The 2016-17 high school wrestling season has closed the chapter on its first month of competition and five Metro Conference mat men have earned the seal of approval, so to speak, of the San Diego Section rankings-makers.
The early season individual rankings are especially kind to South County grapplers:
•Mater Dei Catholic’s Mateo Olmos is ranked first in his 160-pound weight class.
•San Ysidro’s Pablo Perez is ranked first in his 170-pound weight class.
•Mater Dei Catholic’s Uriel Beristain is ranked second in his 182-pound weight class.
•Eastlake’s Ben Martinez is ranked fourth in his 128-pound weight class.
•Eastlake’s Michael Johnson is ranked fourth in his 147-pound weight class.
The top four place-winners in each weight class at the San Diego Masters state qualifying tournament earn the right to compete for a state championship medal.
It will be interesting to see how the remainder of the season plays out for the above named wrestlers, plus those who push toward the top as the grind of the regular season continues.
Top dog
Olmos, who sat out last year due to CIF restrictions after transferring from Mar Vista High School to Mater Dei High School, has established himself as the man to beat in his weight class after placing first at both the El Dorado and El Cajon Invitational tournaments and splitting four matches at the Walsh Ironman in Akron, Ohio, considered the toughest high school tournament in the country.
Olmos received the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the El Cajon Invitational after pinning Sultana’s Nate Vargas in 3:01 in the finals to improve to 11-2 on the season.
Olmos is ranked fourth in his weight class in the state. He’ll put that prestigious ranking on the line when he competes in this weekend’s elite Doc Buchanan tournament in Clovis.
The Mater Dei Catholic grappler earned four pins and an 11-3 major decision in ravaging through his ECI bracket. Three pins came in less than one minute: 26, 35 and 58 seconds.
“I feel great — to get first place with a pin in the finals is amazing,” Olmos said. “I came into this tournament with a month of hard training. It was amazing to go out and represent Mater Dei Catholic. I’ve been waiting a long time to do that.
“This is another stepping stone for me. I want to come back harder and dominate everyone in the county and state.”
Champions at the Doc Buchanan tourney traditionally receive cowboy hats.
“I hope to be in the finals and win it,” Olmos said. “It will be a real test for me.”
Metro wide
Olmos was one of nine Metro Conference wrestlers to earn place-finishes at the 46th annual El Cajon Invitational tournament held Dec. 16-17 at Eastlake High School.
Eastlake’s Martinez finished second in his 126-pound division with a 3-1 record while San Ysidro’s Beristain placed second in his 182-pound weight class with a 3-1 record.
Eastlake’s Johnson placed fourth in his 145-pound weight class with a 4-2 record.
Otay Ranch’s Sithara Diunugala placed sixth in his 152-pound weight class with a 3-3 record.
Mater Dei Catholic’s Jonas Ullsperger finished seventh in his 132-pound weight class with a 4-2 record while teammate Thomas Schmitt finished seventh at 195 pounds with a 3-2 record.
San Ysidro’s Israel Ramirez placed eighth in his 113-pound division with a 4-3 record while Eastlake’s Sergio Carzoli finished eighth in the 285-pound heavyweight division with a 3-3 record.
Ten Metro schools participated in the tournament. Eastlake, with three place-winners, finished ninth in the team standings with 98.5 points while Mater Dei Catholic, with four place-winners, finished 13th among the 52 entered teams with 87.5 points.
Otay Ranch finished in 18th place with 58 points, followed by Mar Vista (27th, 32 points), San Ysidro (29th, 30 points), Bonita Vista (tied 31st, 27 points), Sweetwater (38th, 17 points) and Montgomery (tied 42nd, 14 points. Chula Vista and Castle Park did not score.
Sultana won the team title with 294 points, followed by Rancho Bernardo (the highest San Diego Section finisher) with 258 points in second place.
Northview finished third with 235 points while Yuma KOFA finished fourth with 185 points.
Rancho Buena Vista was the second highest team from San Diego to score in the tournament with 151.5 points in fifth place. Vista finished seventh with 126 points.
Rancho Bernardo racked up 13 medalists and five weight class champions in show of force.
The event attracted seven teams from the Southern Section, one team from the Central Section, three teams from Arizona and one team each from Washington and Oregon.
San Diego champions at the ECI tournament also included RB’s Jaden Le (120), Jaden Abas (132), Chaz Franchina (145), Erick Salcedo (152) and Chasen Blair (195) and RBV’s Bernie Truax (138).
Section runners-up also included RBV’s Oscar Nellis (113), Vista’s Johnny Miller (152) and Steele Canyon’s Gerardo Jaime (220).
Hamada Classic
Olympian’s Ethan Ramos and San Ysidro’s Perez represented the Metro Conference among the tournament place-winners at the mega La Costa Canyon event.
Perez finished second in his 171-pound division while Ramos finished seventh in his 132-pound weight class.
Rancho Bernardo, with eight place-winners, led San Diego Section teams with a fourth-place finish. Steele Canyon, with five place-winners, finished 10th in the team standings.
What’s next?
•Hilltop High School will host its annual team tournament Saturday, Jan. 7.
•The Monte Vista Invitational is scheduled Jan. 14 at Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley.
