Albany Invitational

On Saturday, Jan 21, the DHS Wrestling varsity team competed in the Albany Invitational with 4 Blue Devils advancing to the medal rounds. It was the team's best tournament performance of the season in fierce competition against 44 teams.

Junior Philip Toy placed 3rd in the 114 pound division with 4 wins and 1 loss. After a first round BYE, Toy started the tournament with convincing victories against Elk Grove (7-0) and Ukiah (first round pin) to advance to the semi-finals, where he faced top seed Joe Moita of De La Salle High School. Toy lost that match, but showed resilience in his final match, beating Damon Ngyien of San Leandro, 9-0.

Andrew Olivas placed 4th in the 132 pound division with 3 wins and 2 losses. The junior won his first three matches, two of them decided in the final seconds. After an easy first round victory, Olivas faced Azuirch Paul of El Molino High, which he won 14-13. In his next match, against Sacred Heart, it took an overtime victory to propel Olivas to the semi-finals. The grappler lost his last 2 matches to finish 4th overall.

Junior Spencer Abilgaard and Freshman Andy Schmidl placed 6th and 8th respectively. Abilgaard at 121 pounds had 3 wins and 2 losses. The junior won his first two matches, but lost his 3rd and 5th match. His final victory (7-1) was against Frank Ely of Albany High in the 4th round. Schmidl, at 127 pounds, won his first 2 matches, but lost his final 3.

Other wrestlers representing the Blue Devils were Devon Mcglone and Tim Yang.

Coach Ty Brown and Assistant Coach Clint Deknikker were impressed with the team's performance, noting "the team is peaking at the right time."

Notes: Senior Cody Calhoun did not compete in this tournament, but posted the sole Blue Devil victory at a dual meet against Elk Grove last week. The final home dual meet will be at 6PM Friday, January 29 against Highlands High School. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Senior Night. In addition, there will be prizes and raffles from the team's sponsors.