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1979: Free throw misses doom Buffalo cagers in section final
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Fifty years ago, on March 12, 1959, Manteca High’s Tony Cardoza won the championship in the 120-pound class at the Sac-Joaquin Section wrestling tournament. He was also named the outstanding wrestler in the event after pinning Modesto High’s Jim Raley in just 30 seconds in the title match of the class. Cardoza, under the direction of Coach Ken Von Rueden, had an outstanding career for the Buffalo matmen that included a fourth place finish in the state tournament in his junior year.

In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:
90 years ago: March 7, 1919 - The Manteca Fire Department held its bi-monthly meeting Tuesday night and decided to organize a baseball team under the leadership of Jack Helper. Jack is quite a baseball fan and will make a good team if he gets proper support. There is a lot of good material in the department and we will no doubt see Manteca bringing home many victories this summer.

80 years ago: March 7, 1929 - At a meeting of the baseball directors Tuesday night, Benny Fauls was chosen playing manager for the team. J. J. “Babe” Napier is the business manager. Fauls is to have charge of all matters pertaining to the players and the field work of the club.
70 years ago: March 9, 1939 - The Manteca High baseball team got off to a successful start Tuesday afternoon by easily defeating Modesto High 9-3 in the opening game of their 1939 season. The extra-base hits were collected by Everett Correa, with two triples and a double and Frank Teicheira with a double.
The spring football practice session closed last Thursday afternoon when, in an intra-squad game, Lou Bronzan’s Green Shirts defeated Al Phillips’s White Shirts 30-0. Coach Larry Siemering indicated that he was well-pleased with the exhibition put on by the boys as a climax to a two-week successful practice session.

60 years ago: March 11, 1949 - Manteca High’s basketball team took their final blow in a winless season last Friday night. This time it was to the Sonora High team on the local hardwood. At the end of the game, the books showed Sonora 52, Manteca 39. Center Jess Payan held his own for the Buffaloes with 15 badly-needed points. Coach Bill Osterhaus’ Buffalo season mark was 0-16.
Milo Candini, Manteca’s gift to major league baseball and to the Washington Senators in particular, heads into the 1949 campaign with a life-time major league pitching record of 24-31. Last year, he won two games and lost three.

50 years ago: March 12, 1959 -
Six teams, made up of Lodi, Sharpe, Karl Ross, Ed Stewart, Escalon and McFall-Grisham Posts, will comprise the Junior Legion of the 11th District and will play a 20-game baseball season.

40 years ago: March 7, 1969 - Manteca High’s hustling 6-2 senior forward Lindsay Munoz was selected to the all-ValleyOak League basketball team chosen by the teams’ coaches last Monday night.
Manteca High’s golf team ran into a stumbling block Tuesday afternoon after getting off to three fast wins when they dropped an error-filled match to Modesto High, 210-228. Bob Bressani carded a 43 to lead the Buffaloes.
Manteca High’s baseball season got off on a sour note when they dropped a game to Los Banos High 13-2 on Friday afternoon. John Mattos got the lone RBI for Coach Walker Vick’s crew when he singled in Dennis Candini in the second inning.
The East Union High baseball team started its 1969 season off right last week as it opened with a win over Turlock High in a non-league exhibition game at East Union. The final score was 2-0. Senior shortstop Dennis Mullins scored the Lancers’ second run.
The Manteca High tennis team started their season off with a close win over Escalon High. Coach Dick Rocklewitz was encouraged with the performances of several questionable seniors.
The Manteca soccer team lost their match with the Aztecas of Lincoln last Sunday afternoon.

30 years ago: March 7, 1979 - Free throw accuracy, the factor which kept Manteca High’s basketball team alive in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, vanished Saturday during the class 2A finals against Rio Linda High. The Golden Empire League champions capitalized on the disappearance to edge the Buffaloes 49-47 in overtime. The loss ending Manteca’s season leaves the Buffs with a 22-6 record. MHS went only two of nine from the free throw line. In overtime alone, Coach Pat Douglass’s team missed all three charity shots, costing the Buffs a victory. Mitch Crawford led the Manteca scoring with 15 points, while Fred Nelson and Lance Cook had 10 each.
Four critical errors cost the Manteca High softball sluggers a 7-3 defeat to Atwater High at their season opener on Monday. Karen Steves and Robin Wilson led the Bufffaloes at bat, each belting an RBI triple and a single.
The Manteca High track team scored what must be considered an upset victory over Edison High of Stockton during a dual meet at Guss Schmiedt Field 68-41. Sergio Aguilar was a double winner for the locals with firsts in the mile (4:57.8) and the two-mile (10:27). Denise Negley led the Buffalo women with wins in the mile (6:02.6) and the two-mile (13:15.2).
East Union High finally got its track season under way Tuesday when the Lancer thinclads were tripped up by Tracy High 74-57. The Bulldog women also dropped EU 60-49. Herbie Joseph took firsts for the Lancers in both the high jump (5-10)  and the triple jump (38-4). Julie Johnson scored two wins for the EU women with firsts in the mile (5:51.2) and the two-mile (13:36.4).
Five errors by the Manteca High baseball team during a game with Edison High on Tuesday led to the Vikings handing the Buffaloes an 8-5 tumble. Mark Azevedo had a big day for the Buffs, hitting two doubles and a single and driving in two runs in four times at bat.
Regaining composure after a fifth-inning fallout, the East Union High softball team pulled out a 9-6 victory over Downey High of Modesto on Tuesday. Lisa Klingman led the Lancers at bat with two hits, scored three runs and had two RBI’s.
The Manteca High tennis team gained a tight 3-2 triumph over Davis High of Modesto on Tuesday. The doubles teams of John Anderson-Grant Brashears and Greg Toy-Allen Franscella grabbed wins for the Buffaloes, as did Jody Ruble.
Parents, boosters and athletes met at East Union High Wednesday night to rehash the winter sports season and give awards to the outstanding Lancer athletes. About 250 people attended the event. Center Alvin Stewart and guard Jimmy Agostini were named co-most valuable players on the basketball team. Other MVP’s were Lolita Hughes (women’s basketball), Richard Lawellin (wrestling), Robin Walther (gymnastics) and Abel Nevarez for soccer.
East Union High drubbed Tracy High 4-1 in baseball action Tuesday. Tim McDonald, Jim Agostini, Rigo Leon, Mike Lawton, Don Thornburg and Wilbur Harthoorn all had singles for the Lancers.
   
20 years ago: March 7, 1989 - Freshman Regina Miller pitched 5.1 innings and gave up only one earned run as East Union High opened the season with a 10-7 win over Tracy High in softball action Tuesday afternoon at Northgate Park.
Dave Ennes, Betsey McCall and Mike Henry gave Manteca High a near sweep of the top honors in the VOL basketball post-season awards Monday. Ennes and McCall each earned the VOL’s Most Valuable Player awards while boys hoop coach Henry was named Coach of the Year for leading his team to the league championship. Ennes was joined on the boys all-league team by East Union High’s 6-2 senior Robert Randall and Armando Avina, a 6-1 sophomore. Lady Buff Kelly Iorio joined McCall as the only other Mantecan on the all-league women’s team.
The Manteca High winter sports coaches honored 28 players from four sports and nine teams at the Buffaloes’ winter sports social Wednesday night. Tony Navarro and Dave Jones split the wrestling honors when they were named co-most valuable performers. Dave Ennes and Betsey McCall were named most valuable in boys and girls basketball, respectively. The VOL champion soccer team was led by most valuable player Oscar Castellanos.
Lathrop’s Scott Brooks scored 15 points Tuesday night in Chicago to help his Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls 90-88, their third win over the Bulls this season.
The East Union High girls track team took second and the boys team finished fourth in a four-team meet at Calaveras High in San Andreas Wednesday afternoon. Lodi, Galt and host Calaveras were the other schools. The only boys win was by Freddie Jones in the 200 meters with a time of 24.82. In the girls’ action the 4x100 relay team of Holly Gleaton, Jyl Phelps, Leicha Gomez and Carrie Stringfellow beat out Lodi High with a time of 54.05. An all-freshman team of Stringfellow, Gomez, Kirsten Nelson and Michelle Gomez won the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:36.73. Leicha Gomez won the 400 meters in a time of 56.84 for Coach Dave Soeth’s girls.
Danville’s Monte Vista High golf team used a balanced effort on their home course to defeat the winless Manteca High golfers at the Round Hill Country Club Thursday afternoon. The final score was 209-236. Returning VOL MVP Rick Mullen, fresh off the league champion basketball team, led the Buffaloes with a round of 42.
Manteca High graduate Paul Brogan was recently named the co-MVP of the Northern California Athletic Conference. Brogan is a senior on the California State University-Stanislaus basketball team, which will be playing Centre College in Danville, Kentucky today in the first round of the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.
The East Union High golf team extended their win streak to eight straight matches with a 196-204 victory over the Bret Harte High team on the hilly Forest Meadows Golf Course Friday afternoon in Angels Camp. Jason Adams led the EU charge with a round of 34 on the par-30 course. Vern Gebhardt is the Lancer coach.
Rick Camacho’s two-out grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning capped the East Union High come-from-behind 8-3 victory over Tokay High in the final game of the Dave Abel tournament in Modesto Saturday. Coach Darrell Hardcastle’s team is now 3-4 on the young baseball season.

10 years ago: March 6, 1999 -
Smacking the ball with relentless authority, East Union High stung visiting Franklin High 16-1 Friday afternoon at Agostini Field in 4.5 innings. The Lancers busted loose with a nine-run fourth inning to put the game out of reach. J. T. Hardcastle smacked his second homer in as many games, a two-run shot in the second frame, to power the reigning Section champions. Andrew Rossman had a double among his three hits and three RBI’s for Coach Darrell Hardcastle’s crew.
Johansen High defeated winless Manteca High 13-3 during the Ceres Tournament on Friday. Kip Lee and Jason Harmon combined to give up just five hits to the Vikings. Lee and Vernon Canady belted doubles for the Buffaloes, who actually out-hit Johansen with seven hits to their credit.
The clutch sticks of Robert Perkins and Ryan Burgess boosted Sierra High in front and Troy Vick put the exclamation point on an 8-4 baseball victory over Ceres High Friday afternoon. Vick pounded a three-run, sixth-inning shot over the center field fence.
Manteca High’s Efren Ceballos, the VOL’s best lower-weight wrestler, had his season come to an end Saturday for the second consecutive year, just one victory shy of claiming a medal at the CIF State Wrestling Meet at the University of the Pacific. Ceballos, a 121-pound junior, lost 10-3 in the fourth round to Mission San Jose High’s Randy Katz.
Showing remarkable poise and confidence, freshman pitcher Amanda Tucker fired a complete game three-hitter with 10 strikeouts as Sierra High trounced visiting Downey High 9-1 in a six-inning game on Monday. Coach Nicole Burrows’s Lady Timberwolves backed up Tucker’s pitching by pounding out 15 hits and taking advantage of seven Downey errors. Tucker and Deanna Mattison each had a pair of hits and Mattison’s output included two runs scored and two stolen bases.