Fillmore Youth Football and Cheer will be having Sign-Ups for the 2011 Season on Saturday, March 26th – 10AM-2PM, Tuesday, March 39th and Thursday, March 31 from 6-8PM. All Registrations will be conducted at Mountain Vista Cafeteria. Costs: Football $230 Cheer $75. For questions please contact John Holladay at #805-797-6804.

Corey Cole
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St. Paul Minnesota, Concordia University, head football coach Mark Mauer has announced that Fillmore High School’s Quarterback Corey Cole has officially signed with the Golden Bears. Coach Mauer commented on the team’s overall recruiting class, “We are excited about our incoming class; we filled our position needs while bringing in a very talented group of young men.”

Corey will be the backup quarterback to Senior Spencer Ohm for the 2011 Season. He will be joining an elite group of athletes which for the 2010 season finished 8-4 overall. The Golden Bears finished with the third ranked passing attack in their conference and the offensive line protected it's skill position players to the point where the offense committed only 13 turnovers in 12 games. Only nine teams in the nation (151 teams) committed fewer turnovers on the season than Concordia football.

An All-CIF Quarterback, All-County MVP, Team Captain and Team MVP, Corey has been invited to play in this year’s All-County Football Game in June. He will leave for Concordia in July to join the Golden Bears as they prepare for their upcoming season. Corey is the son of Craig and Lynn Cole and the younger brother of Concordia’s starting offensive guard Curtis Cole.

Video Highlights from CIF competition. See match report following videos for full details.

Fillmore Wrestling CIF Conaway's First Match

Fillmore Wrestling CIF Orosco's First Match

Fillmore Wrestling CIF Zavala Second Match

Fillmore Wrestling CIF Conaway's Third Match

Dear Flashes Baseball Supporters:

My name is Matt Suttle and I am once again the Head Baseball Coach at Fillmore High School. I am extremely honored and privileged to return to this program that has such a rich baseball tradition. Fillmore has won 22 league titles, four CIF titles and countless Junior Varsity championships. I understand what it means to wear a Flashes’ uniform having been a member of three league championship teams during the early 1980’s. I am looking forward to carrying on this proud tradition at my alma mater. The success of our program on the field throughout the years has been a joint effort with our local community; together we’ve been a great team!

Budget cuts in our schools make it difficult for our program to operate. I believe in providing our athletes with the best safety equipment and supplies. I want our athletes to feel good about who they are and where they come from. Therefore, I am extending this invitation for your organization to join our sponsorship program. The sponsorship program will help defray the costs of equipment for more than 30 athletes in our program as well as facility upgrades.

The Diamond Club sponsorship program will allow your organization to directly sponsor one of our student athletes. A full player or position sponsorship is $75. Sponsors may purchase the full sponsorship or a partial sponsorship ($25). Each player may have up to four sponsors. The sponsor’s name will appear in The Fillmore Gazette along with the name of the player and his position. Players of the week will be selected throughout the season. A picture of the player and their sponsors listed below them will appear in the local newspaper.

If you would like to participate in the Diamond Club sponsorship program please make your check payable to “Fillmore High School Baseball” and mail it to:

Matt Suttle
555 Central Ave
Fillmore, Ca 93015

For more information, please call me or leave a message at (805) 625-2639. On behalf of the entire Flashes Baseball program, I want to thank you for your time, your consideration and your generous support.

Thank you.

Flashes attend and participate in the CIF Southern Section Central Division Individual Wrestling Tournament this past weekend.

The host school was Colony High School in Ontario. The tournament was run extremely well with six mat of wrestling action taking place from 11 AM on Friday to 7 PM.
To advance to the Quarter, Semi and Finals on Saturday a wrestler would have to win three matches in the double elimination tournament. On average each weight bracket had about 30 wrestlers competing. By rough calculations that equates to 420 wrestlers participating in the tournament.

Flashes earning the right to represent their school were; Robert Bonilla, Mark Zavala, Kyle Castaneda, Jonathon Minero, Alex Rivera, Christian Conaway, Marco Vega and Sammy Orosco.

Wrestlers who had a bye the first round were; Minero, Rivera and Orosco.
Conaway won his first match by pin. The remainder of the Flashes lost their first match.

Zavala won his second match by injury forfeit. Orosco won his second round match by pin. Conaway wrestled the #1 seed and lost by pin, the remainder of the Flashes lost their second round matches.

Conaway won his third round match by pin in 25 seconds. Most of the other Flashes lost their third round matches and were eliminated from the competition.

Orosco and Conaway advanced to the 4th round. Conaway lost his fourth round match with less than 1 second remaining in the 1st period. Both Conaway and his opponent were wrestling like fighting snakes on the mat with each earning take down points, and back points and reversal points during the first period. The official questioned the timer to see if the pin call happened on the buzzer or after. It was ruled that the pin was at the buzzer which handed Conaway his fourth loss eliminating him from advancing further.
Orosco wrestled the #1 seed in his weight class for the fourth round. Sammy lost the match on points. Sammy went the full count with the #1 seed and wasn’t pinned, which was an amazing feat.

Orosco advanced to wrestle on Saturday but was handed his second loss by points.

Hats off to Flashes Wrestling and the Wrestlers for having a vision all season and staying focused on their goal. While the outcome wasn’t the dream finish some had hoped for they represented themselves with pride, wrestled full speed all year under a very aggressive 40 match season (not including League Finals or CIF ) and earned the respect of the Tri Valley League and beyond.
All of their success wouldn’t have been possible if it were not for Coach Bob Calderon who donates so much of his time, talent and resources. He’s coached Flashes Wrestling for 24 years and does so with passion for the sport and the kids. Coach Manual Ponce is the driving force for motivating and teaching the wrestlers. Coach Cal and Coach Manual work well together as can be verified by the number of dedicated wrestler who earned league championships.

Flashes CIF Video Match Highlights to be uploaded shortly.

Looking forward the Flashes will have their Wrestling Banquet and awards.

A select few Flashes Wrestlers will get an early start to their day Friday, February 18. Coach Bob will load up 8 Flashes that qualified to compete in the CIF Southern Section Central Division Individuals and will hit the road at 5:30 AM. The squad will travel to Colony High School in Ontario for the 8 AM sign ins, followed by the 9 AM weight check. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 11 AM.

To prepare for CIF Individuals the squad has practiced with other Tri-Valley League elite wrestlers who will be competing at the event. Fillmore, Nordoff and Santa Paula have been working out together and running drill after drill to fine tune their skills. The workouts have been good for many as the new routines have caused them to rethink their norms and try new skills.

Coach Bob provided some clarity to the wrestlers during a brief break on Tuesday. With his squad of wrestlers gathered around him he said, "It's up to you, if you want it you have to have heart and go out and get it. That doesn't apply just to wrestling that applies to life in general". Well said Coach.

For the 2010-2011 season Fillmore Flashes Wrestling has stood up to make a statement about who they are and what they are capable of. This coming weekend the Flashes will be tested. As with physically demanding sports, an athlete’s health can be a factor due to the length of the season, this may be the case this weekend. Win or lose, we know what is in the hearts of these young men.

Representing their League, their school and now themselves this weekend are:
Robert Bonilla
Mark Zavala
Kyle Castaneda
Jonathon Minero
Alex Rivera
Christian Conaway
Marco Vega
Sammy Orozco

Trivia. It's not uncommon to see military influence at large tournaments. Why would the Navy or Army have a presence at a wrestling tournament? During one conversation with an Armed Forces Representative it was gleaned that the members present were from elite sections of our military, Rangers and SEALS to reference a few. Sound strange? Their answer as to why they have a presence says it all. We know wrestlers are tough, they're physically fit, they are disciplined, they follow direction, they don't give up, they don't harbor ill will or linger on a loss, they get back up and try again and they do it over and over again. These are the same qualities that a successful Special Forces member must possess.

This week the focus is on our Lady Flashes Wrestlers. Female High School Wrestling is a sport recognized by CIF, in which female wrestlers can earn their Letter in. The sport is the great equalizer and the rules are the same for males as they are for females. Talent and ability is rewarded based upon the athletes performance. Today's video clips highlight some of the Lady Flashes at the Tri Valley League Finals. By all accounts female participating in the sport is on the upswing.

Alvarez vs Santa Paula Championship Match

F Zavala vs Santa Paula Championship Match

Rivera vs Nordoff Championship Match

Coach Calderon with his team.
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Numerous Flashes earn league Championships at the 2010-2011 Tri Valley League Individual Championship Tournament
On Thursday, 2/3/11, The Flashes Wrestlers traveled to New Jewish Community Center in West Hills for the Tri Valley League Individual Championships hosted by New Jewish Community High School. The Jaguars are year two into their wrestling program. Based upon the physical conditioning and team growth rate since last year their future looks bright. They did an outstanding job hosting the League Finals by all measurements.
Several of the Flashes wrestlers had their game face on early in the day. Some teams can be described as “mat rats”, always on the mat and moving. The Flashes have been called “mat possums” by Coach Cal. By all outward appearances they look dead then come to life at the Officials starting whistle. The Flashes are introverted and almost silent while waiting for the action to begin. They walk slow, but with purpose, heading to the score table. Yep, mat possums says it all.
Prior to each wrestler taking to the mat the team “sends out” their wrestler. It’s the equivalent of a lying on of hands sort of thing accompanied by a team shout of the wrestlers name or nickname and the team motto. Early in the season the team came up with the motto “DO WORK”. Fitting for a team who had their eyes on the prize and knew what it’d take to get there. And get there they did. Their effort can be seen by the Individual league results below.
First and Second Place in each weight category advance to CIF Individuals, for the rest their season is over. Expectations ran high amongst the Flashes Coaching Staff and the Team. Parents and Fans also had high expectations for a lengthened season. And the results are in:
105 Girls: Felicity Zavala 1st
160 Girls: Alexis Ramirez 1st
119: Robert Bonilla 2nd
130: Mark Zavala. 1st
135: Kyle Castenada 1st
140: Johnny Minero 1st
145: Alex Rivera 1st
152: Christian Conaway 1st
215: Sammy Orosco 1st
Additionally the League awards two wrestlers with MVP status based upon their record and effort throughout the season. Flashes Co-Captain Christian Conaway, 33-7, was awarded the Upper Weight Tri Valley League MVP by unanimous vote. The Flashes took home a Team tournament 2nd Place and 2nd Place in Team League Standing for the season.
The Individual CIF Southern Section Division Individual Tournament will be held February 19 and 20th. The location is TBA. “DO WORK” and Go Flashes!