Fifty years ago, on December 1, 1965, Manteca High tackle Don Widmer was named first–team tackle on the San Francisco Chronicle’s All-Northern California prep football team. The Nor-Cal team is selected by 200 coaches from Fresno to the Oregon border. Widmer was the only member of the Valley Oak League to make the Nor-Cal first team.

In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:

80 years ago: December 19, 1935 – Playing a superior brand of basketball, St. Mary’s High drilled Manteca High to the tune of 28 to 19 last night on the local floor. This was the second time this season the two schools have met. Manteca won the first game. Harold Reynolds and Ed Bobson were high point men for the Buffaloes.

60 years ago: December 22, 1955 – A sharp-shooting quintet of Panthers from Modesto High ran up a 15 to 4 lead after one quarter of play and went on to defeat Manteca High 59-41 in a non-league game played in the Modesto gym last Tuesday. Don Ganes was the top scorer for Manteca with 12 points, eight of them coming on free throws.

50 years ago: December 17, 1965 – Manteca High opened the 65-66 basketball season on a happy note Tuesday evening, but it had to come from behind to down Atwater High 68-66. Leading the Buffalo attack was John Newton with 20 points.

40 years ago: December 17, 1975 – Last Friday, the defending champion Mid-Valley Soccer League team from Manteca High overcame their first major obstacle in the defense of their title in beating a good Beyer High team 3-1 in Manteca. Dan Gwinnup scored two goals for the Buffaloes and Jon Steele added the other.

In spite of the heroics of Dana Johns and Lori Watson, the Oakdale High gymnastics team stormed to an easy win over Manteca High last week. Johns won the vaulting, beam and free exercise phases of the competition, while Miss Watson took first in the vaulting and floor exercises.

Pins by 133-pound Andy Franco and heavyweight Bill DeGroot highlighted East Union High’s wrestling victory over visiting Hilmar High last Thursday at EU’s Dalben Center.

The East Union High gymnastics team was forced to come from behind to defeat a strong Sonora High squad 31-29 last week. Karen Schneider was a standout for the Lancers, taking first in the vault and a second in floor exercise behind teammate Janet Walther.

George Cedano played the hero role to the hilt Tuesday night as he fired up a running jump shot with two seconds on the clock to give Manteca High a thrilling 55-53 basketball win over Beyer High.

Tuesday night saw the highly-rated Escalon High team play a different brand of basketball, finally catching fire in the second half to pin a 59-45 defeat on the host East Union High five. Ron Hamamoto paced all scorers with 16 points in a losing cause, followed by Jeff Baker with 11 counters.

Playing with two freshmen in the lineup, the Manteca High girls’ basketball team saw a one-point half time lead melt into a narrow 33-32 loss to Livermore High Tuesday afternoon. Karen Steves ended up the game’s leading scorer with 11 points and Brenda Handy added 10 more.

30 years ago: December 16, 1985 – Manteca’s Ted Nuce has a pair of belt buckles and $107,872 to prove that he’s the best at what he does. And that just happens to be riding bulls. Nuce capped a brilliant performance in the 27th annual National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada Sunday afternoon by scoring 90 points in the final go-round to capture the first place money and World Champion title for 1985.

Leading almost the entire game at Los Banos High, the Manteca High cagers let the game slip away Tuesday night to lose 58-56 in overtime to the Tigers. Andy Hulsebosch and Kevin Frisk led the Buffalo scorers with 14 points each, and Joe Dias added 11. MHS outrebounded the host Tigers 40-24.

Coming from a two-point halftime deficit, East Union High defeated Beyer High 68-58 in a non-league basketball game in Modesto Tuesday night. Sophomore Gary Kron led the Lancer scoring with 22 points, 10 of those in the third period. Joe Gonzales added 16 more and Mark Waterman meshed 14.

Tim Hamm made “meat” of the Oakdale High defense when East Union High’s soccer team opened the season with a 4-2 VOL victory on a cold Wednesday afternoon on the EU field. Hamm scored three goals, all from about 10 yards out. Gabriel Gutierrez scored the other Lancer goal.

With a 24-point lead at the start of the match due to forfeits, the rugged Oakdale High wrestling team defeated the young, undermanned East Union High team 57-12 in Wednesday night’s VOL meeting in the EU gym. In the final bout of the match, 175-pounder Mark Joseph got the only Lancer pin of the evening.

A strong Escalon High team defeated the Manteca High wrestlers 51-24 Wednesday night in the Manteca gym. The Buffalo pins were by Robert McGhee (119) and Brian Briggs at 126.

Manteca High kept the host Modesto High soccer team at bay for the first half of their game Thursday but the Panthers scored three unanswered goals in the second half to win, 6-2. The Buffaloes got scores from freshman Aaron Spradlin and junior Melvin Armstrong.

In the semi-final game of the Stagg Tournament, Manteca High’s girls’ basketball team beat Sacramento-St. Francis High 45-40. The Lady Buffs placed Joette Lucas and Michelle Gale on the all-tourney team.

In the same tourney, East Union High defeated Pittsburg High 67-58 to reach the consolation finals. Kelly Horton paced EU with 15 points, Debbie Paradzinski and Tracy Lee collected 14 each and Dina Ueda and Stacy Lee meshed 12 and 11, respectively.

20 years ago: December 16, 1995 – Sierra High’s offense was sputtering in the first half, so the T’wolves gassed it up with a high octane defense in the third quarter in rallying for a 55-46 victory over host Linden High at the Linden Basketball Tournament on Friday night. Trailing by 21-14 at the half, SHS was paced by balanced scoring as Demar Sutton and John Thomson each tallied 10 points.

East Union High came roaring back with 19 points in the fourth quarter to upend Benicia High 45-42 in the second round of the Armijo Tournament in Fairfield on Friday. Jeff Abrew and Shane Lewis each scored 12 points to pace the Lancers.

The East Union High girls rallied for a 49-46 win over Bear Creek High at the Stagg Tournament on Friday in Stockton. Jessie Hardcastle had six of her game-high 14 points in the fourth quarter rally.

For the third time this soccer season, the Sierra High girls overpowered Tracy High with a flurry of goals for a 7-2 win in the Lincoln Tournament on Friday in Stockton. Coach Manuel Pires’ Lady T’wolves, who are now 11-0, had goals from Aryel Powers, Jenny Amaya, Monica Pires, Angela Allgaier, Bobbie Roudebush, Cheree Wax and Amanda Enfield.

In the same tourney, East Union High bounced Stagg High 4-1. Meghan Harris scored a hat trick with three goals and Miranda Souza also found the net for the Lady Lancers.

After Sonora High had closed to within three points with just four matches to go, Manteca High racked up three straight pins to clinch a 43-28 wrestling victory in Sonora on Thursday night. The Buffalo trio of Dustin Kuykendall (171), Robert Miller (189) and Leland Campbell (215) each shouldered their opponents. Earlier Buff pins were by Jeremy Nuding (112) and Elizar Ceballos (140).

The East Union High wrestlers fell behind early and never came back in a 44-25 loss to Los Banos High. The only pins for the Lancers were by Josh York (160) and Carlos Herrera (215).

James Ward pumped in a game-high 29 points and Jason Crawford added 14 points and pulled down six rebounds to help pick up the slack for the Manteca High basketball team after high-scoring senior Bryan Lucas had turned his ankle as the Buffaloes beat San Francisco-McAteer High 74-68 in the first round of the Tracy Tournament. Lucas scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds despite the injury.

Manteca High took a blow out 7-0 soccer win from Ceres High this week. The Lady Buffs had an overwhelming 34-3 advantage in shots-on-goal. Bridgette Madden and Jamie Plaisted scored two goals each, while Mary Spiker, Lyndsey McDonald and Michelle Haynie all scored one for Coach Bill Noceti’s squad.

Audrey Jackson scored 16 points in her first game back from an ankle injury and the Manteca High girls had a well-balanced attack Wednesday in an impressive 57-44 win over Tracy High. Stacy Cardiel also scored 16 for the Lady Buffs and Celina Paredes tallied 13. 

Escalon High scored 30 points in the first quarter to jump out to an early lead Thursday and went on to take a 57-27 win over the Sierra High girls. The loss came despite an outstanding effort by Shawna Coplen, who scored 11 points to lead the Lady T’wolves. Coach Dan Cunial’s senior-less girls are now 1-5 on the season.

10 years ago: December 21, 2005 – The East Union High basketball team triumphed over Escalon High on Tuesday as the Lancers handed the Cougars a 54-34 loss. EU’s pressure defense forced the Cougars into 15 first-half turnovers while Escalon continually struggled at rebounding off the offensive glass. Jordan McDaniel was the game’s leading scorer, putting up 15 of his 20 points in the first two quarters. The Lancers converted 10 times from beyond the three-point stripe. Steffen Spinks added 11 points to the winning total.

Sierra High held Oakmont High to just two points in the final period and took home the consolation championship of the Rocklin Tournament with a 48-33 victory last night. The fourth quarter defense was led by Marvin Cotton’s five rebounds of his game-total nine boards. Michael Elder led the Timberwolves with 16 points, earning all-tournament honors.