ORANGE – The last time Santa Margarita’s Jeff Holsinger was on the mat was in late January.
The senior returned Friday for the first day of competition of the CIF-SS Southern Division Championships at Santiago Canyon College looking as if he never missed any time.
Holsinger pinned his three opponents to advance to the semifinals Saturday.
He had been sidelined after suffering a tear in a muscle in his thigh, which required minor surgery.
“The blood pooled under my muscle,” Holsinger said. “He went in took the blood out. He didn’t do any major work.”
He didn’t wrestle at the Trinity League finals last week, which was a qualifier for this weekend’s action. When the incident happened, Santa Margarita coach Scott Sedlick phoned the other coaches in the league and they voted that Holsinger would take the third-place spot from league.
That meant Tyler Williams of Orange Lutheran, who actually placed third at league finals, would enter the tournament as an alternate.
Holsinger is sticking to a diligent routine of rehab.
“I’ve been doing a ton of physical therapy, I went to a good orthopedic doctor,” Holsinger said. “The surgery was the best option that I had to getting better.
“Every morning I go in for physical therapy for two hours, then when I get home from school, I usually do more therapy and a lot of ice.”
Holsinger wrestled with his upper thigh wrapped. His first match of the day left him a bit tired.
“I was a little worried,” he said. “I was gassed, but then I started getting my confidence back … it had been so long since I wrestled.”
The race for the team title is shaping up to be quite a battle. Servite has the lead after the first day with 107.5 points. St. John Bosco and Laguna Hills are tied for second with 100 points.
The Hawks have seven wrestlers in the championship semifinals. Both Servite and St. John Bosco have five.
The key is in the consolation bracket. Servite will have seven when the tournament resumes, with Laguna Hills and St. John Bosco starting with three and two, respectively.
“It is going to be a dogfight,” Servite coach Alan Clinton said. “The key is what are you as an individual going to do to get to the next week? There are five places (in each weight class). What are you going to do to get to Masters?”
There were several standouts. Santa Margarita’s Nathan Fier (106) won all three of his matches by technical fall. Laguna Hills’ Anthony Le (113) had a fall, major decision and technical fall.
Sonora’s Russell Rohlfing (120) won all three matches by fall. Servite’s Noah Blakely (126) had a fall and two technical falls. Noah Fiegener (San Clemente) had two technical falls and a major decision at 145.
Mater Dei’s Jed Smith (160) had a pair of major decision victories and a fall. Servite’s Johnny Beltran (182) won two matches by fall and added a major decision.
Phillip O’Shea (Capistrano Valley) had two falls and a technical fall at 195 pounds. Troy’s Danny Aguilar won all three matches by fall, as did heavyweights Cameron Amador (Servite) and Jose Ballesteros (Laguna Hills).
CIF-SS WRESTLING INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
SATURDAY
Locations: Coastal Division (Westminster High); Southern Division (Santiago Canyon College); Central Division (Norte Vista High, Riverside); Eastern Division (Citrus Hill High, Perris); Inland Division (Temecula Valley High, Temecula); Northern Division (Santa Maria High).
What’s at stake: CIF-SS championships; top five in each weight class advance to CIF-SS Masters Meet
Start times: morning session, 11 a.m.; finals session, 5 p.m.
Ticket prices: Morning session, general ($7), students with valid school ID ($5), children 3-13 ($5). Finals session, general ($10), students with valid school ID ($5), children 3-13 ($5).
For news and live updates, go to OCVarsity.com
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
