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Damian Calhoun. Sports Newsroom Assistant.

// MORE INFORMATION: Associate Mug Shot taken August 24, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ONTARIO – For the second consecutive week, the Calvary Chapel wrestling team turned in a strong second-day performance to close out a tournament.

Last week, Calvary Chapel started the second day in fifth place in the team standings, but rallied to win the CIF title.

Saturday, the second day of the CIF-SS Masters Meet at Citizens Business Bank Arena, began with Calvary Chapel in fourth place, 11 points off the lead.

It ended with a bunch of smiling faces and a first-place team trophy as the proof of another dominant second-day stretch.

The Eagles finished with 146.5 points, six better than second-place Northview of Covina to capture the team Masters title.

“The boys are working hard and improving right now,” Coach Sal Garcia said. “They’re rising to the occasion and we seem to be peaking at the right time.

“They seem to be believing in their work and the practice and all of the time that they’re putting in,” Garcia said. “They’re not holding back. A lot of these of kids are really good wrestlers and as long as they wrestle to the best of their ability, they’re going to be great.”

Calvary Chapel led all county schools with six qualifiers for next week’s CIF State Tournament in Bakersfield. Only Northview (seven) had more.

Luciano Arroyo (113) and Justin Thomas (160) finished as individual champions for Calvary Chapel. Arroyo defeated Chance Rich (Valencia of Valencia), 11-3 in the finals. Thomas defeated Brandon Claiborne of Palm Desert, 8-4. This is Thomas’ third Masters title.

Jeremy Thomas (170) finished second, dropping a 3-2 decision to Antony Mantanona (Palm Desert). Elijah Palacio (120) and Johnny Knowles (145) were both third. Morris Wilner was fourth at 182 pounds.

The second day of the tournament saw the Calvary Chapel wrestlers post a 16-2 overall record.

A big key for success was the performance of Palacio, Knowles and Wilner. All three began the day needing a victory in their first match to qualify for state. This trio lost just one match Saturday.

“Overall, the boys did well, we couldn’t ask for more than that,” Garcia said. “They knew the first match was a big one and we wanted them to take one match at a time. It is very easy to look down the road and see who you’re going to wrestle, but we talked to them and say hey, let’s sleep on it, bounce back tomorrow (second day) and take one match at a time.”

After a smooth first day, things didn’t go the same for Servite’s Liam Cronin.

Cronin, who is the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 113 pounds, was upset in the semifinals, losing by fall to Rich. Cronin wrestled back to finish third.

Servite had four other state qualifiers (Marcos Polanco, 106; Wolfgang Bernal, 138; Angel Cordova, 160; and Parker Saltzman, 195)

Josh Luton (Villa Park, 132), Devin Pacheco (Mater Dei, 138), Phillip Zamora (Laguna Hills, 145) and Joey Daniel (Santa Ana, 195) were finalists at their weight, losing in their respective finals.

Esperanza’s Dylan Wallace (145) was the lone county wrestler to secure the ninth and final state berth in his weight class.

Ethyn Ewing (Canyon, 138) dropped to the consolation bracket early Friday, but ended the tournament winning six consecutive matches to finish third.

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O.C. qualifiers for CIF State Tournament

March 4-5 in Bakersfield

106: Marcos Polanco, Servite

113: Luciano Arroyo, Calvary Chapel; Liam Cronin, Servite; Jacob Gunter, Esperanza

120: Elijah Palacio, Calvary Chapel; Anthony Le, Laguna Hills

126: Ricardo Navarrete, Santa Ana; Ryan Gutierrez, Brea Olinda

132: Josh Luton, Villa Park

138: Devin Pacheco, Mater Dei; Ethyn Ewing, Canyon; Wolfgang Bernal, Servite

145: Phillip Zamora, Laguna Hills; Johnny Knowles, Calvary Chapel; Dylan Wallace, Esperanza

152: Tyler Meisinger, San Clemente; Peter McCoy, Marina

160: Justin Thomas, Calvary Chapel; Angel Cordova, Servite

170: Jeremy Thomas, Calvary Chapel; Jed Smith, Mater Dei; Lukas Howa, Trabuco Hills; Kyle Marshall, San Clemente

182: Morris Wilner, Calvary Chapel

195: Joey Daniel, Santa Ana; Parker Saltzman, Servite

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com