McDermont showcases top wrestling talent

Add wrestling to the mix of the ever-growing list of sporting events at McDermont Field House in Lindsay.

McDermont hosted its first wrestling tourney — the McDermont and Klaws 1st Annual Freestyle Wresling Tournament — Saturday morning from 9 a.m. until long into the afternoon.

The four-story balconies surrounding one of the Field House’s two indoor soccer arenas lent itself to a Coliseum atmosphere in the days of Roman gladiators.

And that’s just the way McDermont program manager Rene Hernandez liked it.

“You don’t see a lot of wrestling in atmospheres like this,” said Hernandez, who partnered with Porterville High wrestling coach Tim Vanni to bring this event to fruition. “These are the future wrestlers of the Central Valley and we wanted to help showcase their athletic abilities to the public.”

More than 300 youth from various wrestling clubs and feeder programs parlaying young talent to their respective high schools showed up from Fresno down to Bakersfield and beyond. And watching them in action were nearly 1,000 parents, friends and avid wrestling fans in attendance.

Hernandez says there’s plenty more in store for the future of wrestling at McDermont.

“We’re in the process of building a youth program with kids from junior high and high school at McDermont,” Hernandez said. “As you can see, wrestling’s a big deal in the Valley and we wanted to be a part of that. We have another tournament coming up in about a month, but we’re planning on doing several a year.”

Someday, Hernandez hopes McDermont lands the mother of them all — the CIF state wrestling tournament currently held annually at Bakersfield’s Rabobank Arena.

“We’d love to host the state tournament here,” he said. “We could split it up on both soccer fields as well as the basketball courts, so the resources are available.”

One Porterville High wrestler who attended the state tourney  last month likely wouldn’t mind if McDermont hosted the event next year.

But this time around, sophomore Shane Yacuta admitted he was simply looking forward to surfing on the Field House’s popular Flo-Rider attraction.

The 130-pounder was ousted from the state tourney after suffering a deep thigh bruise during his third match. Yacuta tried to continue but lost two in a row.

“I wanted to keep wrestling, but I was disappointed that it happened,” Yacuta said. “I’d rather lose than not wrestle because I was hurt.”

But the Panther earned at least some satisfaction Saturday by taking first place — over the state’s second-place finisher Vince Rodriguez (Clovis North) no less — and proved what he’s capable of when healthy.

As a member of the Vanni-coached Porterville Klaws wrestling club, Yacuta also beat varsity wrestlers from El Diamante and Lemoore on the way to the top. And he wasn’t there just for the prize.

“I got some mat time and I had fun,” Yacuta said. “We get medals, but I’m not here for the medals.”

Fellow Panthers Joseph Duran and David Ali were in attendance as well as a handful of Exeter’s varsity squad (including state qualifier Jason Gagnon) and members from Lemoore and California’s No. 2 overall team — Selma.

The rules were slightly different for the bracket-style tourney that featured wrestlers — both male and female — as young as four years old and up.

But wrestlers had little difficulty adjusting to being able to lock hands and slam his opponents (not allowed in high school regulation) while earning just one point instead of two for a takedown.

The mats and scoreboard equipment were contributed by Vanni and Redwood High for this tourney, but don’t be surprised if the Field House gets its own equipment in the near future.

“You can see how much people care about wrestling here,” Hernandez said. “This is just the beginning.”