2006-07 San Diego Section
Wrestlers to Watch


Falcon Invitational Recap

Helix wrestler leads East County medal contingent
Stephen Alvarez wins 135-pound tourney title

Posted Jan. 18, 2007
Helix’s Stephen Alvarez, with a championship showing in his 135-pound weight class, led a contingent of nine Grossmont Conference place-winners at the Falcon Invitational wrestling tournament Jan. 12-13 at Mission Hills High School.

Alvarez, the top-seeded wrestler in his weight class, capped a 5-0 performance in the 52-team two-day tournament with a 5-2 finals victory against Aliso Niguel’s Neville Roane-King. The Helix mat man opened the tournament with a 9-0 major decision and two pins before besting El Toro’s Travis Foster by a taut 2-0 score in the semifinals.

Alvarez was one of two East County grapplers to place in the weight division. El Capitan’s Tony Sangermano finished fourth after a loss to Foster in the tournament’s third-place match.

Sangermano (4-2 in the tournament) had advanced as far as the semifinals before suffering a loss to Alvarez’ eventual championship-round opponent.

Joining Sangermano with fourth-place showings were Vaquero teammates Garrett Ludwig (130) and Phillip Kelly (171) and Grossmont’s Kazim Wahid (160).

Ludwig also qualified for the semifinals, dropping a 6-1 decision to eventual runner-up Benji Gomez of Rio Mesa. The El Capitan wrestler lost a third-place matchup against Brawley’s Mason Rodriguez.

Another semifinalist, Wahid just missed advancing to the finals after a 5-4 loss to Scripps Ranch’s Johnny Huynh (second to Outstanding Upper Weight wrestler Justin Clifford of Valley Center). Wahid then lost a 6-4 decision to San Dieguito Academy’s Devon Sheldon in the battle for third place.

Kelly also made it as far as the semifinals before losing a 10-5 decision to eventual weight class champion Anthony Dugan of Ramona. Kelly finished fourth to Mira Costa’s Derek Abel in the ensuing third-place match.

Helix’s Victor Richmond finished fifth at 140 pounds while Grossmont’s Yosuf Wahid was sixth at 152 pounds.

Wahid entered the tournament as the top seed in his weight class but was upended by eventual champion Kyle Clapp of Scripps Ranch by a 6-1 decision in the semifinals. The Grossmont wrestler then lost his next two matches — both by decision — to place sixth.

Seventh-place finishes went to a pair of Grossmont grapplers: Gianna Battaglia (112) and Valentin Cuevas (119).

Helix (13th, 102 points), El Capitan (21st, 84 points), Grossmont (23rd, 81.5 points) and Santana (24th, 72 points) finished in that order in the final team standings

Ramona won the team title with five medalists and three weight class champions ahead of runner-up Brawley (six medalists) and third place Rancho Bernardo (five medalists, one champion). Seven San Diego Section teams finished among the top 10 teams, with Escondido (fifth), Scripps Ranch (sixth), Imperial (seventh) and Patrick Henry (ninth) rounding out the field.

Other section champions included Ramona’s Chris Kirk (112) and Cody Seevers (140), Morse’s Angel Garcia (119), Montgomery’s Pedro Tapia (125), Kearny’s Greg Huth (130), Hilltop’s Javier Martinez (145), Imperial’s Cameron McNeer (189) and Sam Cervantes (heavyweight) and Rancho Bernardo’s Mike Rutherford (215).