Calvary Chapel wins showdown with Santa Ana

SANTA ANA – No matter how friendly the Calvary Chapel and Santa Ana wrestling rivalry might appear, each year, the dual is as emotional and hard-fought as the year before.

Tuesday night was no different.

Last year, Santa Ana was the king of the city. This time around, in front of a capacity and energetic crowd at Calvary Chapel, the host Eagles returned the favor by winning, 37-21, over the fourth-ranked Saints in the Iron Sharpens Iron Classic.

This is the first year that the rivalry, dating back to 1994, has taken on that title.

The dual started at 140 pounds. Santa Ana took a 12-9 lead after Alfredo Becerra's victory by fall at 171 pounds.

Calvary Chapel then went to work. Spurred on by the hero's welcome from their student body, Morgan McIntosh (189) and Tank Knowles (215) provided bonus points for their team.

McIntosh won by technical fall and Knowles by fall to see Calvary Chapel take a 15-12 lead. Elliot Taylor (heavyweight) followed with a victory and Gordon McDonald added a technical fall at 103 for a 23-12 lead.

Johnny Sanchez (Santa Ana) defeated Adam Alvarado, 4-2 at 112 pounds to cut into the lead, 23-15, and appeared to set the Saints up for a late-match run.

However, things changed quickly when Randy Sosa was called for an illegal slam on Peter Cunningham at 119 pounds. Cunningham's head hit the ground and was unable to continue, awarding six points to Calvary Chapel. The lead grew to 29-15 heading into the final four matches.

"It didn't affect the overall outcome, thank God," Aleksanyan said. "I didn't want to win like that. The kid (Cunningham) was hurt. The dad came out and I let him make the decision."

Calvary Chapel's Shawn Kholbeck then sealed the victory with a technical fall at 135.

“I love wrestling them (Santa Ana), I love the attitude that they come in here with,” Aleksanyan said. “They’re fighters. I’m proud of my boys.”