East County Report:
Monarchs face off wrestling season with second-place tourney finish

Posted Dec. 20, 2008
With a second-place team finish at the season-opening Battle by the Beach tournament Dec. 6 at Mar Vista High School, the Monte Vista wrestling team appears on course to accomplish quite a bit on the mat this season — one that could end with a lot of shiny hardware in the school’s trophy case.

“I think we have a good shot at CIF,” Monarchs coach Steve Bulette said. “I think it will be us, Steele Canyon, Valhalla, Ramona and Mt. Carmel all vying for the team title. We all return about the same number of CIF placers. It would be nice to run the table by winning league, conference and CIF.”

The Monarchs battled Division IV pre-season favorite Brawley for the team points lead for most of the tournament until the Wildcats — winners of eight consecutive San Diego Section division titles — pulled away in the later rounds. Brawley finished the 26-team tournament with eight finalists and seven weight class champions. Monte Vista had five finalists and one champion.

Brawley won the team points battle 243-180.

Monarch finalists included Levi Annon (103 pounds), Shervin Iraniha (145), Alex Avila (152), Kenneth Tribble (171) and Alex Rossell (215).

Rossell pinned Serra’s Jordi Kata in 5:54 to emerge as Monte Vista’s lone tourney champion.

Annon dropped a 6-0 finals decision to Brawley’s Arthur Carmona while Iraniha dropped a 5-2 decision to Brawley’s Anthony Carmona. Avila lost by 1:25 pin to Brawley’s Eddie Ruiz while Tribble dropped a tight 8-6 decision to Rancho Bernardo’s Jon Beck.

The Monarchs also had five other wrestlers advance to the semifinal round: Brady Beamon (112), Gabe Rios (125), Garrett Bates (140), Shamar Barnes (171) and Donovan Santos (189).

Beamon, Rios and Bates all finished third in their respective weight classes while Barnes and Santos earned fifth-place medals.

Overall, the Monarchs sent 10 mat men to the awards stand (first- through fifth-place finishers). Bulette received the Larry Borden Memorial Coaches award.

Four other Grossmont Conference wrestlers made the finals: El Cajon Valley’s Masud Hasan (135), Granite Hills’ Victor Castro (140), Helix’s E.J. Perkins (189) and West Hills’ Enhyr Meza.

Perkins and Meza both captured weight class titles. Perkins scored a 17-3 major decision against his finals opponent, Chula Vista’s Roman Molina, while Meza pinned Rancho Bernardo’s Charlie Ghreer in 1:40.

Hasan dropped a 13-4 major decision to Brawley’s J.L. Mayo while Castro dropped an 11-8 decision to Brawley’s Erik Villalobos.

Meza left the gym as the most decorated East County grappler after being presented with awards for most pins and outstanding heavyweight wrestler. Meza spent a total of 6:22 on the mat in pinning his four opponents. He opened the tournament with fall times of 1:35 and 1:22 and added a 3:41 pin in the semifinals.

Perkins pinned his way to the finals, recording falls in 1:19, 54 seconds and 4:48.

Helix finished fifth in the team standings with 111.5 points. The Highlanders had three wrestlers advance to the semifinals. Joining Perkins in the semifinals were Dorian Huynh (103) and Vincent Richmond (125). Both Huynh (three pins) and Richmond (two pins) placed third in their respective weights.

West Hills placed sixth in the team standings. Javier Amir (130) joined Meza in the semifinals for the Wolf Pack. Amir finished third in his weight class.

Granite Hills (ninth in the team standings) had three grapplers advance to the semifinals. Joining Castro were Steven Martin (135) and Ryan Garat (145). Both Martin and Garat placed fifth.

One of the Eagles’ top mat men, Zach McClanahan, had to go extra rounds to finish third in his 112-pound division after being upset by a 5-4 decision by Brawley’s Jonathan Sandoval in the quarterfinals. McClanahan, seeded second in the weight class, rebounded with three consecutive wins in the consolation wrestle-backs to finish 4-1 on the day with three pins.

El Cajon Valley’s three semifinalists included Sergio Cruz (112), Bekes Suleiman (119) and Hasan. Both Cruz and Suleiman finished fifth. The Braves finished 12th in the team standings.

El Capitan’s Nathan Duggie advanced to the semifinals with quick pins of 1:40 and 40 seconds. He finished third in his 160-pound division. The Vaqueros placed 13th in the team standings.

Carlsbad Invitational
Three Grossmont Conference teams competed at the Carlsbad Invitational, also on Dec. 6. Steele Canyon, with three finalists and one champion (Lower Wright MVP Cody Rowland at 130 pounds), finished third in the team standings behind tourney champ Carlsbad and Poway. Grossmont (one finalist, Jacob McDaniel at 119) placed seventh while Santana was 14th in the 19-team field.

Mat attack
Valhalla is scheduled to host this year’s San Diego Section Division III championship tournament. The Norsemen are preparing to host the region’s largest regular season tournament, the 38th annual El Cajon Invitational, Dec. 29-30 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The event will take place in the fairgrounds' Bing Crosby Hall. Wrestling starts at 9 a.m. on Dec. 29 and 10 a.m. on Dec. 30. Finals are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. to close out the second day of competition.

Battle by the Beach Outstanding Wrestlers

Outstanding Lower Weight: Alfonso Osuna (Brawley, 119 pounds)

Outstanding Middle Weight: Anthony Carmona (Brawley, 145 pounds)

Outstanding Upper Weight: Enhyr Meza (West Hills, heavyweight)

Metro Conference Report:
Lancers lead Metro teams at Battle by the Beach
Hilltop’s Salinas, Chula Vista’s Ortiz win individual weight class titles

Posted Dec. 9, 2008
The 2008-09 high school wrestling season faced off on a favorable note, in particular, for the Hilltop Lancers. Hilltop moves to the Mesa League this season and look to extend their string of league championships from their long stay in the South Bay League.

The fourth-place team finish at last Saturday's Battle by the Beach tournament at Mar Vista High School definitely puts the rest of the Mesa League on notice. Bonita Vista and Eastlake — two of the Mesa’s stronger teams — did not compete at the MVHS tourney.

Hilltop advanced three grapplers to the championship round, finishing with one champion (Anthony Salinas at 112 pounds) and two runner-ups (Michael Reyes at 130 pounds and Rory Hernandez at 160 pounds). Overall, the Lancers placed eight mat men on the medal podium, finishing with three third-place and two fifth-place medalists besides the three finalists.

Hernandez captured the fastest-pin award with a fall in seven seconds.

Hilltop finished just six points behind third place Rancho Bernardo and 12.5 points behind second place Monte Vista.

Brawley, with seven weight class champions, captured the team title with a 53-point bulge on the Monarchs. Monte Vista (Division III) and Brawley (Division III) are contenders to win San Diego Section division titles this season.

Salinas pinned his way to the finals and made it four consecutive tourney falls by pinning his championship opponent, Jonathan Sandoval of Brawley, in 1:44.

Third-place medalists for Hilltop included Elijah Eaves (119), Roman Flores (145) and David Cinco (171).

Ricardo Aceves (125) and David Ramirez (152) both placed fifth in their respective weights. Ramirez advanced to the semifinals.

The eight Metro teams present at the tournament showed well in their season debut. Chula Vista qualified two wrestlers for the finals, with Gustavo Ortiz winning the 160-pound class and teammate Roman Molina finishing runner-up at 189 pounds.

Ortiz (6-0) defeated Hilltop’s Hernandez by a 10-4 decision while Molina (4-1) lost by a 17-3 major decision to Helix’s E.J. Perkins.

Mar Vista, with four medalists, finished seventh in the team standings — two points behind sixth-place West Hills. San Ysidro, with one medalist, finished 10th, followed by Chula Vista (with two medalists) in 11th place, Sweetwater (with two medalists) in 15th place, Olympian (with one medalist) in 18th place, Castle Park in 22nd place and Southwest (with one medalist) in 24th place.

A total of 26 teams competed at the tournament.

West Hills heavyweight Endhyr Meza captured individual awards for most pins in least mat time (four falls in 6:22) while also earning honors as the Outstanding Upper Weight wrestler. Brawley 119-pounder Alfonso Osuna was named the tourney’s Outstanding Lower Weight wrestler while Wildcats teammate Anthony Carmona received the Outstanding Middle Weight award.

Mar Vista garnered three third-place medalists: Danny Medrano (135), Carter Barnett (152) and Joe Rilatt (160). All three were semifinalists.

Sweetwater’s Alvaro Castillo (215) advanced to the semifinals. He went on to finish third.


Metro notepad
San Ysidro opened the season with a 3-0 record in a quad meet Dec. 4 at Mater Dei, defeating University City (39-36), Clairemont (37-35) and the host Crusaders (68-6).

Cougars coach Ulises Hernandez lists three wrestlers who should impact the section weight class rankings this season: Carlos Portillo (103), Joey Alvarez (112) and Brandon Gregory (135). Portillo placed second at last season's divisionals and is 5-2 this season at 112 pound with five pins. He is expected to drop to 103 pounds for Saturday's Marauder Invitational at Mira Mesa High School.

Alvarez placed third at 119 pounds at this year's Battle by the Beach tournament to improve to 6-1 on the young season. He lost in double overtime to Rancho Bernardo's Wesley Abbey (runner-up in the weight class) and finished strong with two pins and a 9-0 major decision. He is cleared to compete at 112 pounds on Dec. 26.

Gregory is currently 5-2 but may drop to 130 pounds where he is expected to do well this season, Hernandez said.

Olympian hopes to improve its 2-3 South Bay League record last season and place among the top three league teams this season. Coaches Aramis Vera and D.J. Mancillas hope to mold the team — mostly sophomores and juniors — into a championship contender next season.

The Eagles opened the season with a 42-39 non-league dual meet victory against Otay Ranch on Dec. 3. Top wrestlers include Victor Viesca (third at CIF last season), 140-pounder Jor-el Andres (fifth at CIF last season), 160-pounder Jake Seibel (fourth at CIF last season) and 130-pounder John Bautista.

Viesca placed third at this year's Battle by the Beach tourney.