2006-07 San Diego Section
Wrestlers to Watch


Metro Conference Midseason Report
FCH: Eastlake Titans wrestling by their motto

Posted Jan. 15, 2007
The high school wrestling season is entering the heart of competition and several Eastlake Titan mat men appear to be living up to the team’s motto: Focus. Composure. Heart.

“It’s what wrestling and everything is like,” said Eastlake coach Troy Vierra, whose team is out to defend its Mesa League championship this season. “You got to know what you want. You set your goal, have a focus, and while you’re doing it, you’ve got to keep your composure. I knew when I was wrestling that when someone lost their composure I had them — that in the third period they didn’t have the heart to finish. You got to have heart to win.”

FCH — it works, regardless of the number of wrestlers in the lineup.

The Titans, who finished the midseason San Diego Holiday Classic with two place-winners and a top half team finish out of 60 teams, had three wrestlers walk out of the gym with trophies at the Monte Vista Invitational on Jan. 6. Tony Denegall was the highest Eastlake grappler to place by defeating Natomas’ Isaac Lopez, 3-2, in the third-place match at 125 pounds. Both Hawk Thompson (145) and A.J. Romero (171) finished fourth in their respective weight classes.

The goals for all three medalists are the same.

“To win CIF and make state,” said Denegall, who finished first at last year’s Mesa League 112-pound finals en route to a third-place finish at the San Diego Section Division II championship meet as a sophomore.

At the Monte Vista Invitational, Denegall (fourth at the San Diego Holiday Classic) finished 4-1 with two major decisions. He opened the tournament with an 8-0 major decision against Mira Mesa’s Leeland Cuenista before dropping a 9-5 quarterfinals match against Monte Vista’s Hunter Beamon, a returning state qualifier.

The Eastlake grappler won his ensuing three consolation matches, defeating Torrey Pines’ Sean Richland (7-2), A.B. Miller’s Alfredo Velazquez (10-2) and Lopez.

Thompson (third at the San Diego Holiday Classic) also won his opening round match at the Monte Vista Invitational by a major decision (18-5 against Tehachapi’s Eric Harroun) before dropping to the consolation wrestle-backs following a loss against Centennial Corona’s Denzel Hawkins in the quarterfinals. Thompson won his next two consolation bouts — 10-3 against Steele Canyon’s Connor Hanten and 10-4 against Santa Fe Christian’s Kyler Hasson — before rematching with Hawkins in the third-place match.

Hawkins prevailed once again, this time by a 5-1 decision.

Romero won his first-round match by a 1:35 pin (against Natomas’ William Killian) before dropping to the consolation wrestle-backs following a loss to Monte Vista’s Chris Eade in the quarterfinals. Romero won his next two bouts — 9-7 against Tehachapi’s Jerry Wehust and 9-3 against Steele Canyon’s Garrett Estevane — before rematching with Eade for third place. The Monarch grappler relegated Romero to fourth place with a 16-5 major decision.

Overall, the Titans finished in a tie for 13th place out of 24 competing teams. Hilltop, with four place-winners, finished in ninth place in the team standings.

The Monte Vista Invitational is the only San Diego Section tournament in which Poway’s varsity A team, ranked No. 1 in the state, annually competes. The Titans, in a stupefying show of dominance, had all 13 of their wrestlers reach the finals, with 10 winning weight class titles.

Falcon Invitational
Eastlake followed the Monte Vista Invitational by competing in the 52-team Falcon Invitational Jan. 12-13 at Mission Hills High School. The Titans finished in a tie for 24th place with three place-winners. Thompson finished third at 145 pounds while Lamar Dent was fourth at 125 pounds and Romero placed sixth at 171 pounds.

Thompson (6-1 in the tournament) defeated Rancho Verde’s Chris Casas by a 6-3 decision to cap a run of four consecutive wins in the consolation wrestle-backs. The Eastlake mat man had advanced to the quarterfinals in the two-day tournament with two pins before dropping a 10-3 decision against eventual weight class champion Javier Martinez of Hilltop.

Thompson finished second to Martinez at last year’s 135-pound Metro Conference finals.

Dent, meanwhile, had advanced to the semifinals on the strength of three wins, including a 6-1 victory against fourth-seeded Sergio Vargas of Buena Park in the quarterfinals. Dent (second among last year’s 119-pound Mesa League medalists) lost by pin to eventual division champion Pedro Tapia of Montgomery, then bounced back with a gritty 1-0 decision against Mira Costa’s Jordan King in the consolation semifinals. Dent finished fourth following a 10-4 loss against Escondido’s Matt Redden.

Romero had to take the most harrowing route of the Titans’ three medalists by winning six consecutive matches in the consolation wrestle-backs in order to reach the tournament’s fifth-place match. Romero (7-2 in the tourney) won his opening match by pin before dropping a 5-3 decision against Mission Hills’ Andy Bowen.

Romero topped his run in the consolation bracket with three pins and one major decision. The Eastlake grappler recorded a 7-5 revenge victory against Bowen in the consolation quarterfinals to drop the Mission Hills wrestler to the seventh-place match.

The Titans are next scheduled to compete in the Holtville Invitational on Jan. 26-27 before meeting Bonita Vista in a high profile Mesa League dual on Feb. 1 (7 p.m. in the Barons’ gym). The Metro Conference championship tournament is scheduled Feb. 10 at San Ysidro High School, followed by the Division II finals Feb. 17 at Mira Mesa High School.

The San Diego Masters state qualifying tournament is scheduled Feb. 23-24 at San Ysidro High School, followed by the state championship tournament March 2-3 in Bakersfield.