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Friday, June 22, 2012

J.O. WRAP-UP: Region 11 Goes 6-0 in Finals, 12 Medalists in All

By Ryan Maquiñana
Norcalboxing.net

Region 11 celebrates a perfect Friday night in Mobile. (Lydia Martinez Razo)

Region 11 left its mark on the Junior Olympic National Championships in Mobile, Alabama, going a perfect 6-0 in Friday's finals and landing a dozen fighters on the podium overall.

As a result of their respective performances, the girls won the overall team title and the boys took home third-place honors.

Gutierrez (right) and Florida's Erickson Lubin after winning Best Boxer honors. (USA Boxing)

Among the six newly crowned champions, four local fighters--Main Event B.C.'s Efren Lopez (119-pound boys) of Fresno, Marisol Lopez (106-pound girls) of Avenal's King's Gym, Ruben "Dracula" Villa IV (114-pound boys) of Salinas, and Caballero B.C.'s Nancy Gutierrez (132-pound girls) of Sacramento--distinguished themselves by taking home Best Boxer awards for their weight classes.

In addition, Lydia Martinez Razo won Most Outstanding Judge honors, indicative of the quality representation that Region 11 enjoyed as a whole.

Special thanks to team manager Rudy Valdez of Arvin B.C. for the final results; he was quick to recognize the efforts of the coaches on Friday as well, which include Felipe Martinez (Felipe's B.C., Lathrop), Marcus Caballero (Caballero B.C., Sacramento), Anna Murrieta (Velarde T.C., Fresno), Sergio Lopez (King's Gym, Avenal), Pablo Lopez (Main Event, Fresno), Rudy Puga Sr. (Back Yard B.C., Salinas), and Ralph Gomez (Left to Right B.C., Gilroy).

The Region 11 team takes time to pose. (Lydia Martinez Razo)

I would like to take the time out to congratulate all the coaches and fighters who fought under the Region 11 banner!

Here are the results for Friday's finals.  For the previous results, click on the appropriate day:

REGION 11 TEAM ROSTER

DAY 4 (FRIDAY - FINALS)

GIRLS
106 LBS.: Marisol Lopez (King's Gym, Avenal) dec. Miranda Burkett (Caldwell, Id.), 27-10
132 LBS.: Nancy Gutierrez (Caballero B.C., Sacramento) RSC-2 Alexa Rodriguez (Blackfoot, Id.)
138 LBS.: Jackie Gomez (Left to Right B.C., Gilroy) dec. Jackietha Baker (Raleigh, N.C.), 25-10

BOYS
110 LBS.: Isidro Ochoa (Fresno PAL) dec. Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.), 7-5
114 LBS.: Ruben Villa IV (Back Yard B.C., Salinas) dec. Da'Reece Crawford (Kansas City, Mo.), 12-8
119 LBS.: Efren Lopez (Main Event B.C., Fresno) dec. Rogelio Cervantes (Kansas City, Mo.), 26-17

MEDALS

GOLD (6):
106 LBS. (GIRLS): Marisol Lopez (King's Gym, Avenal)
132 LBS. (GIRLS): Nancy Gutierrez (Caballero B.C., Sacramento)
138 LBS. (GIRLS): Jackie Gomez (Left to Right B.C., Gilroy)
110 LBS. (BOYS): Isidro Ochoa (Fresno PAL)
114 LBS. (BOYS): Ruben Villa IV (Back Yard B.C., Salinas)
119 LBS. (BOYS): Efren Lopez (Main Event B.C., Fresno)

BRONZE (6):
114 LBS. (GIRLS): Neesha Khan (Golden Gate B.C., San Francisco)
119 LBS. (GIRLS): Joselina Ortega (Velarde T.C., Fresno)
125 LBS. (GIRLS): Evelyn Borja (Velarde T.C., Fresno)
165 LBS. (BOYS): Gilbert Alvarez (Oakland Boxing)
176 LBS. (BOYS): David Gaitan (Round 12 B.C., Sacramento)
189 LBS. (BOYS): Tiofilo Bueno III (Tulare A.C.)

Norcalboxing.net's Ryan Maquiñana is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his weekly column for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, his archive for BoxingScene.com, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.

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