No. 2 Laguna Hills wins battle with El Dorado
The No. 2 Laguna Hills wrestling team went into the final two matches of Tuesday's nonleague match against No. 8 El Dorado with the result still undecided.
Two losses by fall and the Hawks would have suffered their second consecutive loss. But Jose Ballesteros scored a late takedown in his 220-pound match against Ryan Guidry to win, 3-2, helping the Hawks to a 35-28 home victory.
The match ended with El Dorado's Dante Duke winning by fall at heavyweight.
"This was another tough match," Laguna Hills coach Cliff Jarmie said. "We were both a little banged up, but this gives some of these other kids a chance to come out under the spotlight and show their stuff."
The match was Laguna Hills' annual Dinner Dual.
Both teams will compete in the Clovis West Shoot Out this weekend.
"Feels good to come out and wrestle and show that we can still compete, even with guys out of our lineup," Laguna Hills senior Jason Newcomer said. "It has been tough, but it feels good to put together a team and start winning matches."
El Dorado jumped out to 13-0 lead, thanks to victories from the Morris brothers. Corby (106) opened the match with a major decision, Brennen (113) won by fall and Trent (120) picked up a 7-0 victory.
Alex Zhukov (126) picked up the first victory for the Hawks, a major decision, 13-4, that cut the match score to 13-4.
Andre Cabrera (132), Miguel Ramirez (138) and Wyond Mills (145) all scored bonus points to give the Hawks a 20-13 lead.
El Dorado's RJ Price won by fall at 152, to cut the score to 20-19.
Laguna Hills stretched its lead to 29-19 thanks to a 9-3 victory by Joe Applegate at 160 and Newcomer's victory by fall at 170.
Both teams were coming off solid showings over the weekend. Laguna Hills finished third at the Carter Invitational and El Dorado was sixth at its invitational.
In another nonleague match:
No. 5 Santa Ana 36, No. 6 Fountain Valley 25: The Barons rallied from a 15-4 deficit to eventually take a 19-15 lead on a 7-0 victory by Amir Hotak at 152.
The Saints won five of the final six matches to seal the victory over the visiting Barons. During that stretch, Jon Hernandez (182), Lenning Gomez (195) and Oscar Serrano (285) all won their matches by fall.
