The 2010-11 high school wrestling season opened on a promising note for the Olympian Eagles and particularly heavyweight Jessie Perez, who captured two individual awards while winning his weight class at last Saturday’s season opening Battle by the Beach tournament at Mar Vista High School.
Perez won the award for most pins (four in as many matches) while earning honors as the 22-team tournament’s outstanding heavyweight wrestler. He pinned Point Loma’s Kevin Destra in 1:10.
Perez helped the Eagles to an eighth-place finish in the tournament — highest among the five teams entered from the South Bay League.
The Olympian heavyweight threw his weight around the Mariners’ gym with four falls in 6:43 total time. One regulation match lasts six minutes.
Perez, top-seeded in the 285-pound weight class, opened the tournament with a 1:23 pin against Castle Park’s Paul Sierra, then advanced to the semifinals with a 23-second fall against Sweetwater’s Francisco Hemand in the quarterfinals before advancing to the championship round with a 3:47 pin against Mt. Miguel’s Isaiah Cormier.
Sierra earned the tournament’s fastest pin award with an eight-second fall prior to meeting Perez.
Perez was one of six Metro Conference wrestlers to advance to championship round matches at this year’s tournament. Hilltop’s Jordan Griffin pinned Olympian’s Jerick Ello in 43 seconds into overtime to win the 103-pound title while Mar Vista’s Jon Nicoloff recorded a 3-0 decision against San Ysidro’s Fernando Lopez to win the 189-pound weight class.
San Ysidro’s Joey Alvarez placed runner-up in his 125-pound division following a 9-1 loss by major decision to Rancho Bernardo’s Evan McKirdy, who was named the tournament’s outstanding lightweight wrestler.
Hilltop’s Luis Lopez finished second at 130 pounds after dropping a 7-1 decision to Steele Canyon’s Jake Lincoln.
Steele Canyon, braced by five finalists and four champions, captured the team title by a seven-point margin over Rancho Bernardo (five finalists, two champions).
Olympian finished four points behind seventh place Hilltop and 3.5 points ahead of defending South Bay League dual meet champion Mar Vista.
The Eagles had six grapplers medal at the Battle by the Beach, which was celebrating its ninth year after being launched in 2002.
Olympian’s Jose Gonzalez decisioned Mar Vista’s Jesse Terminal, 5-3, to finish third at 119 pounds while three teammates placed fifth: M.J. Limbo (135), Imran Hoque (145) and Victor Huaracha (189).
Mar Vista had two wrestlers finish third: Gabriel “Max” Uribe (130) and Albert Ludwig (152), both off the school’s Metro-South Bay League champion football team.
The Mariners had four medalists overall.
“We looked good but we’re still knocking the rust off,” MV coach Levi Harbin said. “We’ve got a handful of returners back. Our guys are just as hungry to defend the title as are the teams that want to take it from us.”
Castle Park’s Robert Lopez (112), Sweetwater’s Adan Mendez (140) and Hilltop’s Claudio Narez-Ortiz (285) all recorded third-place finishes in their respective weights. classes.
Hilltop had two more wrestlers place fifth: Jaime Cruz (112) and Carlos Garcia (215).
Also medaling in fifth place was Sweetwater 215-pounder Fernando Badilla.
Battle By the Beach Wrestling Tournament
Team standings
1. Steele Canyon 179, 2. Rancho Bernardo 172, 3. Monte Vista 141.5, 4. Granite Hills 118.5, 5. Scripps Ranch 101, 6. (tie) Point Loma, Hilltop 92, 8. Olympian 88, 9. Mar Vista 84.5, 10. Southwest El Centro 72, 11. San Ysidro 67, 12. El Cajon Valley 59, 13. La Jolla 39, 14. Rancho Bernardo B 28, 15. Sweetwater 23, 16. (tie) St. Augustine, Valhalla 22, 18. Mt. Miguel 19, 19. Castle Park 15, 20. Kearny 13, 21. Serra 10
Championship Finals
103: Jordan Griffin (Hilltop) pinned Jerick Ello (Olympian) 6:43
112: Ned Johnson (Scripps Ranch) decisioned Travis Mishler (Steele Canyon) 7-0
119: Jesse Cardenas (Steele Canyon) decisioned Everette Pratt (Monte Vista) 10-5
125: Evan McKirdy (Rancho Bernardo) major decisioned Joey Alvarez (San Ysidro) 9-1
130: Jake Lincoln (Steele Canyon) decisioned Luis Lopez (Hilltop) 7-1
135: Daniel Leyva (Monte Vista) decisioned Steven Blakenship (Rancho Bernardo) 4-2
140: Brady Beamon (Steele Canyon) major decisioned Steve Martin (Granite Hills) 10-1
145: Wesley Abbey (Rancho Bernardo) decisioned Victor Castro (Granite Hills) 6-3
152: Shervin Iraniha (Monte Vista) major decisioned Zach Merritt (Rancho Bernardo) 15-6
160: Lucas Rangel (Steele Canyon) decisioned Alex Huynh (Scripps Ranch) 3-0
171: Jeremy Marsaglia (Scripps Ranch) pinned Ryan Milkovits (Rancho Bernardo) 1:46
189: Jon Nicoloff (Mar Vista) decisioned Fernando Lopez (San Ysidro) 3-0
215: Conner Blackwell (Granite Hills) pinned Miguel Cordova (Southwest El Centro) 4:42
285: Jessie Perez (Olympian) pinned Kevin Destra (Point Loma) 1:10
Individual Awards
Fastest pin: Paul Sierra (285) 8 seconds
Most pins: Jessie Perez (Olympian) 4 pins, 6:43 total time
MVP lightweight: Evan McKirdy (Rancho Bernardo), 125 pounds
MVP middleweight: Shervin Iraniha (Monte Vista), 152 pounds
MVP upperweight: Jessie Perez (Olympian), heavyweight
Coaches award: Joe Eddie Terribilini (Rancho Bernardo)
Third Place
(Loser places fifth)
103: Victor Mendez (Southwest El Centro) decisioned Edgar Palamas (Scripps Ranch) 8-1; Vlad Contreras (Monte Vista) decisioned Brandon Yousif (Steele Canyon) 6-4
112: Robert Lopez (Castle Park) major decisioned Jaime Cruz (Hilltop) 15-2; Jeremy Rubic (Rancho Bernardo) major decisioned Chase Scillato (Point Loma) 20-6
119: Jose Gonzalez (Olympian) decisioned Jesse Terminel (Mar Vista) 5-3; Wilford Charbono (Rancho Bernardo) pinned Alex Barbosa (Point Loma) 4:22
125: Peter Ahmaki (El Cajon Valley) decisioned Jose Jaime (Steele Canyon) 9-7; Anthony Leyva (Monte Vista) pinned Nathan Albright (Southwest El Centro) 4:35.
130: Gabriel Uribe (Mar Vista) defeated Eduardo Lopez (Southwest ElCentro), five-match rule; Raul White (Monte Vista) pinned Brandon Osmark (Rancho Bernardo) 2:59
135: Eddie Valencia (Granite Hills) defeated Benji Suamataia (Southwest El Centro) by injury default; David Diem (Steele Canyon) major decisioned M.J. Limbo (Olympian) 14-1
140: Kirk Lee (La Jolla) pinned Andrew Garcia (Monte Vista) 2:19; Adan Mendez (Sweetwater) decisioned Jonathon Billot (El Cajon Valley) 9-3
145: Kenny Cochran (Scripps Ranch) defeated Duncan Swain (Point Loma) by injury default; Trevor Schneeman (Steele Canyon) decisioned Imran Hoque (Olympian) 11-4
152: Albert Ludwig (Mar Vista) decisioned Trevor McGirr (Valhalla) 13-6; Renas Hassan (El Cajon Valley) decisioned Luis Guzman (Southwest El Centro) 7-0
160: Andrew Whitford (El Cajon Valley) decisioned Andrew Truony (Monte Vista) 2-1; Sean Cruz (Point Loma) decisioned Josh Kitzmiller (Valhalla) 5-0
171: Phillip Kyler (Monte Vista) pinned Jason Bilger (St. Augustine) 1:24; Matt Vasquez (La Jolla) pinned Brandon Encinas (Killer Bees) 4:16
189: Bilah Heartfield (Kearny) major decisioned Victor Huaracha (Olympian) 11-3; Colton Kloack (Granite Hills) pinned Jason Whited (El Cajon Valley) 0:38
215: Charles Bienacki (Rancho Bernardo-B) pinned Fernando Badilla (Sweetwater) 4:30; Arien Kohrman (Rancho Bernardo) decisioned Carlos Garcia (Hilltop) 13-7
285: Claudio Narez-Ortiz (Hilltop) pinned Isaiah Cormier (Mt. Miguel) 0:51; Jesse Sheard (Granite Hills) defeated Mario Lizarraga (Southwest El Centro
