A Vancouver 14 year old has risen to the top of the USA Boxing rankings.
Cain Elizondo Jr. is the top-ranked fighter in the 125-pound Intermediate division (ages 13-14) in the USA Boxing rankings released March 22.
His ascent comes after he won that division at the 2024 USA Boxing National Open in Albuquerque, N.M., earlier this month. He went undefeated over six bouts.
That event is part of Elizondo’s busy year. In February, he won the 2024 Silver Gloves Tournament in Missouri, the first of six national-level tournaments on his schedule this year.
Elizondo, who started boxing at 9, trains out of Young Guns Boxing in Vancouver. He took to the sport quickly and is a four-time Golden Gloves state champion.
Elizondo’s father, Cain Elizondo, said his son’s ultimate goal is to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The next step in that journey awaits in late June, when Elizondo will compete in the 2024 National Junior Olympics in Wichita, Kan.
Golder leads Volcanoes to pair of wins
The Vancouver Volcanoes earned a pair of victories over the weekend to remain atop The Basketball League’s Pacific Northwest Division at 5-1.
Friday, Vancouver earned a 122-84 home win over the Emerald City Jaguars. Markus Golder scored 23 point on 8 for 10 shooting to lead six Volcanoes in double-figures.
Martin Adams added 12 points on 5 for 5 shooting and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Vancouver clamped down on defense, holding Emerald City to 35 percent from the field and a single-game season low in points.
Sunday, Vancouver hit the road to earn a 107-95 win over Wenatchee. Golder scored 30 points, two short of his season high, and grabbed eight rebounds. His 25.0 points per game ranks ninth league-wide.
Trailing 78-74 after three quarters, the Volcanoes began the fourth quarter on a 14-3 run with Rashaun Coleman scoring eight of his 13 points in that stretch.
The Volcanoes have three games in four days later this week, starting with a Thursday road game at the Seattle Superhawks.
Vancouver returns home Saturday to face Wenatchee at 7 p.m. at Hudson’s Bay High School before hitting the road Sunday against Salem.
Schoenlein earns folkstyle All-American
Fresh off winning his second state championship, Skyview High School junior JJ Schoenlein earned All-American honors at the 2024 USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Wrestling for Vancouver-based Askeo International, Schoenlein placed sixth in the Junior Boys 175-pound division on March 17.
One month earlier, Schoenlein won the Class 4A 175-pound state championship at Mat Classic XXXV in Tacoma. His second state title came after a summer in which he was hospitalized with myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord that Schoenlein worried would end his wrestling career.
