Articles
Clovis wrestling team earns national accolades
Nick Nevills – Clovis HS
By Nick Giannandrea — The Fresno Bee
California’s best high school wrestling team three years running is drawing national accolades, too.
Amateur Wrestling News named Clovis High as its mythical Public Schools National Champion, while the National High School Coaches Association selected Steve Tirapelle as its Wrestling Coach of the Year.
The national honors come after Clovis won its third straight and overall record 11th CIF State Wrestling Championships team title in March, getting 174 points from its 12 qualifiers.
Nick Nevills (285 pounds) and Adrian Salas (182) each captured individual titles for a Cougars team that also had Khristian Olivas (fourth at 113), Jonas Gaytan (third at 120) and Jason Ladd (fifth at 145) earn medals.
“It’s always a thrill and honor for the program to be recognized,” Tirapelle said. “It just goes to show the quality of people around the program. (Assistants) Ben (Holscher) and Adam (Tirapelle) and the others, and all the kids.”
Adrian Salas – Clovis HS
Clovis was No. 2 in the final AWN Prep 40 behind Blair Academy-Blairstown, N.J., a private boarding school.
After finishing the 2012 season at No. 5 in the AWN poll, the Cougars received a rankings boost when they finished ahead of then-No. 2 Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School of Kingston, Penn., at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in January.
It was one six regular-season tournament titles for Clovis, which went on to win the Tri-River Athletic Conference, Yosemite Divisional and Masters championships.
All of which add to the legacy engineered by Tirapelle, who has directed the Cougars to five state team titles while coaching 18 individual state champions and 76 medalists in 16 seasons with Clovis since arriving from Sacramento’s Hiram Johnson High.
“Coach Tirapelle and his family have set a level of excellence in California and the nation that makes Clovis High School one of the top programs each year,” said Bob Ferraro, executive director of the NHSCA. “We are proud to honor Coach Tirapelle not only for his work on the mat, but also his drive to turn out top quality student-athletes.”
Tirapelle is the second Californian to be the NHSCA Wrestling Coach of the Year since it began giving the honor in 1998. Bakersfield’s David East won in 2002.
Jonas Gaytan – Clovis HS
“I’m not huge on personal awards,” Tirapelle said. “But it’s good that it brings notoriety to the good things the kids and the program have accomplished.”
Episode 34 of The MatBoss Podcast is with four-time All-American and three-time NCAA Division I finalist Gerry Abas of Fresno State. Gerry Abas talks about his start in wrestling in the Bay Area and how his speed, quickness and flash on the wrestling mat had its foundations in break dancing in the 1980s.
He also talks about his classic match and loss to Iowa’s Lincoln McIlravy, coaching his younger brother Stephen at Fresno State, watching the school drop the program and his feelings about it at the time. Abas also speaks about his son Jaden and what we can expect from him on the next level.
Stephen Abas
Stephen Abas, 2008 Olympic silver medalist and three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion at Fresno State, has been named head wrestling coach at Fresno High School.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Abas to Fresno Unified, knowing that he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with our Fresno High student-athletes,” said Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson.
The statement said Abas would take the helm of the Warriors wrestling program at Fresno High immediately.
As a wrestler at Fresno State University, Abas was a four-time NCAA All-American, winning three NCAA titles at 125 pounds in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Abas tallied a 144-4 overall record for the Bulldogs, including 46 pins. Abas’ career winning percentage of 97.3 percent is also a school record. For all these accomplishments, Abas was named the Fresno State Male Athlete of the Year in 1999 and 2001.
Stephen in high school (Canyon Springs HS & James Logan HS) was a 3X CIF state champion and a NHSCA National Champion in 1996.
Stephen Abas – Fresno State, 3X NCAA National Champion
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Registration/Workout 3:00 – 8:00 pm
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Round 1 Girls Championship Round 1 9:00 am – 11:30 am (10 mats)
Round 2 Girls Championship Round 2 11:30 am – 1:00 pm (10 mats)
Round 1 Boys Championship Pig Tail 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (10 mats)
Round 2 Boys Championship Round 1 2:30 pm – 6:00 pm (10 mats)
Round 3 Boys Championship Round 2 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm (10 mats)
Round 4 Boys Consolation Pig Tails 7:30 pm – 8:45 pm (10 mats)
Friday, February 22, 2019
Round 5/3 Boys/Girls Consolation Round 1 9:00 – 12:00 pm (10/5 mats)
Round 6/4 Boys/Girls Consolation Round 2 12:00 – 3:00 pm (10/5 mats)
Round 7/5 Boys/Girls Quarterfinals/Consolation Round 3 3:00 – 6:00 pm (10/5 mats)
Round 8/6 Boys/Girls Consolation Round 4 6:00 – 7:30 pm (10/5 mats)
Round 9/7 Boys/Girls Consolation Round 5 7:30 – 8:30 pm (10/5 mats)
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Round 8/10 Girls/Boys Championship Semi-Finals 9:00 – 10:30 am (6 mats)
Round 8/11 Girls/Boys Consolation Semi’s 10:30 – 12:00 pm (6/3 mats)
Round 10/12 Girls/Boys 3rd/5th/7th Places 12:00 -2:00 pm (6/3 mats)
Final Round Championship Finals 5:05 pm (2 mats)
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