WESTON RANCH — Coming into the Valley Oak League opening match both, Weston Ranch and Sierra came in with expectations. Sierra’s expectations were more realistic, as the young Timberwoles proved to be little trouble for Weston Ranch in a 66-9 loss Tuesday.

The Cougars came in on the heels of an impressive showing during the Healdsburg Duals expecting a league showdown with Sierra. But a dilapidated Sierra unit squandered any chance at a match, forfeiting on more weights than it wrestled.

“I knew we were going to be forfeiting,” Sierra head coach Alex Nuanez said. “Even last year, I knew when we lost all of our studs, we knew coming into the season that we wouldn’t have any big kids.”

The matches that did take place were exciting, with both teams showing bright spots at one point or another. Daniel Guzman (120-pound) was able to land a pin, looking in mid-season form.  The Cougars also got a pin from 113-pound Luis Ochoa. It wasn’t all pleasant for the Cougars, falling victim to Sierra in two matches.

“It’s kind of hard as a team to wrestle when only half the guys are wrestling,” Cougars head coach Pat King said. “I give credit to a couple of guys that wrestled well, but you could see the other guys weren’t ready to wrestle.

“It’s usually the opposite where JV gets a few forfeits and varsity wrestles a full match, but tonight was a little bit different.”

The best match of the evening came at the 145-pound match between Weston Ranch’s Brandon Mungarro and Sierra’s Lucas Widmer. The two put together a clinic that went back-and-forth until it spilled into overtime. In overtime it was Widmer who would eventually score the winning two-point takedown.

“We told Lucas that if he wanted to wrestle varsity he had to come wrestle varsity,” Nuanez said. “He has been working really hard in the room; working with some of our heavier guys.

“We talked all week about that kid being 5-0 and winning the tournament; tonight I think Lucas wanted it more.”