The Fountain Valley wrestling team turned in a performance in the medal rounds of the CIF-SS Southern Division Individual Wrestling Championships on Saturday that made certain no one would be able to sneak up and steal the title.
The Barons had 24-point lead heading into the final round of matches at Marina High over Santa Ana and Pioneer Valley of Santa Maria.
Thanks to the quartet of Blake Vasquez (160), Andrew Morgan (170), Stone Escobedo (182) and Ben Madrid (220) winning their weight classes and also a pair of fifth-place victories by Karson Ayres (120) and Cole Brisbine, the Barons were able to wrap up their first CIF title since 1985.
“At the beginning of summer we said that this would be a CIF championship team,” Madrid said. “Ever since then, it has been our goal and we finally accomplished it.”
The Barons led the field with six qualifiers for next week’s CIF-SS Masters Meet.
“We’ve never been a runner-up,” Fountain Valley’s Brad Woodbury said. “Last year we took third … It has been tough. I’ve been doing this a long time, so it is awesome. It was goal last year and we fell short and it was a goal again this year and they did an outstanding job.”
Brisbine needed a late escape to force overtime in his fifth-place match and then sealed the victory and the perfect round for the Barons with a takedown in overtime.
Ayres won his fifth-place match, 8-1.
Last year’s team also had six qualifiers. The key starts in the wrestling room, with the core of the group able to push each other before the competition starts.
“When we’re practicing, they’re always banging and pushing each other,” Woodbury said. “If one kid slacks, they’re going to jump on him and tell him to pick up the pace.
“It is a great room. As you can tell, we have a few guys in the weight order, so they’re always wrestling each other and making each other tougher.”
Marina’s Ryker Coppa secured Upper Weight MVP honors, winning all five matches by fall on his way to a title at 195 pounds.
Gil Gutierrez (Santa Ana) was the champion at 138 pounds. The Saints finished tied with Pioneer Valley with 150.5 points. The Saints had five qualifiers.
Dickie Brown (Los Alamitos, 152) was the other county champion.
At the Inland Division:
Servite recorded 310 points and qualified 13 wrestlers for next week’s CIF-SS Masters Meet.
Noah Blakley (126), JJ Reed (145) and Kyle Paterson (220) won CIF titles. Liam Cronin (108), Matt Rodriguez (113), AJ Silva (120), Wolfgang Bernal (132), Angel Cordova (152), Riley Paterson (160), Gordon Livermore (170), Michael Vasquez (182), Parker Saltzman (195) and VJ Leuta (285) all qualified.
“We had a great second day,” Servite coach Alan Clinton said. “The kids wrestled extremely well, not just winning, but getting bonus points.”
Calvary Chapel finished fourth with six qualifiers, including champions Johnny Knowles (132) and Jacob Collins (160).
University’s John Farah was the champion at heavyweight.
At the Eastern Division:
Laguna Hills finished third, followed by San Clemente and Trabuco Hills at Ayala High. The Hawks and Mustangs had five qualifiers apiece, the Tritons had four.
The Hawks had three individual champions, Dexter Viengvilay (106), Phillip Zamora (138) and Dominic Larraga (182).
Tyler Meisenger (San Clemente, 152) and Brandon Hernandez (Capistrano Valley, 120) also were champions along with the Sonora duo of Russell Rohlfing (126) and Josh Kawaguchi (132)
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
