The Dublin High School Girls Wrestling team capped a historic season by coming in 7th place out of 101 teams competing in the North Coast Section (NCS) Championships on February 18th at Albany High School. This was the highest finish for a Gaels Wrestling squad since 1971.
Navjot Waraich and Lana Nguyen became the first female wrestlers in school history to qualify for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State meet. Waraich finished in 3rd place in her weight class, which is the highest finish for a Girls Wrestler at the NCS Tournament in nearly a decade. Nguyen posted a 6th place finish in her weight class.
Lavenda Hahoka came in 8th place and nearly qualified for CIF, while Candice Carandang, Sanjana Alluri, Darshini Bhasker, and Payton Dehnert all battled hard in their brackets falling just short of placing. Marissa Macias had a particularly inspiring performance, nearly placing while wrestling the entire tournament with only one leg.
On the Boys side, Henry Baalman was the Gaels’ top performer, coming in 2nd place and earning Dublin’s other bid to the CIF State tournament. This is the second consecutive year in which Baalman has qualified for the prestigious event.
Jordan Resultan, Sabriel Gonzalez, Chris Halket, and George Yu all fought hard through their brackets, with Yu losing one round before placing due to an injury.
The CIF Tournament will be taking place in Bakersfield on February 23-25 to highlight this upcoming week’s events for Dublin High Athletics. In other postseason action this week, the Boys Basketball team will be hosting an NCS Open Division Consolation Round Basketball game on Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:00 p.m. against San Ramon Valley. The Gaels went on the road to defeat the Wolves 79-75 in an East Bay Athletic League game earlier this season
The Gaels fell to #4 seed Granada on February 16th in a 1st round matchup 72-64. Dublin fell behind 29-12 in the 2nd quarter and battled back to cut the deficit to three points (62-59) with 1:58 remaining before the Matadors hit 10 consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Courtney Anderson Jr. led the Gaels with 22 points while Donovan Cooks, Mekhi Thomas, and Jalen Stokes all finished in double figures.
Despite the loss to Granada, by qualifying for the Open Division, Dublin automatically has earned a big to the CIF State Tournament. Wednesday’s rematch against the Wolves will help determine the Gaels’ seeding when the brackets are released on February 26th.
Tickets for Wednesday’s NCS Boys Basketball game as well the Track and Field Dual Meet against Livermore can be found here. ASB stickers, Boosters Digital Sports passes, and EBAL passes will not be accepted at the NCS game but will be honored at the Track meet. The price of admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens to the NCS Basketball game, and is $5 for adults and those without ASB to the Track meet.
In other Varsity action at Dublin High this week, the Softball team will have its season opener on Thursday, February 23rd against Bishop O’Dowd at 3:30. The Dragons beat out the Gaels for the final spot in the NCS Division I tournament last season, so even though it’s the first game of the year it will have potential postseason implications. The Varsity Boys Golf team will also be kicking off its season on Thursday at Dublin Ranch against Campolindo (3:00).
After splitting their opening games last weekend against Arroyo (10-0) and Irvington (4-5), the Varsity Baseball team will be at home this Saturday, February 25th at 11:00 a.m. against Mountain House. Following the Baseball game, the Dublin High School Sports Complex will also play host to three NCS Championship Basketball games (3:00/5:00/7:00), with exact Divisions and opponents still TBD.
