Sportstars
Best Of 2023: March | Tales From Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling
Ike Dodson Delivers Six Stories From A Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling Championships Weekend Full Of Surprises, Impressive Feats • PICTURED ABOVE: Oakdale Wrestler Carlos Garcia Points At The Camera In Celebration After Claiming The 170 Pound Title At The Sac-Joaquin Masters Wrestling Championships. (Ike Dodson photos) Fierce battles in... Read more
2023 Final NorCal Softball Rankings | Top 25
Central Coast Section Sweeps Each Of The Top Three Spots In The Final NorCal Softball Rankings, Including A First-Time No. 1 • PICTURED ABOVE: CIF Div. I NorCal Championship Game Hero, Hank Tripaldi, Of No. 1 De La Salle. (Chace Bryson photo) Final NorCal Softball Rankings. All records are... Read more
SportStars NorCal Softball Rankings | May 30
Section Playoffs Deliver Big Changes To NorCal Softball Rankings, Including A Brand New No. 1 Out Of The Central Coast • NorCal Softball Rankings All records are through Saturday, May 27 (via MaxPreps). Previous rank is in parenthesis. PICTURED ABOVE: Your New No. 1, The Hollister Haybalers. (Central Coast... Read more
SportSquad VOTE: Team Of The Week | May 15-20
NorCal Team Of The Week Options Include CIF Regional Champ, Repeat NCS Champ, A Dominant Softball Team + Baseball Bracketbusters We’re using this last month of the 2022-23 interscholastic sports calendar to try out a new weekly feature at SportStars. Welcome to our second vote for the SportSquad NorCal... Read more
SportStars NorCal Softball Rankings | May 15
St. Francis, Mitty Continue Their Dance At The Top While Rest Of NorCal Softball Rankings Brace For Section Playoff Showdowns • NorCal Softball Rankings All records are through Wednesday, May 13 (via MaxPreps). Previous rank is in parenthesis. PICTURED ABOVE: Senior shortstop Samm Shah of new No. 4 San... Read more
SportStars NorCal Softball Rankings | April 24
Mitty Ends St. Francis’s Season-Long Stay Atop The NorCal Softball Rankings + Three Previously Unbeaten Teams Suffer Losses • NorCal Softball Rankings All records are through Monday, April 23 (via MaxPreps). Previous rank is in parenthesis. PICTURED ABOVE: Pitcher Ava Markert (center) And McKenna Woliczko Share A Handshake For... Read more
Ike’s Ironmen/Ironwomen | All-NorCal Wrestling ’22-’23
Gilroy’s Isaiah Cortez, Pitman’s Lilly Avalos Shine Brightest As 37 Different Programs Crack Our Fifth Annual All-NorCal Wrestling Honors • PICTURED ABOVE: All-NorCal Wrestling Selection At 220 Pounds, Nolan Frank Of Elk Grove High. (Ike Dodson photos) Our final wrestling story of the 2022-23 season awards special recognition to... Read more
Journey To The Center Of The Mat | NorCal’s Kathy Kopara Makes History
Santa Rosa Native And Vacaville Sixth Grade Teacher Kathy Kopara Endured To Become Groundbreaking Wrestling Official At The 2023 CIF Wrestling Championships • TOP PHOTO CREDIT: John Sachs/Tech-Fall.com Kathy Kopara remembers the moment distinctly, though she was oblivious at the time. The 45-year-old Vacaville resident was officiating a first-round... Read more
STARS OF OUR SHOW | NorCal Wrestling Postseason Preview
We Take A Glance At Every Weight Class As The NorCal Wrestling Postseason Grind Arrives — CIF Contenders, Upset Threats & More • PICTURED ABOVE: Franklin-Elk Grove Senior Ammar Khan Is A CIF Medal Contender At 145s. (Ike Dodson photo) Load up the RV with hot dogs and headgear,... Read more
NorCal Wrestling’s Power Five | Vacaville
Never Count Out The Vacaville Wrestling Program, Which Seeks Sixth Straight Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Title Despite Inexperienced Squad Over a month of California prep wrestling has cleared the way for five of Northern California’s best boys wrestling programs to represent the true power of NorCal grappling. This five-part series... Read more
7 Friday Night Podcast | Ep. 2.13: Thursday Pick’Em (WEEK 5)
It’s Another Week Of NorCal Football Picks As The 7 Friday Night Crew Tackles No. 3 Folsom At No. 2 De La Salle And Other Key Matchups • PICTURED ABOVE: Cameron Johnson of No. 18 Menlo-Atherton (David Gershon photo) The 7 Friday Night crew is back for another round... 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