WRESTLING
University’s John Farah is picking up things quickly in the wrestling room and the results are showing this season.
Farah, the fourth-ranked heavyweight in the county, picked up Upper Weight MVP honors at Saturday’s Andrew Pena Classic, winning all four matches by fall.
“He’s a confident dude,” University coach Peter Alix said of Farah. “He’s always been a great athlete and aggressive, but it was the technique that I think he lacked.
“He’s a really good football player so he depends on his tackling and stuff like that, so we’re getting him to be a little bit more smooth, chaining his moves together and using the techniques that we’ve taught him and I think that’s what made him jump this year.”
Farah has been wrestling for just two years and he’s picking up things quickly, mostly by sticking with his work ethic.
“I’m working hard every day,” he said. “I’m doing whatever Coach tells me to do. I’m more aware. Last year, I had a lot of injuries and this year I’m healthy and I have a lot more knowledge of the sport.”
Farah will look to continue his run at the Ed Springs Classic tournament this weekend at Brea Olinda High.
The Mann Classic is also this weekend, Friday and Saturday at Santiago Canyon College.
– DAMIAN CALHOUN
BOYS SOCCER
Derek Moon tied the Brea Olinda school record for assists during the Wildcat Cup, finishing with four as he helped the Wildcats advance to the championship match for the third season in a row.
Playing on tired legs after beating Sunny Hills in an emotional game just a few hours earlier, the Wildcats fell to Glenn of Norwalk, 1-0.
Brea Olinda coach Steve Teal called the semifinal victory against the Lancers “the most epic game of my coaching career.”
After Sunny Hill took a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, Teal said the Wildcats regrouped, and Danny Abrego scored moments before halftime to cut the Lancers’ lead in half.
He scored again in the 70th minute off a cross from Matteo Miralaie, and then two minutes later, Josh Lee knocked in a free kick from 25 yards out to deliver a 3-2 victory against Sunny Hills
At half, I just talked about character and how these kinds of games reveal it,” Teal said. …
On Thursday, pool play opens in the inaugural Lotto Sport Western Showcase at San Clemente. The host Tritons will play defending Orange League champion Century at 2:30 and Servite will play Coronado at 4:15 p.m. Loyola of Los Angeles is also on the Friars’ side of the bracket. Loyola plays Buchanan of Clovis at 6 p.m. Should the Cubs and Friars both win, it would set up a match on Friday at 6:30 p.m. between the two teams that met in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals the past two seasons.
Servite won the first meeting in 2011-12, and the Cubs topped the Friars on penalty kicks last season. Loyola was ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 1 poll released Dec. 8. The Friars are No. 2
“I have a ton of respect for Loyola. They went undefeated and went on to win the whole thing (after beating Servite) and went on to win state,” Servite senior midfielder JT Cook said. “This year if we get another shot, it would be great. It would be the rubber match.” …
On Wednesday at University High, father will face son when the Trojans play host to the Grizzlies at 3 p.m. Ruben Fernandez is the coach at Godinez, which is off to a 3-1-0 start after beating Santa Ana on Friday. His son, Marcos, is a senior midfielder for University, which has won its last two games to improve to 3-3-1.
The two sides met two years ago, and the Grizzlies left as 4-1 victors. Ruben Fernandez said he is looking forward to the game, but that doesn’t mean he still isn’t approaching the match with mixed emotions.
“You always want your son to do well, but on the other hand I want my team to win. I was happy with my team winning (in the last meeting), but also it was a little bittersweet,” Ruben Fernandez said in an email. “At the end of the day it is just a game, and whatever happens there at least will be one happy Fernandez at the dinner table.”
– DAMIAN DOTTORE
GIRLS WATER POLO
A Battle of the Bay and a showcase at Santa Margarita highlight the schedule this week in girls water polo.
Third-ranked Newport Harbor (2-1) plays host to No. 4 and Back Bay rival Corona del Mar (2-0) on Friday at 3 p.m.
Corona del Mar won last season’s nonleague match, 7-5, and claimed two of the teams’ three meetings during the 2013-14 campaign.
Santa Margarita will play host to a six-game showcase Saturday, starting with El Toro against Top 10-newcomer Huntington Beach at 9 a.m. The Oilers captured the Poway tournament and finished eighth at the Villa Park Classic on Saturday.
The showcase also pits top-ranked Laguna Beach against No. 6 Orange Lutheran at 11 a.m.
– DAN ALBANO
BOYS WATER POLO
Sam Slobodien of Santa Margarita scored a match-high three goals and Marko Asic of Dana Hills scored twice in overtime to help the South all-stars defeat the North, 12-8, in the Orange County all-star boys water polo match Friday at Capistrano Valley.
The South also captured the Southern California tournament Sunday at Pomona-Pitzer. Laguna Beach’s Jack Dodson scored with 1:51 left to lift the South past the Foothill area, 11-10, in the final. …
Servite water polo coach Mustafa Hassan, who guided the Friars since 2008, has resigned to spend more time with his family and pursue other goals, he confirmed.
“I think it’s time to take a break (from coaching),” said Hassan, who has a 6-month-old son, Mateo, with his wife, Nicole.
Hassan, 39, also has resigned as the boys swim coach at Servite but remains at the Trinity League school as a teacher.
Hassan guided Servite to the CIF-SS Division 2 water polo finals during his first season, falling to Mater Dei, 8-6, in the finale. Servite reached the semifinals in 2009 and transitioned to Division 1 the following season. …
San Clemente utility Chase Hamming, who led Orange County in scoring this past season, has committed to Cal. Hamming netted 152 goals and added 64 steals.
– DAN ALBANO
GIRLS SOCCER
All eyes shift this week to the county’s second major preseason tournament: the Mater Dei Premier Invitational.
The 16-team tourney begins Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. with a heavyweight showdown pitting top-ranked Aliso Niguel off against No. 5 Villa Park.
Each squad will play three pool play matches over the course of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with the winners of the four groups advancing to Saturday morning’s semifinals (both starting at 10 a.m.).
The championship match will be played Saturday night at 5 p.m.
Harvard-Westlake High of Studio City won back-to-back tournament titles in 2012 and 2013. Because the Wolverines are not in this year’s field, a new champion is sure to be crowned this weekend.
In addition to Aliso Niguel and Villa Park, No. 4 Mission Viejo, No. 8 Los Alamitos and No. 9 Foothill enter tournament play ranked in the county’s latest top 10 poll. Esperanza, Rosary, San Clemente and Mater Dei round out the field of local schools who are also looking to take home some preseason hardware.
Non-county schools in contention this week are Bishop Amat of La Puente, Cathedral Catholic of San Diego, Corona Santiago, Long Beach Wilson, Long Beach Poly and Norco High.
All tournament games will be played at Mater Dei High.
– KENNY CONNOLLY
