Valencia falls to 'tough' opponent in Division 5 final
ANAHEIM – The Valencia wrestling team was the top seed going into the CIF-SS Division 5 Dual Championships on Saturday at Western High.
The Tigers battled their way into the finals but ran into a juggernaut in No. 2 Bloomington of Colton, the Sunkist League champ.
With the exception of some gutsy individual performances by Valencia, the Bruins dominated most of the bouts en route to a 41-16 victory.
"They were really tough," Valencia coach Gerardo Rodriguez said. "They put it to us."
The most inspiring performance of the finals, however, was the 6-4 overtime victory scored by 119-pounder Ben Nagai of Valencia over Carlos Garcia.
Nagai was losing, 4-1, before scoring on an escape and a takedown late in the third period to send the match to overtime. He then scored on a takedown in the opening seconds of the extra period to end the match.
Other Valencia victories went to heavyweight Sergio Castellanos, who pinned Sydney Jackson in 11 seconds, and Robert Garcia (103), who earned a 9-1 victory over Johnny Foster.
The Tigers qualified 14 for next weekend's Coastal Division Tournament at Pacifica of Oxnard.
"We've got to reset our goals and focus on going to state," Rodriguez said.
In semifinals:
Bloomington 36, Irvine 27: A 24-0 deficit after the first four bouts proved too much for the Vaqueros to overcome. Nam Tram (103) got Irvine on the board with an 18-3 technical fall over Foster and Nick Dozier (145) added a second-period pin over Ralph Oseguero.
Valencia 30, Rosemead 28: The Tigers trailed, 28-27, heading into the final bout when Mac Langenwalter defeated Anthony Escarcega, 11-5, to put Valencia into the finals.
