action from the Sac-Joaquin Section and weight class... Read more
SportStars NorCal Girls Wrestling Rankings | Jan. 28
Our Final Regular Season NorCal Girls Wrestling Rankings Features Several New Names — Including A Very Notable One • PICTURED ABOVE: Del Oro-Loomis junior Elena Ivaldi (No. 1 in 121s). (Ike Dodson photo) She’s baaaaack. Both on the mat and atop the 235-pound Division of our newest NorCal Girls... Read more
Dream Team | Vacaville Wrestling Has Record-Setting Potential
Vacaville Has Spent The First Month Of The Season Establishing Itself As NorCal’s Top Wrestling Team — And That Doesn’t Look Like Changing Anytime Soon  PICTURED ABOVE: Kainoa Medina, left, tangles with Oakdale’s Michael Torres in the 2020 SJS Masters 106-pound final. (Ike Dodson photos) The first time Kainoa... Read more
Hail Ceasar! | Top Ranked Oakdale Wrestler Aims For State Glory
Ceasar Garza Is Arguably NorCal’s Best Pound-For-Pound Wrestlers — And He’s Proved It During A Whirlwind Start To His Senior Campaign • To become the fourth CIF wrestling champion in Oakdale High history this season, Michigan State-bound Ceasar Garza has to be better than any other California wrestler at... Read more
Reclaiming The Mat | Vacaville Wrestling Plans Summer Salvation
A Trip To Fargo Will Save A Lost Wrestling Season For Ethan Birch And The Sac-Joaquin Section Powerhouse Vacaville Bulldogs • Vacaville wrestling standout Ethan Birch smiles too much. He jokes, laughs and grins like the world was created just to give him a never-ending line of high-fives. The... Read more
SportStories, Ep. 4 | Ripple Effect: Remembering Mark Halvorson
The Pod Welcomes Its First Olympian As Robby Smith Joined Multiple Wrestlers To Help Us Remember The Late Youth And De La Salle Coach, Mark Halvorson • As the wrestling program director at Concord’s Community Youth Center, Mark Halvorson opened the door of wrestling to countless youth from all... Read more