Young boxers rumble in St. Ignatius

ST. IGNATIUS — The Second Annual Mission Valley Rumble went off with a punch on Friday night at the St. Ignatius Community Center. High school students from across the valley came out with gloves swinging to face off against each other in three rounds of officiated boxing for the entertainment of fans from far and wide.

After covering the $2,600 in expenses, admissions and sponsors raised about $2,000 each for the St. Ignatius Little Guy Wrestling and football programs with another $340 going to youth basketball.

And fans were not disappointed, with state-sanctioned referee Russ Hanson keeping things safe and former Golden Gloves champs Lloyd Phillips and Ben Corral coaching from the corners. It was run just like in the pros.

Mission girls’ basketball coach Les Rice announced and ring girls Cara Gravagno and Jasmine Gilleard of St. Ignatius and Mary Barnett of Dixon added to the fan fare.

In the first bout, Scotty “The Quiet Giant” Gilleard of Mission made quick work of Ronan’s Riley “Thunder Fist” Dennis by a unanimous decision.

The two featherweights weren’t the first pair of wrestlers that got their final say in the ring.

Three-time wrestling state champ Hunter “Beast from the East” Azure of Poplar got one last shot at Mission’s own wrestler Michael Beebe next, and came out ahead in the well-fought battle.

In the third bout, it was time for the heavyweights. One good shot from either Thomas “The Pain Train” Trahan or Nick “The Giant” Dinnell, both from Mission, was all it would take to see a man hit the floor. But the two kept each other at bay and forced a split decision that went to Dinnell.

And then it was the time for the first bout between women fighters. If Ronan’s Sadie “I Make Boys Cry” McMillan didn’t prove her strength and endurance by winning a gold medal in last week’s state track meet, she did it by pummeling Mission’s Alexandria “The Great” Trejo to win by a unanimous decision.

Cameron “The Crip Keeper” Neiss, another state wrestling champ, out-maneuvered and out-reached Charlo’s Josh “The Player” Christensen to get his jabs in and take the split-decision win.

Next up, Ronan wrestler Tyler “Thunder Fist” Wheeler plain wore out Mission’s Travis “Big Daddy” Dumont in the battle of endurance.

Wheeler said boxing is about more than throwing punches, after his first time in a ring.

“It’s pretty exhausting,” he said. “It just kills by the second round.”

And the best bout so far, according to Wheeler.

“I have to say Sadie’s was the best,” he said. “She’s a tough girl. I wouldn’t want to box her.”

In the seventh bout, the ladies were up again.

This time it was an all-Mission battle. Mackenzie “Tough and Mighty” Trudeau took Rayanna “The Hard Rain” Ranel in that one.

Arlee’s David “The Goliath Crusher” Plant TKO’d Mission’s Ben “The Nail Pounder” Nelson in the second round to wrap up the first half of boxing.

For intermission, the fans got a taste of gore.

“We’re gonna have something we didn’t have last year,” Rice announced. “A mixed martial arts fight. It’s gonna be crazy.”

It was crazy. Barely into the first found, Mission graduate Julian Hendrickson completely dislocated his elbow in a battle with Nick Morango.

“Ew,” Rice said. “I’m not even sure what to say on that.”

And back to boxing.

Micky “The Storm” Cheff took down Mission’s Riley Charlo in a split decision to get things going again.

Next a couple of brand new Mission high schoolers, just graduated from eighth grade, did battle.

Barret “Boom Boom” Sargent beat Nico “Knockout U Out” Alexander when the ref stopped the match in the final round.

Ronan’s Mike “The Bone Breaker” Fisher outlasted Mission’s Richard “The Undertaker” Downing III in one of the hardest fought and closest matches of the evening.

“If you look up ‘get after it’ in the dictionary, that’s what you’re going to see,” Rice said.

In another close one, Mission’s Jake “Hard Knuckles” Durglo beat Toby “The Tough Tank” Cheff by a single point on the judges’ score cards.

In the last girls’ bout, Mission’s McKenzie “The Mighty” Hegwood beat rival schoolmate Sierra “The God Mother” Scott.

The two had a history and Hegwood, was happy to leave it all in the ring.

“We said before, ‘no hard feelings after this match, let’s get it all out here,’” she said.

And winning the bout felt good.

“Nobody thought I’d win so I proved them wrong,” she said.

The final bout of the night between Charlo’s Devin “The Stun Gun” Beaur and Mission’s Monty “The Grizzly” Bauchman was the bloodiest. Beaur drew first blood with a shot to the chin in the first round, but Bauchman rebounded to bloody Beaur’s nose in the second and ultimately took the match by split decision.

All in all, it was a successful day, Mission High School Principal Jason Sargent said.

“The kids have a lot of fun and the fans seem to enjoy it,” he said. “It brings a lot of people to St. Ignatius. The kids have a lot of courage to step into the ring. Hats off to everyone. They all did a great job.”

It’s a rough sport but a sport just the same, Sargent said.

“They wouldn’t do it in the Olympics if it wasn’t.”