FOUNTAIN VALLEY – Running a successful tournament as large as the Five Counties Invitational is a challenge in itself.
Doing so and still having success on the mats is doubly difficult.
After the first day of this year’s event – the 50th edition – at Fountain Valley High, the Barons’ wrestling team is doing both.
The Barons finished the day in fifth place and have five wrestlers who have advanced to the championship quarterfinals. The tournament resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. The finals are scheduled for approximately 5 p.m.
“It is a balance between keeping all of the quality teams in here after the Temecula Valley split (from the Battle of the Belt tournament) and keeping everybody happy,” said Fountain Valley assistant coach Dennis Piramo, who is also tournament director. “Keeping the quality of the tournament has been a challenge and keeping the numbers. Last year, I let a lot of people in. I was a little too nice about it.
“I think people understand. … It is like the old Five Counties now, they have to bring in their top lineup. No B (teams). I’ve said it before, Five Counties is a name brand. It is 50 years old and it is not going anywhere. There are certain things we need to get better at and we will continue to get better at.”
Fountain Valley posted its best finish in a long time last year, finishing ninth, one spot behind Servite.
The Barons’ five finalists from last week’s SoCal Challenge started this weekend on the right path. Karson Ayres (120 pounds), Blake Vasquez (160), Andrew Morgan (170), Stone Escobedo (182) and Ben Madrid (195) are in the quarterfinals.
Buchanan of Clovis, which returned to the field last year and won the tournament, held the first-day lead.
Servite finished Friday’s matches in second. The Friars have seven wrestlers in the quarterfinals – Liam Cronin (106), Noah Blakley (126), Angel Cordova (132), Michael Vasquez (182), Parker Saltzman (195), Kyle Paterson (220) and VJ Leuta (heavyweight).
Calvary Chapel finished the day in 10th place. Christian Claudio (126), Johnny Knowles (132), Morris Wilner (152) and Jacob Collins (160) are in the quarterfinals.
Sonora has two wrestlers in the quarterfinals (Russell Rohlfing, 126, and Jacob Kawaguchi, 132), as does Westminster (Minh Nguyen, 113, and Chien Phan, 138), Yorba Linda (Abe Ochoa, heavyweight, and Andrew Gomez, 138) and Marina (Ryker Coppa, 195, and Cameron Gorman, 171).
Dickie Brown (Los Alamitos, 152), Josh Wharton (Trabuco Hills, 152), Michael Ramos (Villa Park, 171), Jed Smith (Mater Dei, 171) and Dominic Larraga (Laguna Hills, 182) are in the quarterfinals also.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
