2008 San Diego Section Divisional Championships
East County mat men collect 7 CIF titles
San Diego Section Second Place Third Place Fourth Place Fifth Place Sixth Place San Diego Section Second Place Third Place Fourth Place Fifth Place Sixth Place |
Posted Feb. 20, 2008
The road to this year’s state wrestling tournament began with last Saturday’s San Diego Section divisional tournaments and continues with this weekend’s San Diego Section Masters state qualifying tournament at Mission Hills High School.
Competition in the 24-person weight brackets starts Friday, Feb. 22, and concludes with medal matches and finals Saturday, Feb. 23.
The top four place-finishers in each of 14 weight classes qualify for the two-day state tournament the following weekend.
The bulk of East County teams competed in the Division III tournament at Serra High School where Steele Canyon (second), Monte Vista (third), Valhalla (sixth), Mt. Miguel (ninth) and El Capitan (10th) all recorded top 10 team finishes.
The top six individual place-winners at the Division III championship qualified to compete at Masters.
Grossmont Conference teams walked out of the Conquistadors’ gym with four individual champions, 11 finalists and 37 Masters qualifiers.
Monte Vista led the contingent of East County teams with 13 Masters qualifiers, followed by Steele Canyon with 11 Masters qualifiers, Valhalla with five Masters qualifiers, Mt. Miguel and El Cajon Valley each with three Masters qualifiers and El Capitan with two Masters qualifiers.
Steele Canyon better positioned its wrestlers in the medal rounds, with 10 Cougars finishing among the top four place positions to eight for Monte Vista as the defending Grossmont South League champions out-pointed the reigning Grossmont Conference tournament champion Monarchs by seven points in the team standings.
Steele Canyon finished the Division III finals with 213 points, followed in third place by Monte Vista with 206 points. Valhalla totaled 110.5 points in sixth place while Mt. Miguel finished with 61 points in ninth place and El Capitan had 57 points in 10th place.
The Brawley Wildcats repeated as Division III champions with 257.5 points.
Steele Canyon’s Caleb Cardenas (121 pounds), Valhalla’s Shane Mallory (147 pounds) and Monte Vista’s Kenneth Tribble (162 pounds) and Steele Canyon's Ryan Esquibel (173) all captured individual weight class championships.
Cardenas pinned Brawley’s Oscar Lizzaraga in 5:43 while Mallory decisioned Mar Vista’s Joey Rillat by a 5-3 decision and Tribble out-pointed Brawley’s Freddy Vasquez 10-6 while Esquibel won an overtime match against his opponent from Brawley.
Taking runner-up finishes in their respective weight classes were Valhalla’s Tony Espinoza (105) and Ryan Schmehr (114), Monte Vista’s Hunter Beamon (127) and Shervin Iraniha (132) and Steele Canyon’s Todd Graff (142), Angel Ramirez (154) and Robert Forester (287).
Espinoza dropped an 8-0 major decision to Brawley’s Steve Elizalde while Beamon lost a last-second 6-5 match to the Wildcats’ Reece Leon. Montgomery’s Hector Hernandez edged Iraniha, 4-2, while Graff lost 9-3 to Brawley’s Alex Trinidad, Ramirez dropped an 8-6 decision to Brawley’s Mike Velasco and Forester lost by a 6-3 decision to Ramona’s Ryan Stone. Schmehr defaulted due to injury in his finals match against Brawley’s Alfonso Osuna.
Division II finals
West Hills finished eighth and Helix finished ninth in a field dominated by Mt. Carmel, Westview, Hilltop and Orange Glen.
Four Grossmont Conference mat men reached the finals, with Helix’s A.J. Agustin (114) and West Hills’ Rudy Ortega (217) both winning individual titles while West Hills’ Nick Gilchriest (162) and Grossmont’s Danny Demas (287) both recorded runner-up finishes.
The top six placers in each weight class advanced to Masters. Helix finished with six Masters qualifiers while West Hills totaled five Masters qualifiers and Grossmont had two grapplers advance to this weekend’s state qualifying tournament.
West Hills' Devon Goldberg (105) and Helix's Patrick Phalen (217) both placed third while West Hills' Jackson Kunz (135) finished fourth.
Division IV finals
Santana finished fifth as the lone East County team entered in the division. Tim Sherlock won the 132-pound title with a 12-9 decision against Valley Center's Wyatt Castner while Chris Edison finished second in the 217-pound division and Alex Augustine placed runner-up in his 137-pound class. Dan Slagle finished third at 154 pounds for the Sultans. Only the top four place-winners advanced to Masters.
Division I finals
Granite Hills placed 13th in the team standings in a dominant North County field that included Poway, La Costa Canyon, Vista, Carlsbad, El Camino and Fallbrook. Top individuals for the Eagles included Ryan Garat (sixth, 137), Jacob Castillo (sixth, 162), Zach McClanahan (seventh, 114), Victor Castro (seventh, 127) and Steve Martin (eighth, 121).
The top eight individuals from the Division I tournament qualify for Masters.