Sports
San Marin's Lizarraga Adds Green and Gold to Trophy Collection
San Marin's unbeaten 103-pounder pins a familiar foe in the finals to join teammate Chris Vavuris as champions for the home team in the 36th annual event.
EVENT: hosted the 36th annual Green and Gold Invitational Tournament on Dec. 11-12.
SAN MARIN'S SCORE: The Mustangs finished in 10th place; Rancho Cotate won the team title.
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: At 103 pounds, reigning Marin County Athletic League champ took gold with three wins over wrestlers from Armijo, Sonoma and Rancho Cotate. In his finals match, Lizarraga faced Brian Guerrero of Rancho Cotate for the second time in two weeks and won again, this time by pin. Lizarraga remained perfect for the season, with seven wins and no losses over two tournaments.
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, a 160-pound senior, also won the tournament, with four wins over wrestlers from Drake, Middletown, John Swett and Marin Catholic.
Junior Wes Roberts tied Cardinal Newman's Patrick McCormick for fifth place in the 130-pound weight class. Roberts went 3-1, with wins over wrestlers from Winters, Windsor and Los Altos.
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If there was a negative for the Mustangs, it was 189-pounder Ryan Kates suffering an injury. He is, however, expected to return to the mat by the end of this week.
REACTION: "Winning this tournament was great. It will be one of the most exciting wins in my career. Taking home the gold at my home tournament was really important to me. It was really cool pinning my opponent in finals, and having my family and friends there to watch." -- San Marin 103-pounder Christian Lizarraga.
SAN MARIN'S NEXT ACTION: The Mustangs will head to Drake High on Jan. 5 to take on Justin-Siena and Drake in San Marin's first MCAL Tri-Meet of the season.
