The Metro Conference’s collection of boys wrestling teams didn’t fare too badly at last Saturday’s San Diego Section divisional championship tournaments with nine finalists and four weight class champions.
South Bay League champion Montgomery, which hosted the Division III tournament, advanced three wrestlers to the championship round, winning two individual titles.
Metro-Mesa League champion Bonita Vista and Metro-South Bay League runner-up Chula Vista, both competed in the Division I tournament at Orange Glen High School. The Barons and Spartans each delivered one weight class champion.
Aztec pride
Montgomery’s finalists included Jose Aspericueta at 157 pounds, Joel Maya at 190 pounds and Esteban Sanchez at 215 pounds. Both Aspericueta and Sanchez won weight class championships while Maya finished second.
“Those three kids worked hard all year,” Montgomery coach David Jarumayan said of the Aztecs’ CIF finalists. “All the kids have worked hard all year. The last two to three weeks, they’ve picked uyp the intensity. We’ve been stressing goals all year.”
Additionally, Hilltop’s Justin Bernardo placed second at 120 pounds.
Aspericueta (24-5) and Sanchez (27-2) were both top-seeded in their weight classes while Maya (17-8) was seeded sixth.
Aspericueta, the second-place finisher in his weight class at the preceding Metro Conference championship tournament, made some amends by running the table at the CIF tournament with a 5-0 record that included three first-period pins and a pair of minor decisions.
“It’s amazing, so amazing,” Aspericueta said.
The Aztec mat man defeated West Hills’ Weston Druckerman (33-14) by an 8-2 decision in the semifinals and topped Brawley’s Nathan Torres (22-11) by a 9-2 decision in the championship round. Druckerman was seeded fourth; Torres was seeded third.
Sanchez finished 4-0, likewise with three pins, including two in the first period.
He pinned Escondido’s Friday Pollard (30-6) in 1:30 in the semifinals and powered to a 20-7 major decision over La Costa Canyon’s Trey Blazevich (27-8) in the finals. Pollard wass the fourth seed; Blazevich was the second seed.
“It feels good,” Sanchez said. “It’s been my goal. It’s a huge accomplishment. It’s what wrestling is all about.”
Maya showcased his strong upper-body build by pinning El Capitan’s Marlon Ames, the weight division’s No. 3 seed in 3:06 in the quarterfinals and out-pointing St. Augustine’s Evan Perez, the No. 2 seed, by a score of 7-3 in the semifinals.
As the No. 1 seed, Brawley’s Matthew Gutierrez (32-9) ended May’s run with a 57-second pin for the weight class championship.
Montgomery finished ninth overall as a team. Additional place-finishers for the Aztecs included Eduardo Reyes (fourth, 285 pounds) and Timothy Finnie (fifth, 126 pounds).
Bernardo (34-4) opened the tournament with three successive falls — 1:20, 0:52 and 1:15 — to draw University City’s Justin Legler in the semifinals. Bernardo pulled out a 6-5 decision over Leglar to advance to the championship round against Brawley’s Ricardo Ortiz, the bracket’s top seed.
Hilltop coach Thomas Juarez called it a “really successful season” for his mat warrior.
“He had to overcome some adversity to get where he wanted,” Juarez said.
Ortiz (18-7) defeated second-seeded Bernardo by a 15-4 major decision.
Hilltop finished 13th in the 20-team field. Also placing for the Lancers were Ricardo De La Torre (fifth, 165 pounds), Isaac Medrano (seventh, 150 pounds) and Daniel Hernandez (eighth, 126 pounds).
Southwest placed 16th in the team standings. The Raiders had three place-winners: Brian Moreno (fourth, 190 pounds), Alex Kibodeaux (seventh, 165 pounds) and Richard Cuevas (eighth, 120 pounds).
Division II
Bonita Vista’s Josue Garcia (120 pounds) and Chula Vista’s John Reyna (165 pounds) each claimed individual titles at the Division II tournament while Chula Vista heavyweight Alejandro Scolari was second.
Garcia, Reyna and Scolari were champions at the preceding Metro finals.
Garcia entered the tournament ranked among the top 40 wrestlers in his weight class and swept through his three matches with a 12-2 major decision in the quarterfinals, a 4:28 pin in the semifinals and a 13-0 major decision over Rancho Buena Vista’s Braden Eilers in the championship match.
Reyna (34-2) finished 3-0 with two pins and a major decision in his three trips to the mat. He pinned Valhalla’s Nathanial Anderson in 5:46 in the championship round.
Scolari, the Metro tournament’s MVP for the upper weights, finished 3-1 with two pins and a minor decision to slide his season record to 31-2. He pinned Scripps Ranch’s Ryan Standherr in 5:55 in the semifinals but could not get past Central Union’s Diego Hernandez in the finals as Hernandez won by a 4:30 fall.
Bonita Vista, which had set a season goal of winning the Division II team champion, finished fifth in the team standings while Chula Vista was sixth. Mira Mesa instead won the division title.
Also placing for the Barons were Edwin Flores (third, 113 pounds), Nathan Banaszek (third, 132 pounds), Ivan Hernandez (fourth, 126 pounds), Matthew Molina (third, 138 pounds), Conlon Merton (fifth, 150 pounds), Luke Krecklow (fifth, 175 pounds), Maximus Yeps (seventh, 106 pounds), Christian Peoples (seventh, 157 pounds) and Isaiah Benitez (seventh, 215 pounds).
San Ysidro’s Adrien Figueroa finished eighth at heavyweight. The Cougars finished 18th in the team standings.
Division IV
Mar Vista’s Alejandro Gurrola (106 pounds) and Mater Dei Catholic’s Madden Poderick (157 pounds) each placed runner-up in their respective weight classes at the Division IV tournament in Imperial Beach.
Gurrola pinned his way to the finals in 0:54 (quarterfinals) and 1:06 (semifinals) but lost by a 13-23 decision to Holtville’s Anthony Strahm in the championship round.
Poderick advanced to the finals on the strength of three consecutive pins against wrestlers from Mountain Empire, Crawford and Imperial. However, the Crusader grappler fell shy of winning an fourth consecutive match after dropping an 8-3 decision to Coastal Academy’s Giancarlo Tolentino in the finals.
Mater Dei Catholic finished ninth to lead South County teams. Santiago Holland (fourth, 175 pounds) joined Poderick as a medal-winner while Gabriel Wysonczanki (106 pounds) placed fifth.
Castle Park finished 14th in the team standings. For the Trojans, Metro champions David Gambino Martinez (138 pounds) and Emilio Surposa-Buendia (165 pounds) both finished third.
Gambino Martinez finished 4-1 with three pins and a 19-8 major decision in the third-place match.
Surposa-Buendia also finished 4-1 with three pins and a 5-3 decision in the bronze medal match.
Mar Vista finished 15th among the 23 participating teams. Aaron Marcial (fourth, 138 pounds) and Ezera Drew (sixth, 215 pounds) also earned place-finishes for the tourney-host Mariners.
San Diego Section Wrestling Championships
Saturday, Feb. 10
Individual place-finishers (Metro Conference)
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Division I at San Marcos High School
106 pounds: 5. William Costa (Olympian), 6. Armando Nunez (Sweetwater)
113 pounds: 6. John-Paul Arballo (Eastlake), 12. Preston Espinoza (Olympian)
120 pounds: 5. Dominick Martinez (Otay Ranch), 6. Cash Schreiber (Eastlake), 10. Ryan Guerra (Sweetwater)
126 pounds: 5. Alijah Wardrobe (Otay Ranch), 6. Abel Ibarra (Olympian), 12. Troy Rivera (Eastlake)
132 pounds: 9. Joshua Pahuco (Sweetweater), 10. ,Ian Jacob Ramos (Olympian), 12. Patrick Parker (Eastlake)
138 pounds: 10. Roman Ruiz (Olympian), 12. Christopher-James Ramirez (Eastlake)
144 pounds: 12. Noah Soria (Olympian)
150 pounds: 4. Andres Gonzalez (Olympian), 8. Joel Martinez (Eastlake), 10. Jamar Wilson (Otay Ranch)
157 pounds: 6. Leo Pedregal (Eastlake), 8. Rene Pena (Olympian)
165 pounds: 4. Braydcen Zingano (Eastlake), 12. Porfino Nino (Otay Ranch)
175 pounds: 8. Samuel Carbajal (Olympian), 10. Omar Rodriguez (Eastlake)
190 pounds: 12. Eric Ramos (Eastlake)
215 pounds: 3. Diego Camacho (Otgay Ranch), 10. Diego De La Vega (Eastlake)
285 pounds: 3. Ricardo Spittler (Otay Ranch), 10. Daniel Salido (Eastlake)
Team standings: 1. Poway 415, 2. Granite Hills 293,
Division II at Orange Glen High School
106 pounds: 3. James Sanchez (Chula Vista), 7. Maximus Yeps (Bonita Vista)
113 pounds: 3. Edwin Flores (Bonita Vista)
120 pounds: 1. Josue Garcia (Bonita Vista)
126 pounds: 4. Ivan Hernandez (Bonita Vista)
132 pounds: 3. Nathan Banaszek (Bonita Vista)
138 pounds: 3. Matthew Molina (Bonita Vista)
144 pounds: 5. Paul Alvarez (Chula Vista)
150 pounds: 4. Edgar Ramos (Chula Vista), 5. Conlon Merton (Bonita Vista)
157 pounds: 7. Christian Peoples (Bonita Vista)
165 pounds: 1. John Reyna (Chula Vista)
175 pounds: 3. Ke’Andre Davis (Chula Vista), 5. Luke Krecklow (Bonita Vista)
215 pounds: 7. Isaiah Benitez (Bonita Vista)
285 pounds: 2. Alejandro Scolari (Chula Vista), 8. Adrien Figueroa (San Ysidro)
Team standings: 1. Mira Mesa 214, 2. Valhalla 193.5, 3. Central Union 193. Others: 5. Bonita Vista 134, 6. Chula Vista 117, 18. San Ysidro 15
Division III at Montgomery High School
120 pounds: 2. Justin Bernardo (Hilltop), 8. Richard Cuevas (Southwest)
126 pounds: 5. Timothy Finnie (Montgomery), 8. Daniel Hernandez (Hilltop)
150 pounds: 7. Isaac Medrano (Hilltop)
157 pounds: 1. Jose Aspericueta (Montgomery)
165 pounds: 5. Ricardo De la Torre (Hilltop), 7. Alex Kibodeaux (Southwest)
190 pounds: 2. Joel Maya (Montgomery), 4. Brian Moreno (Southwest)
215 pounds: 1. Esteban Sanchez (Montgomery)
285 pounds: 4. Eduardo Reyes (Montgomery)
Team standings: 1. Brawley 304, 2, La Costa Canyon 245, 3. St. Augustine 200. Others 9. Montgomery 111, 13. Hilltop 69, 16. Southwest 40
Division IV at Mar Vista High School
106 pounds: 2. Alejandro Gurrola (Mar Vista), 5. Gabriel Wysoczanki (Mater Dei Catholic)
138 pounds: 3. David Gambino Martinez (Castle Park), 4. Aaron Marcial (Mar Vista)
157 pounds: 2. Madden Poderick (Mater Dei Catholic)
165 pounds: 3. Emilio Surposa-Buendia (Castle Park)
175 pounds: 4. Santiago Holland (Mater Dei Catholic)
215 pounds: 6. Ezera Drew (Mar Vista)
Team standings: 1. Imperial 256, 2. Holtville 204, 3. Madison 146.5. Others: 9. Mater Dei Catholic 81, 14. Castle Park 56, 15. Mar Vista 52
