SGV/WHITTIER PREP SPORTS ZONE WRESTLING NOTEBOOK
Walnut boys and girls turn in top performances, Northview girls win team title at Norco.
Walnut girls wrestling team photo after taking second place at Tustin HS Tournament. (Photo courtesy of Walnut HS Wrestling)
Many of the top wrestlers from the area were in action last week throughout Southern California.
The big local tournament was the Damien Wrestling Classic at Damien HS. In the team standings, Etiwanda (222) held of Walnut (217) to take first place with Western (192.5) finishing third. Bonita (141.5) also turned in the top-10 performance with a ninth-place finish.
The Mustangs had three wrestlers win individual titles. Camilo Ramirez, a sophomore, won his second tournament of the year, securing the 106-pound title with a first-period pin over San Marcos’ Jacob Dominguez.
Jonathan Ruiz won his first tournament of the season with a 7-3 win over Western’s Eduardo Medel in the 113-pound final. Christian Garcia also captured his first tournament title of the season with a second-period pin over Edison’s Bach Le.
The only other area wrestler that won an individual title was Glendora’s Hector Jimenez, who defeated Nogales’ Oliver Jacobs, 4-1, to win the 285-pound weight class. Jimenez is a sophomore.
Bonita’s Owen Arbogast advanced to the final at 132-pounds but lost to Western’s Abram Marmalejo late in the first period. Cole Parra took third place at 152 pounds. Charter Oak’s Ryan Godina, a senior, lost a narrow 5-3 decision to Samuel Olson of Foothill HS (Santa Ana) in the 220-pound final. West Covina junior Jaremiah Juarez secured the bronze medal at 182 pounds.
At the Downey 32-Way Tournament, San Marino was the highest placed team with a 13th place finish. The Titans did have one wrestler win an individual title was Ryan Arrington captured the 220-pound title with a first-period pin over Dagan Allee of Monache HS.
Ryder Yoshitake fought back from losing his first match of the day to Anthony Estrada (10-4) of Monache and secured the bronze medal with a 10-5 win over Justin Yu of West Torrance. Taylor Tan advanced to the semifinals at 126 pounds before losing to Millikan’s Diego Laverde by pin in the first period. Tan finished in fourth place.
La Serna’s Julian Bilezikjian advanced to the quarterfinals at 195 pounds before losing a 14-5 decision to Millikan’s Nathan Gomez. Bilezikijian took third place with an exciting 3-2 win over Birmingham’s Michael Wynne
South Hills, Diamond Bar, and La Mirada were the only teams that participated at the prestigious Mann Classic in Orange County. South Hills’ Christian Montoya was the only area wrestler to finish in the top eight with sixth place at 106 pounds.
In girls wrestling, Northview showed its dominance as they won the team title at the Norco Rodeo Girls Wrestling Challenge. The Vikings got the job done with five wrestlers winning gold medals.
Lexi Garza looked sharp in winning the 106-pound title with a first-period pin over Hoover’s Sarine Mardirosian. Samantha Rivera won the 111-pound championship with a 6-1 win over Hillcrest’s Mackenize Muniz in the final. Leilani Lazaro enhanced her resume as one of the top wrestlers in the state with a second-period pin of Paloma Valley’s Karissa Turnwall in the 116-pound final.
Alejandra Sanchez won an exciting 3-1 decision over Ethnie Soto of Hillcrest in the 121-pound final. Savannah Lewis won her first tournament of the season with an early first-period pin over Hamilton’s Rose Hopkins. Sophia Gomez advanced to the finals at 131 pounds but lost by second-period pin to Corona’s Sophia Zika. Janelle Gozun finished third at 101 pounds.
South El Monte’s Mia Delgado won the silver medal at 170 pounds. In the championship final, Delgado was shutout 4-0 by Montclair’s Kaley Rita Rice. The only other wrestler that won the bronze medal was Galilea Garcia of Schurr (189).
At the Tustin Girls Slammin Tournament, Walnut was the highest placed area team in the standings with a second-place performance. The Mustangs had two wrestlers secure individual titles.
Anaya Falcon, who is considered one of the top freshmen in the country, defeated Jade Cabrera of John Wesley North with a first-period pin at 116 pounds. Jasmine Macias secured the gold medal at 126 pounds with a victory over Anaheim’s Emily Arcila. Caylee Reyes (106), Danielle Garcia (111), and Melia Marquez (131) won silver medals with Sarah Gaskin taking the bronze at 189 pounds.