Trabuco Hills finishes second in Andrew Pena Classic
A competitive wrestling room equates to a solid overall program.
Those were the sentiments of Trabuco Hills coach Kurt Mitthof, whose Mustangs finished in second place with 174 points at the Andrew Pena Classic on Saturday at Irvine High.
The Mustangs took home medals in eight of 13 weight classes during the one-day tournament, including first-place finishes in two weight classes.
Simi Valley won the tournament with 183 points; Los Alamitos finished third with 158.5 and Irvine took fourth with 153.
Andre Batistiche rose from the ranks of the Mustangs B squad to win the 126-pound division, and teammate Trevor Stevens captured first at 160.
“We’ve got a competitive (wrestling) room right now,” Mitthof said. “Guys are having to battle for spots.
"We got pounded last year … We were young, so adversity makes you stronger.”
Irvine’s Nam Tram defeated Peninsula’s Alvarado Stefano, 3-1, in the 106-pound championship.
Tram, ranked No. 2 in the county, came away with a fall and technical fall in two of three matches.
Another feel-good story was the performance of Irvine’s Kevin Tornquist, who represented the Vaqueros’ B squad en route to a 7-4 victory over Simi Valley’s Steven Duron in the 171-pound championship.
Other county wrestlers taking home first-place medals were: Irvine’s Tu Pham (113) and Joe Mercuri (120), and Los Alamitos’ Tom Keanu (145).
Simi Valley’s Same Duchene (152) and Shane Murphy (132) took upper- and lower-weight MVP honors.
