Gilroy High School

The Gilroy field hockey team was excited up to kickoff the second half of its season, but things didn't go its way. The Mustangs were shutout 6-0 by Archbishop Mitty on the road Friday.  Coach Adam Gemar said he felt the blame should fall on himself, not his team.  "I feel, as the coach, I lost this game for the team," he said. "Every player tried their hardest tonight and every player has a huge heart,  but I haven't prepared them well enough. I haven't given them the proper tools to win games like this. I can't promise we will win time, because I can't, but I can promise we will be better prepared." The Mustangs (7-2-2 overall, 4-2-2 in league) will look to rebound against Leigh at 3:30 p.m. today.  Cougars blank York The Christopher girls field hockey team is on a roll. The Cougars have won their last four straight, most recently topping York 3-0 on the road Friday. Jordan Evanger scored two goals for Christopher, while Kristen Flores scored one. The Cougars are now 9-3 overall and 8-1 in league play. They will be back in action at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Carmel.  CROSS COUNTRY Mustangs' Ruelas leads girls to fourth place finish, boys 15th There' no stopping Gilroy's Monica Ruelas. Ruelas finished first in the girls varsity race at the Monterey Bay Invitational at Toro Park Saturday with a time of 21:09.  Karla Lozano was fifth in a time of 23 minutes. The team finished fourth overall out of 10 teams.  The boys were 15th out of 17 teams competing. Jacob Una Dia finished in 21st with a time of 19:11 for the Mustangs. Jesus Sanchez finished in a tie of 19:30, just seconds before teammate Jesus Ochoa who finished in 19:35. Gilroy will be back in action at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Center Meet III at Pinto Lake.  VOLLEYBALL Cougars shutdown North Salinas Christopher has won two straight after beating North Salinas 3-0 on the road Thursday.  The Cougars won 25-18, 25-16, 25-14 to get back to a . 500 record on the season (11-11 overall, 4-4 in league).  Oliva Tabron led the way with 14 kills, four blocks and two digs for CHS. Cheyanne Dela Merced had 31 assists, six digs and four kills.  Christopher will take on the Haybalers of San Benito at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at home.  BOYS WATER POLO Cougars drop close one to Harbor in OT Christopher and Harbor were evenly matched, but there had to be a winner. The Cougars lost 14-12 in OT to the visitors Thursday at home. The two teams scored three goals in each period to leave the game tied at 12-12 at the end of regulation. Harbor tacked on two more in OT for the win. Stats from this game were not immediately available. The Cougars will host Everett Alvarez at 5 p.m. Tuesday.      GIRLS GOLF Mustangs finish season strong The Gilroy girls golf team celebrated its last game of the season in unique fashion Wednesday.  Wednesday's match at Gavilan Golf Course was the final one for seniors LaTherian Harrision and Cierra Montoya-Valdez, and they went out in style.  The duo sported crowns for their Senior Day to celebrate their accomplishments over the past four seasons with the Mustangs. Montoya-Valdez, who is still limited to putting due to a case of appendicitis, carded a 75 while Harrision finished strong with a 55. Harrison had two one putt bogeys on two par3’s — Holes 6 and 8.  She put her tee shot in the green side bunker on Hole 8, a 92-yard Par 3. Harrison got out of the bunker in one shot and her first putt stopped short of going in for par, she tapped in for her second bogey of the day.  The girls also played Tuesday against Stevenson at Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Harrison carded a 65 in that match while Montoya-Valdez shot an 80.  Coach Daniel Valdez had one final message for his seniors:

The Gilroy boys golf team is riding high.

The Christopher girls volleyball team got its season off to a strong start, sweeping Sobrato 3-0 Thursday at home. The Cougars downed the Bulldogs 25-17, 25-23, 25-20.

Christopher closed out the regular season on a high note, beating Gonzales in straight sets Thursday at home.

SALINAS — Christopher entered Monday’s Monterey Bay League Finals with a goal to shoot 425 as a team. The Cougars did one better and shot a 424.

The Christopher High girls volleyball team made quick work of host North Monterey County, sweeping the Condors 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 on Thursday night in Castroville.

The Christopher boys volleyball season opener was a bit of a rollercoaster, but the Cougars were able to pull off the win.

The Gilroy wrestling team maintained its shining reputation, taking on top programs from not only California, but Colorado, Washington and Utah Friday and Saturday at the Doc Buchanan Invitational at Clovis High School. The Mustangs walked away with four medalists — including two champions — out of the 10 wrestlers they brought. The team finished seventh overall. Christopher also competed at the meet, having only two wrestlers — Felipe Duenas (106) and Jimmie Lopez (113) — picking up a win. The Cougars JV team, however, finished first.   Nikko Villarreal and Paul Fox both walked away with first place finishes for the Mustangs after the grueling two-day meet.  Villarreal (145) picked up his third Doc B Championship, but it was no easy feat. He ran into trouble in the quarterfinals, falling behind in the third round which led to him having to come back with four points for the victory. Villarreal picked up a 5-0 win in the semis before taking on No. 2 ranked Chris Garcia (Clovis West) in the finals. It was another easy bout for the senior state and Central Coast Section champ, who won 5-0 to walk away on top. "One of Nikko's goals going into the season was to win his third cowboy hat (Doc B title)," Gilroy coach Greg Varela said via email. "It means a lot to Nikko to do well at what is called the best preview to the state meet."    Fox, wrestling at 152, entered the invitational on a two tournament win streak. The senior breezed through his competition, going undefeated in the tournament and beating each opponent 4-0 until facing No. 2 ranked Tyler Zimmer (Clovis West) in the finals. Fox scored three takedowns and an escape to capture his first Doc B title by a score of 7-2.  "This title means a lot to Paul because he finally gets the coveted cowboy hat (Doc B title) each winner receives for winning Doc B," Varela said. "Now he can put it on the mantle next to the one his older brother Willie (Fox) won a few years back on his way to a state title." Also taking home medals from the meet are twin brothers Matt and Mark Penyachek, who took third and fifth respectively. Matt (170) was pinned in the quarterfinals by No. 3 ranked Austin Flores (Clovis North). He went on to win three straight matches to set up a rematch with Flores in the third place bout. After three rounds the wrestlers were tied at 1-1. The match went into triple overtime, finally being decided by a reverse by Matt on Flores in the fourth sudden death OT in which he gained two points for the victory to claim third.  "This was by far the best tournament Matt has ever wrestled in his life," Varela said. "I couldn't be more proud of him for this performance. This year Matt has beaten state ranked wrestlers, but Flores is the most decorated athlete Matt has beaten this year." Mark (182) made it to the consolation quarterfinals after losing to the No. 2 state ranked wrestler. It was here he met AJ Nevillis (Clovis), who is ranked No. 5 in the state. Mark was taken down right away, but scrambled to score a reversal and nearfall to gain a two-point lead. He went on to score three more points to win 7-3. He then faced a nationally ranked opponent from Ponderosa, Colo. who pinned him in the second round, sending him to the fifth-sixth place match. He took on No.7 Young Wu An (Buchanan) who he would eventually pin for the win.  "As a coach I'm very pleased with the effort and composure the team displayed during those gut wrenching matches that got intense as the matches carried on," Varela said. "When you see your team raise themselves to a higher level to compete at such an elite level, I get excited for these guys because I see them starting to believe in themselves and grow as young men. In the end, that's what wrestling is about." The Cougars JV team walked away with a first place team finish in addition to Keanu Calimpong (132) taking first individually. Dean Agustin (106) and Tobias Mendoza (145) finished second, while Justin Garza (113) was third and Ray Tapia (195) and heavyweight Collins Orokow placed fourth.  Gilroy will compete at a dual meet against No. 4 Buchanan and No. 26 De La Selle at De La Selle Saturday. Christopher will compete at North Salinas at 6 p.m. Wednesday.  GIRLS BASKETBALL

Two Severance Bowl's in the books – two different winners.

SAN JOSE—Gilroy went toe-to-toe with a team that is accustomed to blowing schools out but ultimately, couldn’t pulloff the upset.