2006-07 San Diego Section
Wrestlers to Watch


San Diego Holiday Classic Recap

Hilltop's Martinez stands tallest at biggest-ever SD tourney

Updated Dec. 23, 2006
The San Diego Holiday Classic wrestling tournament has grown in stature each year. With 60 teams — including Mojave High School from North Las Vegas, the No. 1-ranked 4A team in Nevada, and perennial Central Valley power Foothill-Bakersfield to stir an already talent-heavy mix — the pre-Christmas mat fest held Dec. 15-16 at Eastlake High School earned the distinction as the largest regular season wrestling tournament ever to be staged in the San Diego Section with more than 700 wrestlers.

With a tournament of that size, there were some glitches in the first day of competition but there had to be a decidedly sweet after-taste for one Hilltop wrestler in particular — Javier Martinez — as well as a pair of Eastlake Titans who managed to scale heights not only to the awards stand but also in terms of wrestling stature.

Each weight class bracket featured a 64-man bracket.

Martinez was one who scaled the greatest heights after winning the 145-pound championship title. Hawk Thompson (third) and Tony Denegall (fourth) each represented Eastlake on the awards stand.

After finishing runner-up in his weight class the two previous weeks at the Mar Vista Battle by the Beach (Dec. 2) and Marauder Invitational (Dec. 9) tournaments, the third time proved to be the charm for Martinez, who finished the grueling two days of competition with a spotless 6-0 record.

The Hilltop mat man decisioned Rancho Buena Vista junior Cody Fanning, 7-2, in the championship match as both wrestlers turned the weight class on its end. Martinez, who captured last season’s San Diego Section Division II title at 135 pounds, defeated the bracket’s second-seeded wrestler — Thompson — in his third match and then dispatched the third-seeded grappler in the weight class, Sunny Hills’ James Kang, in the semifinals.

Martinez, who was surprisingly unseeded in the division, opened the tourney with wins against Valley Center’s Sam Polito and followed with a victory by technical fall against El Camino’s Valentine Ponce. Between facing Thompson and Kang, the Lancer mat man pinned Tehachapi’s Eric Harroun.

Fanning, seeded fifth, upset top-seeded Jacob Porter of Mojave in the semifinals.

Thompson, who finished fourth at last year’s San Diego Section Division II championship meet at 135 pounds, finished 5-1 with victories against wrestlers from Valley Center, Granite Hills, San Pasqual, Central Union and St. Augustine while Denegall was 4-2 with wins against wrestlers from Brawley, Coachella Valley, El Camino and South Hills.

Thompson’s lone loss in the tournament was by decision against Hilltop’s Martinez. Thompson had previously defeated Martinez by a 2-0 score at the second annual South Bay Face-Off Dec. 6 at Eastlake High, thus placing the Titan among the elite wrestlers in the section this season.

Denegall finished third at last year’s Division II finals at 112 pounds. His Holiday Classic losses came against the eventual third-place finishers in the weight class (Brawley’s Marco Noriega and Van Nuys Birmingham’s Emerson Jimenez).

Lamar Dent, who finished 5-2 in his 125-pound weight class, just missed joining Thompson and Denegall on the awards stand as he was eliminated one match short of earning a medal while Eastlake teammate Ryan Zacharzuk finished 3-2 in his 215-pound division as do the same.

The Titans finished among the top half of teams in the massive tournament, trailing only Bonita Vista among Metro Conference entrants. The Barons finished 11.5 points ahead of the Titans but did not have any place-winners.

For the Barons, Matt Blake (135), Matthew Periola (160) and Ed Smith (215) all finished the tournament one match away from earning a medal. Periola went 5-2 with four consecutive victories in the consolation wrestle-backs while Blake was 4-2 with four consecutive wins in the consolation rounds while Smith was 3-2.

Hilltop’s Todd Garrison (140) also finished one match away from medaling with a 3-2 record.

Bonita Vista’s Ricky Haynes (103) and Juan Diaz (130) both finished 3-2 in the tournament as did Otay Ranch’s Sonny Garcia (171) and Zack Petrin (189). Haynes and Garcia both finished one match away from a medal.

Prior to competing in the San Diego Holiday Classic, Eastlake finished seventh in the 16-team La Costa Canyon dual tournament. Medal-winners for the Titans included Denegall (third, 125), Dent (fifth, 119), Stephen Lampa (fifth, 135) and Alex Johnson (third, 189).

Eastlake opened the season with a 1-1 showing at the South Bay Face-Off, topping Otay Ranch 42-33 and dropping a 51-23 decision against defending South Bay League champion Hilltop.

Bonita Vista finished as the lone 2-0 team in the quad dual set-up with victories against Hilltop (39-36) and Otay Ranch (54-25). The Barons followed that up with a second-place showing at the La Quinta duals with a 4-1 record, defeating Hemet, Central Christian, Beaumont and San Bernardino. Three grapplers went undefeated: Cesar Sandoval (119), Hector Arambula (152) and Bell (215). All finished with 5-0 marks.

"It's a coach's delight at the beginning of the year," BV head coach Gabe Ruz said. "I thought I'd have a couple tough kids (this season) but they're all coming together nicely."

The Barons thus expect to be defending Mesa League champion Eastlake’s strongest challenger this season for the league title. “We have a few holes in our lineup right now but we expect to fill those by January,” Titans coach Troy Vierra said. “I expect us to challenge for the league title again.”

Bonita Vista hosts Eastlake in a prime time 7 p.m. dual meet on Feb. 1 in what projects to be one of the showcase matchups in the South Bay this high school wrestling season.

Monarch mat men chasing fame, CIF titles

For the past four years, Robert Grey and Chris Eade have looked up on the wall in the Monte Vista High School wrestling room and seen the legendary faces staring down at him from the black-and-white photographs. The Monarch’s Wall of Fame is restricted to wrestlers from the Spring Valley school who have either won San Diego Section divisional or earned medals at the state championship meet.

Over a 40-year span, those whose faces adorn the wall comprise an elite cadre. Grey and Eade both want to be included in that group.

“Ever since I was a freshman I’ve wanted to win CIF – to get on the wall,” said Grey, a senior 112-pounder.

Eade, a senior 171-pounder, admitted the same sentiments. “I’m definitely motivated by the pictures up there,” he said.

Both third-year varsity wrestlers are getting tantalizing close to realizing that dream after finishing in a tie for third place at this year’s 60-team San Diego Holiday Classic. The tournament, held Dec. 15-16 at Eastlake High School, earned the distinction as the largest-ever regular season wrestling tournament in section history with more than 700 wrestlers in the entry field. Each weight class featured 64-man brackets.

Understandably, both Monarch grapplers were encouraged by their place-finishes at the mega tournament.

“It’s great,” said Grey, who matched Eade with a 6-1 tourney record. “I got a little down after I lost my first match. I wanted to be in the finals in our own tournament. But I kept with it and kept going for the team.”

Grey concluded the tourney with a victory by pin against Reseda’s Bijan Hagnegahdar. Overall, Grey wrestled five out-of-section wrestlers in the mat extravaganza.

Grey placed sixth at last year’s Holiday Classic en route to a sixth-place finish at last season’s San Diego Section Division III championship meet and a berth in the San Diego Masters state qualifying tournament. However, Grey ended his junior year not on the mat but in the sick bed. He’s thus doubly motivated his senior year.

“My goals are to be a CIF champion and state qualifier/placer. But I’ve got to take them one at a time,” said Grey, whose only loss at the Holiday Classic came against Ventura’ Erick Weissharr, the runner-up finisher.

Eade had a better finish to the 2005-06 season, placing fourth at 160 pounds at the Division III championships and then finishing just two matches away from qualifying for the state finals at the Masters championship meet.

With six consecutive victories in the single-elimination wrestle-backs to snare his third-place trophy at the Holiday Classic, Eade has to feel fairly confident at the moment about his chances at this season’s state qualifying tournament.

“That would be nice. I’ve been working hard to get to state since last year,” he said.

Classic endings
Helix senior Stephen Alvarez is another East County contender to qualify for the 2007 state championship meet in Bakersfield after placing third in his 135-pound weight division at this year’s Holiday Classic. The Highlander grappler just missed qualifying for the finals after dropping a 3-2 semifinal decision against Brawley’s Chris Santana, the eventual weight class champion.

Alvarez, who has been wrestling since the eighth grade and won the Division II championship at 103 pounds as a sophomore, improved to 14-2 on the season with his 3-1 run at the Holiday Classic. His only other loss this season has been 5-2 to Brawley’s Ivan Arevalo — last year’s Masters champion — in the finals of the Mar Vista Battle by the Beach tournament.

“I want to have a good showing at state,” said Alvarez, who finished 41-7 as a sophomore and 43-11 last season as a junior.

The Highlanders finished the Holiday Classic with three place-winners overall as Victor Richmond (140) and Patrick Phalen (215) both finished in a tie for fourth place in their respective weight classes.

Men of Steele
Steele Canyon might be the team to watch this season in the Grossmont South League (joining Carlsbad Invitational team champion West Hills in the Grossmont North League) after engineering a sixth-place finish with five trophy-winners at this year’s Holiday Classic. Caleb Cardenas (119), Justin Graff (152), Garrett Estevane (171) and Ryan Pearl (189) all tied with third-place finishes in their weights while Dylan Sawyer (125) tied for fourth.

Estevane advanced to the semifinals, dropping a decision to eventual runner-up Dominic Grippo of San Pasqual.


Soaring Eagle
Granite Hills’ Justin Phillips undoubtedly saved the best for last by winning the 189-pound title at this year’s San Diego Holiday Classic. The Eagle mat man decisioned El Camino’s Evan Brisco, 7-0, to remain undefeated on the season at 12-0 with nine pins and two major decisions.

Phillips previously won his weight class at the season-opening Carlsbad Invitational.

A man of few words and much talent, Phillips said his goal this season was simply “to beat everybody.”

“I just want to wrestle hard and train to see if I can make it to the state tournament,” said Phillips, who finished 6-0 at the Holiday Classic with three falls and a major decision.

Granite Hills coach Bart Hartley admitted admiration for what Phillips has been able to accomplish thus far after suffering a severe leg injury last season that took him out of the lineup.

“For wrestling 13 matches last season, he doesn’t seem to have lost a beat,” Hartley said. “He’s solid. He’s wrestling with a lot of confidence.”

So are a lot of Eagles.

Granite Hills was one of the surprise teams at this year’s Holiday Classic. Sporting a very young team, the Eagles finished in the top third of the entry field with three place-winners. Joining Phillips on the award stand were Zach McClanahan (third, 103) and Jacob Castillo (fourth, 160).

“We have a bunch of kids who might not have a name right now but who get after it for six minutes,” Hartley said.

Holiday notepad
Mojave from North Las Vegas, the No. 1-ranked team among Nevada 4A schools, won the team title at this year’s Holiday Classic with 314 points — almost 100 points more than runner-up Brawley. The tourney-champion Rattlers advanced 12 wrestlers to the semifinals, seven to the finals and walked out of the gym with three weight class champions, including Outstanding Heavy Weight wrestler Reggie Powers (215).

Orange Glen’s Modesto Olea earned MVP Light Weight honors after his 140-pound finals victory against Mojave’s Deandre Taylor.

Vista finished third in the team standings, followed by Ventura and Tehachapi.

El Cajon Invitational
The 36th annual El Cajon/San Ysidro Invitational will take place Dec. 28-29 at San Ysidro High School. Competition starts at 9 a.m. on Dec. 28 and 10 a.m. on Dec. 29, with finals scheduled for 5 p.m. and awards at 8 p.m.

The tournament will employ 64-man weight class brackets and award individual trophies to the top eight place-winners in each weight class as well as team trophies to the top six teams. Teams are expected to competed from five states, including from as far away as Virginia and Pennsylvania.