2006-07 San Diego Section
Wrestlers to Watch


San Diego Holiday Classic
getting bigger and better
16 out-of-section teams, including Nevada's #1, spice up mat fest this year

Posted Dec. 13, 2006
The San Diego Holiday Classic wrestling tournament has grown in stature each year. It appears ready to stand on two firm legs this year as the pre-Christmas mat fest boasts its largest and likely its best-ever field.

Competition is Friday (starting at 12:30 p.m.) and Saturday (9 a.m.) -- Dec. 15-16 -- at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista..

This year’s tourney features 58 teams, including Mojave, Nevada’s top-ranked team among large schools, and 13 other out-of-area teams. Included in that list is Central Valley power Foothill Bakersfield.

The San Diego Section field includes traditional powers Brawley, La Costa Canyon, El Camino, Granite Hills, Rancho Buena Vista, San Pasqual, Scripps Ranch, Torrey Pines, Valley Center, Vista, Westview and tourney host Monte Vista.

South County teams entered include Bonita Vista, Castle Park, Chula Vista, Eastlake, Hilltop, Otay Ranch and Sweetwater.

Joining Monte Vista and Granite Hills from East County are El Cajon Valley, El Capitan, Helix, Mt. Miguel, Santana and Steele Canyon.

La Costa Canyon, Brawley, Vista, Monte Vista and San Pasqual entered the season ranked among the section’s top 10 tournament teams while Orange Glen, Steele Canyon and El Camino received honorable mention honors.

Vista, which edged Monte Vista by 2.5 points for the first-place team trophy at last year’s San Diego Holiday Classic, placed second at last year’s San Diego Section Division I finals en route to qualifying seven wrestlers for the state championship meet with a runner-up finish at the San Diego Masters. The Panthers, who are bolstered by returning state medalist Anthony Meza (sixth at 152 pounds) are entering two teams in this year’s tourney — an A and B squad.

Brawley, which won the 2004 San Diego Holiday Classic team title, finished as last season’s Division III champion.

La Costa Canyon could be the team to beat, however, after finishing second among section teams (to team champion (Poway) at the season-opening El Dorado Holiday Invitational. The Mavericks had seven place-winners in the regional draw event and came back with an equally impressive showing to claim the team title at the Hamada duals with eight champions.

Overall, the top six teams from last year’s tournament return: Vista, Monte Vista, RBV, Tehachapi (Central Section), Central Union and Valley Center.

The reigning outstanding wrestlers also return: Monte Vista’s Hunter Beamon (103 last year) and Vista’s Seth Rehn (171 last year). Both went on to qualify for the 2006 state championships in Bakersfield.

Other section wrestlers to watch include Helix’s Stephen Alvarez (last year’s 125 champion) and Central Union’s James Smith (last year’s 152 champion).

Steele Canyon heads the list of up-and-coming teams entered in this weekend’s tourney and could surprise after placing third at last weekend’s Hamada duals at La Costa Canyon High School. The Cougars finished the 16-team event with 10 medalists. Eastlake, with four medalists, finished seventh in the same field.

Medal-winners for the defending Mesa League champion Titans included Tony Denegall (third, 125), Lamar Dent (fifth, 119), Stephen Lampa (fifth, 135) and Alex Johnson (third, 189).

Other standouts this season include George Castilleja (112) and Hawk Thompson (145) among the team’s lighter weights and A.J. n Romero (171) and Ryan Zacharzuk (215) among the team’s upper weights. Castilleja, Dent, Thompson and Johnson all went 2-0 at the second annual South Bay Face-Off on Dec. 7 as Eastlake finished 1-1 with a 42-33 victory against Otay Ranch and 51-23 loss against Hilltop.

Marauder Invitational
Hilltop placed seventh in the 28-team field at last Saturday’s tournament at Mira Mesa High School. The Lancers had six medalists: Javier Martinez (second, 145), Andy Galata (third, 135), Todd Garrison (fourth, 140), Tomas Walls (fourth, 152), Benz Seaton (fourth, 160) and Michael Reyes (fifth, 119).

Martinez has finished second in both tournaments in which Hilltop has competed in thus far this season while Galata, Garrison and Seaton and have placed at both the Battle by the Beach and the Marauder Invitational to jump-start the 2006-07 campaign.

Martinez (9-3) finished 3-1 at the Mira Mesa tourney with a pair of narrow victories in both the quarterfinals and semifinals in a display of perseverance. The Hilltop wrestler, seeded second in the weight class, recorded a 4-0 decision against Poway’s Val Valdez in the quarterfinals and claimed a 6-4 overtime decision from Mt. Carmel’s Jesse Arazi in the semifinals.

Martinez met another Mt. Carmel grappler in the finals: returning San Diego Masters placer (sixth) Aaron Murphy. The Sundevil standout, who finished second at last season’s 135-pound Division III finals, pinned Martinez, the 135-pound Division II champion, in 1:42 to capture honors as the tournament’s Outstanding Heavy Weight wrestler.

Galata made his third-seeded status hold up with a 6-4 victory against Mt. Carmel’s Aiden Sargent while Garrison dropped a 13-3 major decision to Kearny’s Greg Huth. Seaton entered the tournament as the top-seeded wrestler in his weight class and won his opening two matches before dropping an 11-4 decision to Washington Union’s Arturo Acosta in the semifinals and then a 7-4 decision to El Camino’s Joey Rash in the third-place match.

San Ysidro’s Joel Mendoza finished fifth at this year’s Marauder Invitational following a 6-0 victory against San Dieguito Academy’s Brian Cook.

Hamada duals
•Mar Vista placed ninth in the team standings, with Danny Medrano (fifth, 112), Allan Delos Reyes (third, 119), Hugo Medrano (first, 130) and Tommy McLaughlin (second, 215) all medaling.

•Montgomery’s Geddy Hemesath finished second in his 135-pound weight class. The Aztec matster took a fifth-place medal at the season-opening Battle by the Beach tourney.

SD Holiday Classic
2006 Participating Teams

San Diego Section
Bonita Vista
Brawley
Canyon Crest
Castle Park
Cathedral Catholic
Central Union
Chula Vista
Crawford
Eastlake
El Cajon Valley
El Camino
Escondido Charter
Fallbrook
Granite Hills
Helix
Hilltop
Hoover
Kearny
La Costa Canyon
Mira Mesa
Monte Vista
Mt. Miguel
Orange Glen
Otay Ranch
Palo Verde
Patrick Henry
Pt. Loma
Rancho Buena Vista
San Diego
San Dieguito Academy
San Pasqual
Santana
Serra
Southwest (El Centro)
Southwest (San Diego)
St. Augustine
Steele Canyon
Sweetwater
Torrey Pines
University City
Valley Center
Vista (2 teams)
Westview

Southern Section
Coachella Valley
Great Oak
Murrieta Valley
Palmdale
Peninsula
Rio Mesa
Sunny Hills
Ventura

Sac-Joaquin Section
Sacramento
Tehachapi

Central Section
Foothill-Bakersfield

Los Angeles
Birmingham
Reseda

Nevada
Mojave (North Las Vegas)