Olympian High School won this year’s Mesa League dual meet wrestling championship, but the high-flying Eagles were unable to defend their conference championship tournament title in tight competition against neighborhood rival Eastlake last Saturday at Southwest High School.
Eastlake, which finished runner-up to Olympian in the regular season dual meet standings, piled up 263.5 points to nudge the Eagles from their nest. Olympian finished a close second with 240.5 points.
Otay Ranch was a distant third with 101 points.
“Everybody wrestled at their potential,” Eastlake assistant coach Mike Rubalcava said. “Everybody stepped up. We brought 13 guys and all placed in the top three in their weight classes.
“We had a couple freshmen who did extremely well. Orlando Amado won his 197-pound weight class while Alex King finished third at 108 pounds.”
Olympian led the field with seven weight class champions and had two wrestlers finish second while Eastlake finished with four individual champions and five silver medalists.
The Eagles and Titans both had nine finalists but Eastlake had a bit more depth in the scoring department with 13 medalists (top three finishers) compared to 10 for the Eagles.
Olympian head coach Jordan Griffin was complimentary of the Titans’ tournament championship showing.
“We had a few setbacks with injuries and illnesses, but with that said, Eastlake has been working hard and it was a well-deserved win,” Griffin said. “It is great for the South Bay to gain it momentum in wrestling again; we look forward to the competition that will force us to push harder.”
South Bay League dual champion Chula Vista finished fourth in the conference field with 74.5 points.
Olympian’s Michael Esquer (162) and Bonita Vista’s Cale Merton (172) both registered three first-period pins in as many trips to the mat.
Metro Conference 2020
Boys Wrestling Championship Tournament
Feb. 8 at Southwest High School
Team Standings
Points: 1. Eastlake 263.5, 2. Olympian 240.5, 3. Otay Ranch 101, 4. Chula Vista 74.5, 5. Bonita Vista 71, 6. Sweetwater 70, 7. Hilltop 69, 8. Castle Park 63.5, 9. Montgomery 59, 10. Southwest 59, 11. San Ysidro 45.5, 12. Mar Vista 17
Top Individuals
108 Pounds
Championship: Carlo Arreola (Hilltop) won by 10-0 major decision over Wyatt Costa (Olympian)
Third place: Alexander King (Eastlake) won by 5-0 decision over Sinjin Torga-Fide (Otay Ranch)
115 Pounds
Championship: Zachary Ramos (Olympian) won by 6-1 decision over Jesus Plascencia (Eastlake)
Third place: Zaylon Bernardo (Sweetwater) pinned Joaquin Angulo (Hilltop) 2:22
122 Pounds
Championship: Justin Graham (Eastlake) pinned Alexis Lopez (Chula Vista) 5:59
Third place: Adrian Plascencia (San Ysidro) won by 6-3 decision over Brandon Dequito (Olympian)
128 Pounds
Championship: Ralph Magsino (Olympian) pinned Efrain Montoya Mancisidor (Chula Vista) 1:23
Third place: Vincent Viramontes (Eastlake) pinned Alfonso Arroyo (Sweetwater) 0:37.
134 Pounds
Championship: Ryan Magsino (Olympian) pinned Ruben Rodriguez (Montgomery) 1:14
Third place: Alejandro Martinez (Eastlake) pinned Pedro Grimaldo Jr. (Hilltop) 1:30
140 Pounds
Championship: Mico Gonzalez (Olympian) pinned Estevan Hernandez (Eastlake) 5:17
Third place: Rodrigo Parra (Castle Park) won by 6-4 decision over Angelo Duschane (Otay Ranch)
147 Pounds
Championship: Victor Eberle (Eastlake) won by 7-4 decision over Jacob Neiman (Olympian)
Third place: Tyler Krecklow (Otay Ranch) pinned Lucas Rodriguez (Bonita Vista) 1:58
154 Pounds
Championship: Alejandro Llarena (Olympian) won by 21-8 major decision over Jonathan Nava (Otay Ranch)
Third place: Emilio Lopez (Eastlake) won by 17-2 technical fall over Diego Chriss-Real (Mar Vista)
162 Pounds
Championship: Michael Esquer (Olympian) pinned Richard Inzunza (Eastlake) 1:33
Third place: Luis Ocaranza (Sweetwater) won by 12-3 major decision over Pedro Lopez (Southwest)
172 Pounds
Championship: Cale Merton (Bonita Vista) pinned Dawson Galvan (Eastlake) 1:24
Third place: Adrian Lopez (Olympian) won by no contest over Roberto Escobar (Castle Park)
184 Pounds
Championship: Brian Reyes (Olympian) pinned Tristan Curby (Eastlake) 3:17
Third place: Antonio Gomez (Castle Park) pinned Dominic Tiznado (Southwest) 1:20
197 Pounds
Championship: Orlando Amado (Eastlake) pinned Jeremy Gearhart (Otay Ranch) 3:15
Third place: Angel Solano (Bonita Vista) won by 4-2 decision over Jason McCanahan (Montgomery)
222 Pounds
Championship: Nicholas Pultorak (Eastlake) pinned Christian Venegas (Montgomery) 1:41
Third place: Xavier Bustamante (San Yisdro) pinned Joel Salazar (Southwest) 0:47
287 Pounds
Championship: Alex Alcala (Bonita Vista) pinned Juan Cobian (Southwest) 0:12
Third place: Daniel Topete (Chula Vista) pinned Santiago Avelar (Castle Park) 2:18
