The road to the state wrestling tournament in Bakersfield has narrowed to this weekend’s San Diego Masters state-qualifying tournament.
The boys tournament, with 24 qualifiers in each weight class drawn from last weekend’s four divisional tournament, is scheduled Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, at Olympian High School while the girls tournament, with 16 qualifiers in each weight class from four divisionals, is scheduled Saturday, Feb. 21, at Eastlake High School.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class in the boys Masters advance to the state tournament Feb. 26-28 while the top three girls at the Masters do so. For the most part, it was a record-setting weekend for East County mat squads.
Granite Hills High School won the Division I team championship at Del Norte High School with nine individual champions, 11 finalists and 14 Masters qualifiers while Valhalla finished runner-up in the Division III tournament at Lincoln High School with three individual champions and 10 Masters qualifiers. Mountain Empire set a record with seven Masters qualifiers to go with its meteoric second-place finish in the Division IV team finals at Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach.
Between the four divisional tournaments, East County racked up a hefty haul of 50 Masters qualifiers.
That is nothing short of impressive.
MOUNTAIN MEN
The three East County teams competing at the Division IV tournament represented the section’s smaller programs but produced big results with six individual weight class finalists and 10 Master qualifiers between them.
Mountain Empire led the group with four finalists and one champion while Christian High School had two finalists and two Masters alternates. Liberty Charter had one Masters qualifier to add to the total.
The Redhawks came down from the mountain to turn in a blockbuster showing at the beach. Mountain Empire finished with 162.5 points to just fall short of Holtville’s winning tally of 173.5 points. Tourney host Mar Vista was third with 117 points.
“We got hard-working kids who stepped up, who got out and found their own off-season plan besides what I could give them,” eighth-year Redhawks head coach Jason Reed said. “We really stepped up in terms of our faith this year.”
Mountain Empire tackled new horizons this season as a member of the Grossmont Valley League, finishing runner-up to Helix with a 4-1 dual meet record.
“We’re no joke — that’s what it says,” Reed noted with a sense of pride.
The Redhawks program also set a new record this season with 10 girls on the squad for 31 members total, including 21 boys.
East County loaded up the award stand.
The Redhawks’ seven Masters qualifiers include Weston Kowalski (first, 150), Jackson Kowalski (second, 144), Noah Wisniew (second, 157), Maxwell Anderson (second, 175), Caleb Best (third, 138), Jason Landman (third, 190) and Ezekiel Lopez (fourth, 215).
Christian’s finalists included Samuel Larson (second, 113) and Brandon Scharer (150), both second place.
Liberty Charter’s Masters qualifier included Chris Hermez (fourth, 113).
Fifth-place alternates to Masters include Christian’s Landon Salling (132) and Tristan Rickert (190).
Weston Kowalski defeated Scharer by a 24-10 major decision in an all-East County championship round.
Jackson Kowalski lost by a 14-5 major decision to La Jolla’s Liam Kressin in the finals while Wisnew pulled into second following an 8-5 loss to Mater Dei Catholic’s Ron Pizarro. Coastal Academy’s Adam Cornejo pinned Anderson just before the buzzer in 1:59 to send the Mountain Empire grappler into second place.
In third-place matches, Best pinned Palo Verde Valley’s Hunter Garret in 1:27 while Landman edged Coastal Academy’s Nolan White by a 6-1 score.
Larson lost 15-9 to Mar Vista’s Aiden Pendergraft in the championship round while Lopez came in fourth following a 37-second pin administered by Mar Vista’s Santiago Campos.
Mountain Empire tackled new horizons this season as a member of the Grossmont Valley League, finishing runner-up to Helix with a 4-1 dual meet record.
“We’re no joke — that’s what it says,” Reed noted with a sense of pride.
The Redhawks program also set a new record this season with 10 girls on the squad for 31 members total, including 21 boys.
Christian finished in seventh place with 78.5 points while Liberty Charter placed 15th with 44 points.
Liberty Charter set program highs in its third year on the mat with most team wins, most individual wins and more individual medals in one season.
The Lions brought eight wrestlers to the Division IV meet.
“I have a core of really talented, hard-working young men who have been with me for three years,” Liberty Charter head coach Hoss Paquette said. “They’ve exceeded expectations. They’ve accomplished things we didn’t think we were ready for this year.”
Nathan Luzzi (126) and Silas Luzzi (150) both finished sixth in their weight classes.
Charlie Moreno has coached Christian for 15 years. The Patriots program has started to gain momentum in recent years.
Christian won the City League dual meet title three years ago and finished runnerup last year in the Eastern League standings. The team fielded 11 wrestlers this year, including no seniors.
The program should be back on the upswing next season.
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Granite Hills has traditionally ranked among the section’s elite teams, so this year’s Division I championship came as no surprise. The Eagles topped the 19-team field with 356.5 points — well in front of runner-up Rancho Bernardo’s 239 points.
Weight class champions for Granite Hills included Cash McClurg (106 pounds), Emilio Escobar (120), Uriah Hawkins (132), Ames-Michael Hoevker (144), David Daniels (150), Aiden Chur (157), Jovanni Mansour (190), Steven Gomez (215) and Travin Shahbaz (285).