Del Oro took sixteen wrestlers to the Battle for the Belt Tournament (Temecula Valley HS) and gritted out two new school records: 2nd place overall finish and seven medalists. Poway HS took first overall with 330 points while Del Oro clawed past Bakersfield, Vacaville, and Central East of Fresno for the 2nd place spot. Christian Perez defeated Caine Martin (Camarillo HS) 7-1 in the first place match, joining Kainoa Acia (195 lbs, 2023) as the only Del Oro wrestlers to win the tournament in the last ten years. Perez entered the tournament as the #5 seed and ran the gauntlet of #4 Eli Almarinez (Vacaville HS) 5-4, #1 Abe Coronado (McQueen HS, Reno) 8-3, and #2 Martin to take first. 126 lb Siraj Sidhu cruised through his bracket with four pins and a major decision before falling in the finals 9-3 to Slater Hicks (Valenica HS). Declan Leonard (4th 106 lbs), Nate Mitchell (7th 113 lbs), Kam Rush (8th 132 lbs), Cooper Sheesley (7th 144 lbs), and Evan Hilmen (4th 175 lbs) survived into the second day to also take a spot on the podium.
Del Oro Results
106 Declan Leonard 4th
106 Benson Tanner 3-2
113 Nate Mitchell 7th
120 Christian Perez 1st
120 Logan Alexander 2-2
126 Siraj Sidhu 2nd
126 Eli Berry 2-2
132 Kam Rush 8th
138 Luke Banks 1-2
138 Brayden Gury 1-2
144 Cooper Sheesley 7th
144 Justus Spillner 1-2
157 Chase Young 2-2
165 Liam Brunton 3-2
175 Evan Hilmen 4th
215 Nolan Seipert 0-2