Clovis extends hot start, captures Cougar Classic boys soccer title

Storms that drenched the San Joaquin Valley from Bakersfield to Fresno late last week did much more than bring needed rain to the region.

They helped Clovis High, the hottest ticket in Central Section boys soccer so far, score a marquee early season victory over perennial power Buchanan in the final of the Cougar Classic on Saturday.

The heavy rain forced the Cougar Classic to reconfigure from a two-day, 20-team, one-division tournament, into a one-day, 16-team, two-division event.

In Bakersfield, meanwhile, the Garces Holiday Soccer Festival, where Buchanan was set to headline the Elite Division, was canceled when fields were deemed unplayable. That prompted a call from Bears coach John Spurgeon to Clovis counterpart Danny Amparano asking if there was room in the Cougar Classic.

Amparano added Buchanan to his eight-team Elite field and watched the Bears beat Mayfair-Lakewood 4-1 and Mendota on penalty kicks after tying 1-1, while his Cougars downed Buhach Colony-Atwater 4-1 and Paso Robles 3-2 to set up an all-Clovis Unified final that wouldn’t have been possible without the effects of the rain.

In the final, senior Breadon Rouff had a hat trick and Carlos Osuna, part of a stellar junior class, added a goal as Clovis rolled to a 4-2 victory over Buchanan, which has won five of the past six section Division I titles.

“They are the standard for boys soccer,” Amparano said of Buchanan. “We’ve always competed with them, just never got over the hump. Even though it’s early in the season, it still means a lot for the boys to beat such a good program.”

The Cougars, who are off to a 10-1 start without a loss to section opposition entering Monday’s home game against Maxpreps.com No. 6-state ranked Rocklin, have been elevated to No. 1 in The Bee’s rankings.

Rouff leads an offense that’s scored 42 goals on the season, an average of 3.8 per game, with 12 goals and five assists.

Clovis has received at least one goal or assist from 17 players, including eight of nine juniors who have been on varsity since their freshman seasons: Osuna, Evan Ghimenti, Tyler Hansel, Noah Heath, Rubehn Martinez, Oscar Rubalcava, Ian Cardozo and Hugo Martinez.

“We’ve been concentrating on the attack,” Amparano said. “I don’t like giving up as many goals as we are, but if you put pressure on, good things will happen.”

The Cougars’ group of third-year varsity players, which also includes Marcus McDermott, has been building toward a run at the school’s first section title since 1995, Amparano’s senior year.

Clovis was 11-12-3 and ousted in the first round of the Division I playoffs two seasons ago, then went 13-7-3 and lost in the quarterfinals last year.

“A lot of the pieces are coming together and our youth is turning into experience,” Amparano said. “It’s one of those good rides to take, and hopefully it keeps going.”

Wrestling – Reigning state champions Matthew Olguin and Ethan Leake were among seven individual winners who helped carry Buchanan to the title of its Zinkin Classic for the second straight season.

The defending state champion and Intermatwrestle.com’s nationally No. 2-ranked Bears rolled to 317 points. National No. 6-ranked Clovis, last year’s state runner-up, was second with 265.5 points.

Olguin, who won the 106-pound state title last season, improved to 10-0 this year with a 5-4 decision over Calvary Chapel-Santa Ana’s Elijah Palacio in the 120-pound final.

Leake, who won state at 113 last season, pulled out a 10-8 sudden victory over Calvary Chapel’s Luciano Arroyo in the 126-pound final. Leake is 8-0 on the season.

Buchanan also crowned champions in Brett Villarreal (145), Joel Romero (152), Anthony Montalvo (182), Trevor Ervin (195) and Cade Belshay (220).

Villarreal (8-0), Romero (8-0), Montalvo (10-0), Ervin (7-0) and Belshay (8-0) are all also undefeated on the season.

Clovis had individual champions in Brandon Martino (160) and national No. 2-ranked Seth Nevills (285).

Dinuba’s Isaiah Perez (132), who is nationally ranked No. 11 at 126, was the only other local champion.

▪ Lemoore’s Gary Joint and Clovis West’s Ryan Reyes each placed second at the Reno Tournament of Champions, highlighting local performances at one of the nation’s premier tournaments.

Joint dropped an 11-4 decision to Colorado’s Theorius Robison in the 132-pound final while Reyes was edged 4-3 by Bear Hughes of Oklahoma at 195.

Joint is ranked No. 15 in the nation at 132 by Intermat, while Robison is No. 15 at 138. Reyes and Hughes are unranked by Intermat.

Lemoore also had Joe Romero (138) and Angel Solis (195) place fourth and Greg Guzman (145) finish seventh. Isaiah Walls (138) was sixth for Clovis West.

This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Clovis extends hot start, captures Cougar Classic boys soccer title."