Valhalla 48, Monte Vista 26
Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006 at Monte Vista High School

173: Bruno Salazar (Valhalla) won by forfeit. Valhalla leads 6-0.
191: Chris Thomas (Valhalla) major decisioned John Orr (Monte Vista) 13-5. Valhalla leads 10-0.
217: Tim Pugsley (Monte Vista) pinned Chris Wright (Valhalla) 1:53. Valhalla leads 10-6.
277: Ryan Meehan (Monte Vista) pinned Jose Cortes (Valhalla) 4:42. Monte Vista leads 12-10.
105: Hunter Beamon (Monte Vista) pinned Tony Espinoza (Valhalla) 3:45. Monte Vista leads 18-10.
114: Landon Holmes (Valhalla) major decisioned Robert Grey (Monte Vista) 13-1. Monte Vista leads 18-14.
121: Jarrod Maguire (Valhalla) pinned Persio Morel (Monte Vista) 1:45. Valhalla leads 20-18.
127: Josue Martinez (Valhalla) decisioned Aaron Moton (Monte Vista) 15-4. Valhalla leads 24-18.
132: Renzo Salazar (Valhalla) pinned Rudy Simmons (Monte Vista) 5:48. Valhalla leads 30-18.
137: Adrian Canizalez (Valhalla) pinned Aaron Eberhart (Monte Vista) 3:32. Valhalla leads 36-18.
142: Keith Juengst (Valhalla) pinned Lonnie Alexander (Monte Vista) 1:28. Valhalla leads 42-18.
147: Tim Day (Monte Vista) tech fall Matt Kielbasa (Valhalla) 16-1. Valhalla leads 42-23.
154: Eric Winchell (Monte Vista) decisioned Mark Kielbasa (Valhalla) 11-7. Valhalla leads 42-26.
162: Eric Kincaid-Sharp (Valhalla) pinned Chris Eade (Monte Vista) 5:57. Valhalla wins 48-26.
Junior varsity: Valhalla 58, Monte Vista 18 (Valhalla remains undefeated in league).

Norsemen, Monarchs renew 30-year rivalry

SPRING VALLEY, Feb. 9, 2006 -- Monte Vista High School wrestling coach Steve Bulette had one sentence to sum up this year’s battle for the Grossmont South League dual meet championship. “It should be fun,” he said before the two league superpowers met on the mat to determine this year's league champion.

Those words were well chosen. Valhalla coach Mark Gerardi almost repeated them word for word, but in the past tense, following his team's 48-26 victory. "It was fun, wasn't it?" he said.

Few would disagree, with large and vocal supporters backing both schools amid the true championship-type trappings.

In front of a packed gym (nothing less seems reserved for these two long-time rivals), the two league heavyweight squads offered up a few strategic surprises. But while the Monarchs hoped for a nail-biter in the final match-up, the Norsemen reserved the win with a run of six consecutive victories in the middle weights, including four by pin.

Valhalla’s stunning win snapped a streak of four consecutive league titles by the Monarchs and handed the visitors the rights to an engraved trophy that from now on will stand as the annual prize in this magical wrestling rivaly.

When asked if the Monte Vista-Valhalla rivalry rekindled memories from his days on the mat with the Norsemen, Gerardi -- the program's lone three-time state champion -- answered in the affirmative.

"Absolutely," he said, a smile breaking across his face.

It would have been hard for Gerardi not to respond any other way, with posters plastered in just about every conceivable inch around the Monarchs' gym extolling on the home team, cheer squads from both schools airing out their lungs and even the Monte Vista school mascot making an appearance. The noise was almost deafening at times.

The excitement had to serve as an adrenaline rush for the wrestlers on both teams.

"I have to give Valhalla credit. They had several kids who rose to the occasion," said Monte Vista coach Steve Bulette, whose squad overcame an early 10-0 Norsemen advantage with three consecutive pins to build an 18-10 edge through five of the 14 weight classes before the visitors seized the momentum with their bold run.

The dual started off with a bit of intrigtue as Monte Vista moved up John Orr from his 173-pound weight class to 191, thus leaving Valhalla's Bruno Salazar with a forfeit win and a 6-0 Norsmen lead. Orr instead matched up against Valhalla's Chris Thomas, who attacked from the onset en route to scoring a 13-5 major decision.

Norsemen 10, Monarchs 0.

But the home side of the stands would soon have a go at raising the decible levels as Monte Vista's Tim Pugsley (217), Ryan Meehan (277) and Hunter Beamon (105) all scored pins. Pugsley, the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the Grossmont Conference, pinned Valhalla's Chris Wright in 1:53 while Meehan overcame a sluggish two periods to record a 4:42 fall in his heavyweight match against Jose Cortes. Meehan raised his arms in triumph as the Monach bench rose to its feet in unison with the come-from-behind pin that gave the hosts a 12-10 lead on the scoreboard.

Beamon, who looks to upend the field at this year's Division III finals, improved to 27-5 with 27 pins after scoring a 3:45 fall against Tony Espinoza. The 18-10 lead would be the largest margin of the night for the hosts, who saw it evaporate --as well as this year's league title -- in the next six matches.

Landon Holmes (114) jump-started the Valhalla rally with a spirited 13-1 major decision against Robert Grey, a multiple medal-winner in tournament competition this season. Holmes rolled Grey around the mat in the literal sense for the first period but only held a 2-0 lead to show for it. However, Holmes started to execute moves to go with his athletic acrobatics in the second period, thus starting to rack up the points.

Down by four points at 18-14, the Norsemen took a lead they would not relinquish when top gun Jarrod Maguire pinned Persio Morel in 1:45 at 121 pounds. Now ahead 20-18, Valhalla would cement the victory with ensuing wins in the 127, 132, 137 and 142 classes.

Monte Vista added some intrigue to the proceedings by sending out Aaron Moton to battle Valhalla's Josue Martinez in the 127-pound division. The move looked to pay off with Martinez scoring a 15-4 major decision but unable to pin his Monarch adversary.

Rudy Simmons, who rates as one of Monte Vista's top grapplers this season, was originally scheduled to wrestle in the 127 match but moved up to the 132-pound slot to take on Valhalla's amazing freshman, Renzo Salazar. Despite being forced to tend to a leg injury during the opening seconds of the match, Simmons appeared to come back strong, leadingt 2-1 before being caught for a takedown in the last five seconds of the first period to hand a 3-2 advantage to his Norsemen oppnent. Salazar drew an escape in the second period to extend his lead to 4-2 and capitalized on a slip throw by Simmons in the early stages of the third period to score a takedown and up that lead to 6-2. Simmons looked to get out of a jam later in the period but instead was put on his back for a stunning 5:48 pin.

Shock, surprise, elation. All were etched on the faces on both side of the mat.

Simmons simpy shook his head after the dual meet. "No excuses. I just didn't perform under pressure," he said.

Both Gerardi and Bulette said Salazars' dramatic pin proved to be the turning point in the dual.

"Renzo's win was huge. He stepped it up for us. I didn't expect Simmons to move up. But Renzo stepped it up," Gerardi said.

"If I was going to put a finger on it, it was Renzo. He was the turning point. The upper weights we had were dominating," Bulette said.

As if inspired by the freshman's big victory, the Norsemen followed with crowd- energizing pins by Adrian Canizalez (137) and Keith Juengst (142). Canizalez was unlucky not to have scored a fall sooner because of the buzzer to end the first period but persevered to record a 3:32 fall against Monte Vista's Aaron Eberhart in the pair's 137-pound battle. Juengst, a state meet medalist (sixth place) two years ago, pinned his Monarch opponent in 1:28.

Thirty-two unanswered points by Valhalla and the score read 42-18 in favor of the visitors.

"We thought we had a good chance to pick up those two matches," Gerardi said of the emotional wins at 132 and 137 pounds.

All that was left was to see how respectable the hosts could make the final score. Tim Day scored a 16-1 technical fall agianst the Norsmen's Matt Kielbasa at 147 pounds and Monte Vista's Eric Winchell followed with a rough-and-tumble 11-7 decision against Mark Kielbasa at 154 pounds.

Monte Vista faced a 16-point deficit heading into the dual's final match. Wrestling for pride with the team score already decided, Valhalla's Eric Kincaid-Sharp pulled off one of the most electrifying wins of the night by pinning Monte Vista's Chris Eade with less than three seconds left in the final period of their 162-pound finale. Kincaid-Sharp was mobbed by ecstatic teammates after returning to the Norsemen bench, a sudden celebrity.

"I saw the head was there. I knew I only had a couple seconds left, so I went for it knowing I would still win. I wanted to do it for the team," Kincaid-Sharp said.

Valhalla, the defenidng San Diego Section Division III champions, began the season on shaky terms because of injuries and ineligibilies but by midseason – with several lineup spots solidified -- began to hit its stride with second-place finishes at both the Rancho Bernardo 10-Way and Holtville Invitational. The latter tournament, considered on of the strongest in years, was a showcase for Valhalla’s resiliency as the Norsemen finished the tourney with eight medalists in taking a runner-up finish to Brawley (last year's Division IV San Diego Section champions)..

Gerardi lauded the hard work put in by his team to attain this year's title. "They worked hard this year. There were in great shape. They were ready to wrestle," the Valhalla coach said."They've worked hard throughout the year. We told them in the wrestling room all year that if they kept working hard that good things would happen."

Notepad
In preceding junior varsity action, Valhalla remained undefeated in league competition with a 58-18 victory. The Norsemen recorded eight pins in the matchup.

CIF-bound
Both Monte Vista and Valhalla will compete in the Division III finals Feb. 18 at University City High School. Joining the defending Division III champion Norsemen are Mt. Carmel (last year's Division II champions) and Brawley (last year's Division IV champions).

Said Gerardi: "It's going to be tough. We matched up against Brawley at Holtville. We were missing a couple guys and they were missing a couple guys but they beat us there. Mt. Carmel is there as well. It should be exciting."

Monte Vista's Bulette said he will be looking forward to watch how far some of the team's younger wrestlers can take themselves. "We got three kids who are really tough. The strength of our team is in our younger guys like Persio Morel, Tim Pugsley and Hunter Beamon," the Monarch coach said.


Monte Vista Dual Meet Results
Jan. 5: Monte Vista 78, Granite Hills 0
Jan. 19: Monte Vista 42, Steele Canyon 24
Jan. 26: Monte Vista 64, Mt. Miguel 18
Feb. 2: Monte Vista 46, Helix 28
Feb. 9: Valhalla 48, Monte Vista 26
Monte Vista league record: 4-1.