CIF dual meet wrestling championships attract attention

The San Diego Section divisional dual meet wrestling championships, version 2.0, took place last Saturday at Mira Mesa and Rancho Bernardo high schools. Champions were crowned in four divisions, with 32 teams in total participating.

The Division I and Division III tournaments took place at Mira Mesa High School; Rancho Bernardo High School hosted the Division II and Division IV tournaments.

Three schools from the Metro Conference participated: Eastlake (Division I), San Ysidro (Division II) and Montgomery (Division III). None advanced past the first round but all the coaches believed the format for the second-year event was much improved from last year, though it’s still not perfect.

“I think having all the teams compete in one venue in one day was an improvement rather than have multiple weigh-ins during the week, as was the case last year,” Montgomery High School head coach David Jarumayan explained.

The Aztecs, this year’s South Bay League dual meet champions, were seeded seventh in the Division III tournament.
They faced second-seeded Ramona, this year’s Valley League champions, in the opening round. Ramona won 51-24 to advance to the semifinals.

Jarumayan was very pleased his team was selected to compete in the event.

“We’re the first Montgomery team to come here — we take pride in representing the school,” Jarumayan explained.
Jarumayan noted there was much to be proud of this season for the Aztecs, as this was the first time Montgomery had won the South Bay League title in 14 years.

The Aztecs finished 6-0 in league dual meets and were 7-0 in duals overall entering last weekend’s CIF dual championships.

Jarumayan believes his team will be back in the spotlight in the future. “We’re filled with young guys, filled with freshmen and sophomores,” the Montgomery coach said. “We’re only graduating three seniors this season.”

Standouts on this year’s Aztec team include Adrian Lopez, Chase Riegg and Andrew Villagomez. All three won matches against the Bulldogs – Lopez and Riegg by decision and Villagomez by pin.

Riegg, who finished runner-up at 197 pounds at this year’s Metro Conference finals, improved to 22-7 on the season. Villagomez is 21-9 in his 222 weight class while Lopez (147 pounds) is 20-8.

Montgomery won a total of five matches against Ramona. The Aztecs received one forfeit win and also collected a victory for an illegal slam.

Ramona went on to drop a 60-18 decision to third-seeded La Costa Canyon in the semifinals. The Mavericks, in turn, dropped a 57-23 decision to top-seeded Brawley in the championship round.

Next up for all participating teams is Saturday’s San Diego Section individual championship tournaments. This is where the road to the state meet starts. Top place-finishers in the four divisional tournaments qualify to compete in the San Diego Section Masters state-qualifying tournament Feb. 26-27 at Christian High School.

The top seven place-winners at both the Division I tournament (Otay Ranch High School) and Division II tournament (Westview High School) qualify for Masters.

The top six place-winners at the Division III tournament (Del Norte High School) advance to compete at Masters while the top four place-winners at the Division IV tournament (Madison High School) also qualify.

The top six place-finishers at Masters receive medals, while the top three place-winners advance to compete at the state tournament March 4-5 in Bakersfield.

Parade of Champions

Joining Brawley as divisional dual meet champions last Saturday were San Marcos (Division I), Poway (Division II) and Valley Center (Division IV).

San Marcos, Poway and Brawley all repeated as section dual meet champions.

Top-seeded San Marcos edged second-seeded Rancho Buena Vista, 32-30, for the Division I championship that came down to an exciting overtime match.

Top-seeded Poway defeated second-seeded Rancho Bernardo, 52-15, for the Division II title while top-seeded Valley Center dethroned last year’s Division IV champion Holtville, seeded third this year, by a score of 44-26.

Mesa League champion Eastlake earned the No. 4 seed in the Division I tournament but brought a depleted roster to the event due to minor injuries and illness. The Titans had advanced 10 wrestlers to the Metro Conference championship tournament the previous weekend, walking off the mat with five weight class champions.

However, Eastlake was able to win just five matches in its opening-round pairing against No. 5-seeded Mira Mesa — and three of those wins came by forfeit. The result was an untidy 49-27 loss that eliminated the Titans from further contention.

“We’ll have some guys go down a weight class, which will push guys out of the line-up, so we should be a stronger tournament team for next week,” EHS head coach Troy Vierra said.

Jesus Gavaldon won by a 5-0 decision at 115 pounds to tie the teams early 3-3 on the scoreboard. But the Marauders — five-time defending Eastern League and five-time defending City Conference champions — would roar out to a 31-3 advantage.

Mike Johnson won by a pin at 154 pounds to end a run of five consecutive Mira Mesa victories. However, the Marauders won three more matches in succession to extend their lead to 49-9 before the Titans closed out the dual with their three forfeit wins.

Tanner Waller (197), Emiliano Gomez (222) and Yasir Farha (287) all picked up forfeit victories for Eastlake.

Waller and Johnson were represented in the previous week’s Metro finals, with Waller capturing a conference championship.

The tournament hosts scored six pins, one major decision and an additional win by forfeit in flattening the depleted Titan squad.

Mira Mesa would fall, 44-21, to San Marcos in the semifinals but bounce back to capture third place in the tournament on the strength of a 31-30 tiebreaker victory against Grossmont Hills League champion Helix.

The Highlanders led 30-27 heading into the final match at 115 pounds after 108-pounder Marcus Tucker won by decision.

But the Marauders pulled even at 30 points when Brandon Rasgaitis, the outstanding light weight wrestler at January’s Monte Vista Invitational, scored a clutch 3-1 win in the final match of the dual.

With the teams knotted 30-30, Mira Mesa then won on the second tiebreaker criteria with seven wins to six wins. One match ended in a double forfeit that ultimately tipped the scales in the Marauders’ favor.

Mira Mesa coach Craig VanDyke was very pleased by his team’s showing in the event.

“We were the fifth seed but felt we should have been seeded higher,” VanDyke explained. “We thought we should have been seeded third, which is where we finished.”

The Marauders will compete against Eastlake, Helix and San Marcos again — as well as the rest of the Division I field — at this weekend’s individual championship tournament.

“We’re not satisfied yet, but we’re happy,” VanDyke said.

Helix, seeded third, opened the tournament with a 41-30 win over sixth-seeded Escondido. The Highlanders then dropped a 43-20 semifinal match-up to RBV.

In other first-round Division I duals, San Marcos eliminated eighth-seeded El Camino 51-18 while RBV topped seventh-seeded Mission Hills 64-6.

Helix coach Adam Krzywicki was among the many coaches favoring the new dual championship format.

“I like it because it eliminates multiple weigh-ins during the week, and all the teams are together, which increases the number of spectators and makes it more exciting,” he said.

The Highlanders finished 4-0 in league duals and entered last weekend’s CIF dual championship tournament 7-0 in duals overall.

However, the Helix team that took the mat last weekend was not as strong as the one that started the season, Krzywicki acknowledged.

“The team that started the season is a lot different than the team that is ending the season,” he said. “We’ve suffered a number of injuries, and we’re a little light for this tournament, we’re forfeiting three weight classes. But it’s good experience for our younger wrestlers.”

Helix senior Trence Gillem, with just two losses on the season, was a showcase for the team. The 140-pounder entered last weekend’s CIF duals ranked fifth in the state with losses to the No. 1- and No. 4-ranked wrestlers during the season.
Gillem is undefeated in the section.

“I think he’s got a post-season run in him,” Krzywicki said. “He’ll be going to the divisionals ranked No. 1. His goals are to win the divisionals, the section (Masters) and state.”

Other Highlander mat men to keep an eye on at Saturday’s Division I finals include 115-pounder Spencer Pham and 120-pounder Jonathan Honda.

Everyone should keep an eye out for San Marcos and RBV from here on. The teams exchanged leads throughout their Division I championship dual before Oscar Nellis, son of RBV coach Marty Nellis, pinned at 108 pounds to lock the Longhorns even with the Knights 30-30.

Eric Marquez then won a heart-pounding 3-1 overtime match against RBV’s Bernie Truax to give San Marcos the win. One team point was deducted from the Knights’ final score when an overzealous fan ran out onto the mat to give Marquez a congratulatory hug.

Truax had entered the match ranked third in the section in the weight class while Marquez was ranked fifth.

Division III
Brawley out-muscled eighth-seeded University (60-9) and fourth-seeded West Hills (70-7) in the opening rounds before stalling third-seeded LCC in the finals. The Wildcats won despite a wave of illness and injuries that have swept through the team — a familiar pattern at this time of the season for many section mat squads.

La Costa Canyon defeated Point Loma, 69-6, in the first round while Grossmont Valley League champion West Hills turned back a late challenge from East County rival Monte Vista, 45-34, in its opening match.

West Hills coach Mike Proctor was ecstatic over the Wolf Pack’s season that included a 5-0 showing in league duals and 6-0 overall regular season dual record.

“It’s the first time we’ve been independent league champions since ’06, and it’s been longer than that since we’ve gone undefeated in dual competition,” Proctor said.

Three West Hills wrestlers finished undefeated in league duals: Greg Papstein (140), Nick Rivinius (162) and Kevin Ah Key (222).

Ah Key won a key match by pin to stave off a late comeback by the Monarchs, who trailed 39-28 with two matches remaining and had a chance to pull off a 40-39 win with maximum value-point wins in the final two bouts.

The Wolf Pack started off strong with pins in the first two matches and a win by minor decision to zip out in front 15-0. West Hills would later extend its lead to 27-6 before Monte Vista roared back into contention.

The Wolf Pack hopes to make a good showing numbers-wise at this year’s Masters tournament. “I’m extremely optimistic,” Proctor said. “There’s two or three on the team who might not make it to Masters (out of 14 weight classes). We took seven to Masters last year.”

Ramona defeated West Hills, 52-30, in the Division III third-place match.

Ramona freshman sensation Jeffrey Ramsthaler escaped the tournament unscathed to improve his seasonal record to 31-0.

Division II

Two lower-seeded teams won opening-round duals in the Division II tournament. Sixth-seeded Valhalla knocked out third-seeded Mt. Carmel, 66-19, while fifth-seeded Westview eliminated fourth-seeded Orange Glen 45-30.

The two other opening-round Division II duals were not close: Poway defeated San Ysidro, 78-9, while second-seeded Rancho Bernardo shut out seventh-seeded Granite Hills 83-0.

In the semifinals, Poway blanked Westview, 71-0, while Rancho Bernardo topped Valhalla 58-18.
Poway defeated RB by a score of 52-15 in the championship round. The Titans lost just five matches during the three rounds.

Division IV
Valley Center defeated Holtville to capture its first divisional dual championship after previously topping eighth-seeded Imperial (60-10) in the opening round and fifth-seeded Army-Navy Academy (57-27) in the semifinals.

Holtville defeated sixth-seeded Madison (48-30) and second-seeded Mt. Miguel (48-33) in the semifinals.

Army-Navy defeated fourth-seeded St. Augustine (42-33) while Mt. Miguel defeated seventh-seeded Clairemont (48-29) in a pair of opening round match-ups.