2005-06 Grossmont Conference Preview:
El Capitan wrestlers show strength in defense of league title

By Phillip Brents
Posted Jan. 16, 2006

When talking about the top three high school wrestling teams in the Grossmont Conference, one has to mention the defending Grossmont North League El Capitan Vaqueros. Through starting out slow because of injuries and illness, El Capitan expects to take its place among the East County elite by season’s end.

Nathan Neuhardt rates to be the team’s marquee grappler once he returns to good health. He placed sixth at last season's San Diego Masters state qualifying tournament, missing the state cut by two places. Neuhardt finished first in his 119-pound division at the preceding San Diego Section Division III finals after winning his weight class at the Grossmont Conference championship tournament.

While Neuhardt has mended from a bout with pneumonia, Anthony Sangermano (125), T.J. Herrera (171) and Josh Garcia (275) have been piling up wins on the mat.

Sangermano opened the season with a second-place finish at the Carlsbad Invitational before going 4-1 at the La Costa Canyon duals the following week. He finished runner-up to Helix’s Stephen Alvarez (2004 Division II champion at 103 pounds) by an 11-3 decision in the finals of the 2005 San Diego Holiday Invitational to sport an 11-4 record.

Herrera finished third at both the Carlsbad and LCC duals and matched that at the 2005 SDI with a 5-1 mark to improve to 14-3 on the season.

Garcia placed second at both the Carlsbad and LCC tourneys to open the season with an impressive 10-1 record. He finished fourth at the 38-team SDI to up that mark to 13-3.

There could be other surprises: Philip Kelly (160) came out of the team’s opening two tournaments (both third-place finishes) with a 9-3 record.

Then there is that prospect of a full and healthy lineup the second half of the season. El Capitan coach Frank Ludwig said the Vaqueros' rise to prominence can be attributed to concentrating on the fundamentals. “Our motto this year is the desire to be a champion and the dedication to become one,” he said.

Ludwig said the team's current philosophy calls to mind the work ethic of the school's powerhouse wrestling team from the 1970s. “We went back to ‘old school'’ — wrestling hard for six minutes,” Ludwig said.

So far, it appears to be paying off.

Monte Vista Invitational
El Capitan placed seventh in the team standings — fifth among San Diego Section teams — at the Monte Vista Invitational Jan. 7 at Monte Vista High School. The Vaqueros finished the 26-team tournament with four medalists: Neuhardt (second, 119), Herrera (third, 171), Sangermano (fourth, 125) and Garcia (fourth, 275).

El Capitan finished 10 points behind sixth-place Gilbert, Ariz., and 34 points behind tourney-host Monte Vista (fifth place). Defending state champion Poway, sending its full varsity team, captured the team title with 386.5 points ahead of runner-up Vista (231.5 points) and third-place Temecula Valley (140.5 points) from the Southern Section.

Central Union, Torrey Pines and Mira Mesa rounded out the top 10 teams. Steele Canyon finished 17th while El Cajon Valley tied for 23rd in the team standings.

Neuhardt, who was seeded second in his weight class, defeated Escondido’s Matt Redden by a 13-1 major decision in the semifinals to advance to the championship match against Poway’s Joey Boone, who captured the weight class with a 4:43 pin. It was just the ninth match on the season for Neuhardt, who saw his record fall to 6-3. Boone, who was coming off a fifth-place finish at the prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions over the winter break after opening the season ranked fourth in the state, improved to 15-3.

Herrera, who finished the tournament with four pins, defeated Temecula Valley’s Dana Richardson by a 2:52 fall to finish third in his weight class. The Vaquero grappler pinned his way to the semifinals against Poway’s Greg Prioleau, a seventh-place finisher at the monster Reno tournament.

Sangermano also advanced to the semifinals before losing to Monte Vista’s Rudy Simmons. Seeded third in his weight class, Sangermano came back with an 18-2 win by technical fall against Central Union’s Shawn Colby-Galindo in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place match against Calexico’s Landon Lopez, who stopped the El Capitan wrestler by an 11-1 major decision.

Garcia suffered a semifinal-round loss to Poway’s Nick Wood before bouncing back with a 2:55 pin against Monte Vista’s Ryan Meehan in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place bout against San Ysidro’s Juan Mendoza, who prevailed by a 9-4 decision.

Steele Canyon had four place-winners. Bryce Bidegain (145) and Ryan Pearl (189) both finished fifth in their respective weights while Kenny McCormick (119) and Tyler Ramer (130) both placed sixth. After losing his opening match, Pearl won three successive bouts in the consolation wrestle-backs to earn his medal.

The Cougars opened their Grossmont South League dual meet season with a 57-20 loss to Valhalla on Jan. 5.

Poway finished the tournament -- rated one of the strongest in several years -- with 13 finalists and 10 champions while Vista had seven finalists and three champions. The two section superpowers paired up in six finals matches with Poway winning four.

Poway’s Todd Schavrien (the nation’s No. 1-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds) earned honors as the tournament’s Outstanding Lower Weight wrestler while Vista’s Alex Trueblood (215 pounds) captured the Outstanding Upper Weight award.

Tourney-host Monte Vista finished with seven medalist and one finalist. Simmons finished second to Poway’s Schavrien. Other medalists included Tim Pugsley (third, 215), Hunter Beamon (fourth, 103), Robert Grey (fifth, 112), Meehan (fifth, 275), Lonnie Alexander (sixth, 135) and Eric Winchell (sixth 152).