Newport Beach’s Valdes to compete in first Winter Olympics

The U.S. women’s ice hockey team pulled off a 3-2 upset over Canada in the gold-medal game on Thursday, an electrifying six-round shootout win that gave Americans a memorable moment in the Olympics.

For anyone who is still looking for a reason to stay connected to the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, look no further than Newport Beach’s very own Carlo Valdes.

A former multi-sport athlete in football and track and field at Mater Dei High and UCLA, Valdes will be competing in the four-man bobsled competition. The event will air at 5 p.m. on NBC on Friday and Saturday.

Valdes, who is 27, will be competing in his first Olympics. He was named to the team in January.

“Carlo was a true multi-sport athlete at Mater Dei,” Monarchs track and field coach Rick Martinez said. “He played football and ran sprints for us on the track team. What was most remarkable was that he also threw the discus and was one of the best in CIF.

“It never surprised me that he was a Winter Olympian. He was always an incredible multi-talented athlete.”

While at Mater Dei, Valdes set the school record in the boys’ discus with a 169-foot throw in his senior year in 2008.

The Monarchs’ discus record now belongs to Malik McMorris (194-7¾, Arcadia Invitational, 2015). McMorris has continued his athletic career in football and track and field at Cal.

Valdes will utilize the explosive, quick-twitch muscles of a wide receiver or a sprinter and the strength of a thrower as a push athlete for Team USA’s four-man bobsled team.

Justin Olsen will be the driver of the sled. Nathan Weber and Chris Fogt will be the other pushers.

Eight local wrestlers head off to Masters

Local high school wrestlers are attempting to reach the pinnacle of their own sport.

The CIF Southern Section Masters meet will be contested on Friday and Saturday at Temecula Valley High. The top nine placers in each weight class will advance to the CIF State championship meet at Bakersfield’s Rabobank Arena on March 2-3.

Fountain Valley will be sending Dylan Zotea (126 pounds), Max Wilner (145), Trenton Ching (160) and Jacob Taub (170) to Masters.

The quartet is one greater than the number of Barons that qualified for Masters last season, when 2017 state-meet qualifier Karson Ayres, Merrick O’Donnell and George Sykes made the cut.

Sunset Leaguers account for all of the area’s representatives at Masters, as Edison and Marina each have two wrestlers competing.

Senior transfers Elijah Palacio (132), from Calvary Chapel and Jared Williams (152), from Manhattan Beach Mira Costa will take to the mats for the Chargers. Both reached the state meet last year, and each is coming off winning their weight class at the section’s Southern Division finals last Saturday.

Marina takes John McCoy (145) and Danny Escamilla (285) to the tournament. McCoy placed second in the CIF finals for the second year in a row, dropping a tight 7-6 decision to Wilner.

CIF Southern Section Masters meet

Where: Temecula Valley High

When: Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday

Fan Info: Adult admission is $10 on Friday and $12 on Saturday. Tickets for students with valid ID and children between the ages of 3-13 will cost $5 per person on both days

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner