Sportstars
Best Of The Best | NorCal Wrestling Puts 64 On State Podium
A Strong Weekend For Boys & Girls NorCal Wrestling Yielded Eight State Titles At The CIF State Wrestling Championships In Bakersfield • PICTURED ABOVE: Cesar Chavez-Stockton Senior Taydem Khamjoi, Who Won The 131-Pound Girls State Title On Feb. 25. (Ike Dodson photos) Sixty-four Northern California wrestlers escaped the three-day... Read more
Pride & Perseverance | Salesian Girls Basketball Takes Winding Road To Glory
Behind A Strength-In-Numbers Approach, Salesian Girls Basketball Navigated A Frustrating And Demanding Season To Win The Program’s First State Title • PICTURED ABOVE: Salesian senior Kaylie Edge. (David Gershon photos) The morning after winning his first state championship in four tries, Salesian High girls basketball coach Steve Pezzola was... Read more
Fitting Finish | Elk Grove Basketball Makes History
With A Talented And Ambitious Core Of Seniors Leading The Way, Elk Grove Basketball Claimed Its First State Title • There was really no other way for the Elk Grove basketball season to end. The Thundering Herd celebrating the program’s first-ever CIF State Basketball Championship on the Golden1 Center... Read more
Mustang Magic | San Marin Wins First CIF Football Title
Led By NorCal’s Leading Rusher And A Talented Core, San Marin Claimed Its First CIF State Bowl Title And Inspired A Novato Community Along The Way • One of one. That’s the mantra that the San Marin-Novato football team clung to throughout a season that will go down in... Read more
Viral Disruption: NorCal Teams Cope With State Basketball Cancellations
Twelve NorCal Teams See Title Dreams End After CIF Is Forced Into State Basketball Cancellations As The Coronavirus Outbreak Accelerated • And then there were no championships. On the morning of March 12, the sudden CIF State Basketball cancellations brought the stark reality of the Coronavirus pandemic to the... Read more
CIF Wrestling Preview: A Weight-By-Weight Boys & Girls Breakdown
SportStars’ Wrestling Guru, Ike Dodson, Runs Down Each Division Listing Favorites As Well As NorCal’s Top Contenders, Dark Horses • 2020 CIF Wrestling Preview The walls of Mechanics Banks (formerly Rabobank) Arena will soon be singing the sweet melody of state championship wrestling. Thursday’s pigtail rounds open 28 brackets... Read more
The Ace & The Wild Card
Cousins A’jae And Justin Boyd Help Stack The Deck For Pittsburg • Story By STEVEN WILSON | Photos By JAMES K. LEASH At the start of the 2017 season, it was the unlikeliest of connections. Cousins Justin and A’jae Boyd were supposed to line up on opposite sides of... Read more