A select few Flashes Wrestlers will get an early start to their day Friday, February 18. Coach Bob will load up 8 Flashes that qualified to compete in the CIF Southern Section Central Division Individuals and will hit the road at 5:30 AM. The squad will travel to Colony High School in Ontario for the 8 AM sign ins, followed by the 9 AM weight check. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 11 AM.

To prepare for CIF Individuals the squad has practiced with other Tri-Valley League elite wrestlers who will be competing at the event. Fillmore, Nordoff and Santa Paula have been working out together and running drill after drill to fine tune their skills. The workouts have been good for many as the new routines have caused them to rethink their norms and try new skills.

Coach Bob provided some clarity to the wrestlers during a brief break on Tuesday. With his squad of wrestlers gathered around him he said, "It's up to you, if you want it you have to have heart and go out and get it. That doesn't apply just to wrestling that applies to life in general". Well said Coach.

For the 2010-2011 season Fillmore Flashes Wrestling has stood up to make a statement about who they are and what they are capable of. This coming weekend the Flashes will be tested. As with physically demanding sports, an athlete’s health can be a factor due to the length of the season, this may be the case this weekend. Win or lose, we know what is in the hearts of these young men.

Representing their League, their school and now themselves this weekend are:
Robert Bonilla
Mark Zavala
Kyle Castaneda
Jonathon Minero
Alex Rivera
Christian Conaway
Marco Vega
Sammy Orozco

Trivia. It's not uncommon to see military influence at large tournaments. Why would the Navy or Army have a presence at a wrestling tournament? During one conversation with an Armed Forces Representative it was gleaned that the members present were from elite sections of our military, Rangers and SEALS to reference a few. Sound strange? Their answer as to why they have a presence says it all. We know wrestlers are tough, they're physically fit, they are disciplined, they follow direction, they don't give up, they don't harbor ill will or linger on a loss, they get back up and try again and they do it over and over again. These are the same qualities that a successful Special Forces member must possess.

This week the focus is on our Lady Flashes Wrestlers. Female High School Wrestling is a sport recognized by CIF, in which female wrestlers can earn their Letter in. The sport is the great equalizer and the rules are the same for males as they are for females. Talent and ability is rewarded based upon the athletes performance. Today's video clips highlight some of the Lady Flashes at the Tri Valley League Finals. By all accounts female participating in the sport is on the upswing.

Alvarez vs Santa Paula Championship Match

F Zavala vs Santa Paula Championship Match

Rivera vs Nordoff Championship Match

Coach Calderon with his team.
Enlarge Photo

Numerous Flashes earn league Championships at the 2010-2011 Tri Valley League Individual Championship Tournament
On Thursday, 2/3/11, The Flashes Wrestlers traveled to New Jewish Community Center in West Hills for the Tri Valley League Individual Championships hosted by New Jewish Community High School. The Jaguars are year two into their wrestling program. Based upon the physical conditioning and team growth rate since last year their future looks bright. They did an outstanding job hosting the League Finals by all measurements.
Several of the Flashes wrestlers had their game face on early in the day. Some teams can be described as “mat rats”, always on the mat and moving. The Flashes have been called “mat possums” by Coach Cal. By all outward appearances they look dead then come to life at the Officials starting whistle. The Flashes are introverted and almost silent while waiting for the action to begin. They walk slow, but with purpose, heading to the score table. Yep, mat possums says it all.
Prior to each wrestler taking to the mat the team “sends out” their wrestler. It’s the equivalent of a lying on of hands sort of thing accompanied by a team shout of the wrestlers name or nickname and the team motto. Early in the season the team came up with the motto “DO WORK”. Fitting for a team who had their eyes on the prize and knew what it’d take to get there. And get there they did. Their effort can be seen by the Individual league results below.
First and Second Place in each weight category advance to CIF Individuals, for the rest their season is over. Expectations ran high amongst the Flashes Coaching Staff and the Team. Parents and Fans also had high expectations for a lengthened season. And the results are in:
105 Girls: Felicity Zavala 1st
160 Girls: Alexis Ramirez 1st
119: Robert Bonilla 2nd
130: Mark Zavala. 1st
135: Kyle Castenada 1st
140: Johnny Minero 1st
145: Alex Rivera 1st
152: Christian Conaway 1st
215: Sammy Orosco 1st
Additionally the League awards two wrestlers with MVP status based upon their record and effort throughout the season. Flashes Co-Captain Christian Conaway, 33-7, was awarded the Upper Weight Tri Valley League MVP by unanimous vote. The Flashes took home a Team tournament 2nd Place and 2nd Place in Team League Standing for the season.
The Individual CIF Southern Section Division Individual Tournament will be held February 19 and 20th. The location is TBA. “DO WORK” and Go Flashes!

Tuesday night The Flashes hosted New Jewish Community for their final regular season match for the 2010-2011season. Due to scheduling issues the match was held in the Flashes Wrestling Room. Spectator space was limited but everyone was accommodated who wanted watch the match. The match begun in timely fashion right at 6:00 PM. Each team gave up 3 forfeits in various weight classes due to vacancies which meant this match was going to come down to a head to head match up. The match started at the 103 weight class. Due to injury of Flashes Wrestler Felicity Zavala the 112 match ended in a Fillmore forfeit. Credit goes out to Felicity for showing Flashes spirit. From then on the Flashes began to roll over New Jewish Community. The Flashes racked up pin after pin and in the end all matches were won by pin. The final score was Flashes 60, Jaguars 24.

Tonight’s Highlight video is of Cameron Riley’s match, who wrestled in the heavyweight class. He did a great job of staying with his opponent and taking advantage and getting the job done. See video below of his performance.

Next up: Thursday, 2/3/11, The Flashes compete in League Finals at New Jewish Community. Wrestling action begins at 2:00 PM.

Flashes Wrestling: Alex vs Santa Paula

Flashes Wrestling: Christian vs Santa Paula

Flashes Wrestling: Jonathon vs Santa Paula

Flashes Wrestling: Kyle vs Santa Paula

Flashes Wrestling: Robert vs Santa Paula

The Flashes traveled to Santa Paula Wednesday night for a schedule Tri-Valley League Wrestling Match. To prepare for the match Coach Cal pulled up several JV Flashes wrestlers to fill holes in the roster in the hopes that they could add to the team points. This was the first time this season the two teams lined up across the mat from each other. The wrestling action was fast paced and action packed. Fans from both schools made their presence known early on by the thunderous cheers during each match. Alex Rivera and Jonathon Minero both showed good control of their opponents. Kyle Castaneda and Christian Conaway all won their matches by points after each going 3 full rounds. Both wrestlers had been fighting colds all week and reported for duty in the best shape possible. Robert Bonilla, Team Co-Captain started his match off in an aggressive manner which resulted in a fast pin. Sammy Orozco won by forfeit. The final team score was Santa Paula 48, Fillmore 30. Individual match videos can be viewed below.

Upcoming Flashes Wrestling Schedule
2/1/11 New Jewish Community will travel to Fillmore for a 6 PM match.
2/3/11 Flashes travel to New Jewish Community for League Finals.
2/5/11 Flashes travel to Chaminade. This is a double elimination tournament.
Date unknown CIF Team Finals
Date unknown CIF Individual Finals

We still have positions available for our Raiders board we are looking to fill. (2) Snack bar Managers (1) Equipment Manager & Members at Large. Our next board meeting will be held February 8th at 6:30 P.M. at Mountain Vista Elementary School. All applications must be submitted to our Secretary or delivered to PO Box 34 Fillmore, Ca 93016 no later than 48 hours prior to meeting date and time. Information and applications can be found on our website at fillmoreyouthfootball.net or you may contact our President John Holladay at 7976804 or our Secretary Kristen Dollar at 216-9027 for further information.

The Flashes Varsity Wrestling Team was idle this past week due to the rescheduled league match with New Jewish Community. Wrestling resumes this Wednesday, 1/26/11, when the Flashes travel to Santa Paula for the schedule Tri-Valley League match against the Cardinals. This is an important match for the Flashes as they work to place themselves in position for the League Championship.
The match will take place in the Santa Paula gym and is set to begin at 6:00 PM. JV will take to the mat first followed by the Varsity.

The Flashes Wrestling Match scheduled for 1/20/11 at 6:00 PM has been canceled. Stay tuned for more information.

The 1/19/11 Fillmore Flashes Wrestling match scheduled against New Jewish Community for 6 PM has been postponed till 1/20/11. Weigh-ins and warmups begin at 5PM with wrestling set to start at 6 PM in the Flashes gym.

This is the second league match for the Flashes. As previously reported the Flashes are coming off an excellent performance at the Highland 10 Way this past weekend and ready to take control of the mat come Thursday night.