The Olympian Eagles are flying high after winning both the varsity and junior varsity team titles at last Saturday’s Metro Conference championship wrestling tournament at Montgomery High School.
The Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders have to be feeling pretty good about themselves as well.
The Eagles racked up 185.5 points to out-point the varsity field and ran away with the JV team title with 245 points.
Olympian came off the mat with two individual varsity champions and 10 individual JV champions.
For good measure, the Eagles collected three second- and six third-place individual varsity medals and flooded the field with seven second- and four third-place individual JV medals.
It was a big haul. Those with cameras had to slap on a super-wide angle lens to get everyone in the same frame when both the OHS varsity and JV teams gathered on the gym floor for a post-tournament photo.
Mater Dei Catholic wasn’t alone in setting a benchmark for success.
The Crusaders advanced five wrestlers to the varsity finals, winning four individual weight class championships. MDCHS also recorded one individual JV champion.
The Crusaders finished fourth in the varsity team standings with 115 points and placed fifth in the JV team standings.
Parade of champions
The varsity field was spread around in the medal department. While Mater Dei Catholic topped the field with four gold medalists, Eastlake had three individual champions, San Ysidro and Olympian each had two individual champions and Mar Vista, Hilltop and Montgomery each had one gold medalist.
Overall, seven of the 13 Metro teams each recorded at least one individual tournament champion this year.
Eleven of the 13 Metro teams had at least one varsity finalist.
Mater Dei Catholic’s parade of champions started with 134-pounder Jonas Ullsperger and included Cade Congden (154 pounds), Aaron Olmos (162 pounds) and Thomas Schmitt (184 pounds). Uriel Beristain finished runner-up in his 172-pound division.
Eastlake’s three conference champions included Ben Martinez (122 pounds), Mikey Moyna (140 pounds) and Michael Johnson (147 pounds). Also for the Titans, Joshua Auditor finished second in his 128-pound weight class.
Olympian’s two varsity gold medalists included Ethan Ramos (128 pounds) and Jason Miller (287 pounds). Jedrik Farin (134 pounds) and Brenden Gregorio (147 pounds) each placed runner-up in their respective weight classes for the Eagles.
San Ysidro’s Israel Ramirez (115 pounds) and Pablo Perez (172 pounds) each won individual varsity championships while teammates Jakob Balderas (140 pounds), Javier Puga (184 pounds) and Aldo Rosales (197 pounds) each recorded second-place finishes in their weights.
Also stepping up to the top of the awards stand with first-place medals were Mar Vista’s Julian Winnie (108 pounds), Hilltop’s Chris Gomez-Dominguez (197 pounds) and Montgomery’s Andrew Villagomez (222 pounds).
Turning in dominating performances in the varsity field were Winnie, Ramirez and Ullsperger each with two pins and a major decision. Ramos recorded one pin, one technical fall and one major decision while Johnson had one pin and two technical falls to his credit.
Olmos, Perez, Gomez-Dominguez and Villagomez each recorded two pins.
Olmos won by fall times of 41 and 44 seconds before recording a win by medical forfeit in the championship round.
Johnson opened the tournament with identical 16-1 tech falls before pinning in 4:30 in the title match.
Martinez recorded the fastest pin in the finals at 30 seconds.
Lower-seeded wrestlers to capture weight class titles included Congden, Perez and Miller — all seeded second.
State of mind
Olmos, Beristain and Perez are all returning state meet qualifiers. Olmos and Beristain both qualified in 2015; Perez qualified last year.
The 172-pound varsity finals match-up between Beristain and Perez was thus an exceptional match-up of two returning state meet qualifiers.
CIF schedule
The San Diego Section dual meet championships are scheduled Saturday, Feb. 11, at Mira Mesa High School (Division I and Division III) and Rancho Bernardo High School (Division II and Division IV).
There are three rounds: quarterfinals (10 a.m.), semifinals (11:30 a.m.) and finals/third place (1 p.m.). An awards ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m.
Mesa League champion Olympian is seeded fifth and Eastlake is seeded sixth in Division I while San Ysidro is seeded sixth in Division II. South Bay League champions Mar Vista is seeded fifth in Division III while Mater Dei Catholic is seeded fifth in Division IV.
Top-seeded teams include Rancho Buena Vista (Division I), Poway (Division II), Brawley (Division III) and Valley Center (Division IV).
The San Diego Section girls individual championship meet is also scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11. First-round action is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at Clairemont High School.
The San Diego Section’s boys individual championship tournaments are scheduled Feb. 18 at the following sites: Otay Ranch High School (Division I), Del Norte High School (Division II), Brawley High School (Division III) and Mater Dei Catholic High School (Division IV).
Competition starts at 9 a.m., with championship finals starting no earlier than 5 p.m.
Mater Dei Catholic mat program gets the most bling for the buck
The Mater Dei Catholic High School boys wrestling team certainly got the most punch out of its line-up at last Saturday’s Metro Conference championship tournament at Montgomery High School.
The Crusaders brought six wrestlers to compete at the varsity level and three wrestlers at the junior varsity level.
With just six weight classes out of 14 filled, Mater Dei Catholic had five wrestlers advance to the finals and a sixth wrestler lose by only one point in the semifinals.
Varsity champions included Jonas Ullsperger (134 pounds), Cade Congden (154 pounds), Aaron “Mateo” Olmos (162 pounds) and Thomas Schmitt (184 pounds). Uriel Beristain (172 pounds) finished second while David Monjarez (222 pounds) placed fourth.
Olmos, ranked fourth in the state, is currently 31-4 on the season while Beristain is 25-7, Schmitt is 20-8, Ullsperger is 16-3 and Congden is 14-4.
“Being that close to having all of our varsity wrestlers in the finals but still having five in the finals and coming out with four Metro champions is still a record now set for Mater Dei wrestling,” MDCHS head coach Brett Sanchez explained.
“With only six wrestlers competing at the varsity level for the team title, we came in fourth place. We were only nine points away from being runner-up behind Olympian, which won the whole tourney.
“We kept the third place spot for a while but ended up with fourth place. I’m very confident once we have a full lineup to see the potential this team can do for team titles.
“We’ve made history for the new era of Mater Dei wrestling. It is the highest the team has ever placed and we walked away with four conference (varsity) champions, which is another record for our school.”
The Crusaders walked off the mat with five weight class champions on the day after recording one individual JV champion (Christian Silva at 162 pounds). That’s a total of five conference champions out of nine entrants — not bad at all.
“We’re excited to see what this program can do in the future,” an obviously elated Sanchez underscored.
San Diego Section
Weight Class Rankings
(Through Jan. 31)
122 Pounds
4. Ben Martinez (Eastlake)
147 Pounds
3. Michael Johnson (Eastlake)
162 Pounds
1. Aaron Olmos (Mater Dei Catholic)
172 Pounds
1. Uriel Beristain (Mater Dei Catholic)
4. Pablo Perez (San Ysidro)
184 Pounds
2. Thomas Schmitt (Mater Dei Catholic)
Metro Conference Wrestling
Championship Tournament Varsity Division
Team standings
Points: 1. Olympian 185.5, 2. San Ysidro 124, 3. Eastlake 121, 4. Mater Dei Catholic 115, 5. Mar Vista 85, 6. Hilltop 66, 7. Montgomery 47, 8. Otay Ranch 39, 9. Sweetwater 38.5, 10. (tie) Bonita Vista 26, 10. (tie) Chula Vista 26, 12. Castle Park 16, 13. Southwest 2
Top individuals
108 Pounds
Championship: Julian Winnie (Mar Vista) pinned Marc Nunez (Hilltop) in 5:52
Third place: Zachary Ramos (Olympian) pinned Gavin Barlow (Eastlake) in 4:55
115 Pounds
Championship: Israel Ramirez (San Ysidro) defeated Jordan Bendorf (Bonita Vista) by 8-0 major decision
Third place: Antonio Collazo (Eastlake) pinned Cade Harbin (Olympian) in 2:35
122 Pounds
Championship: Ben Martinez (Eastlake) pinned Enrique Diaz (Mar Vista) in :30
Third place: Anthony Ortiz (Chula Vista) defeated Juan Castro (San Ysidro) by 7-1 decision
128 Pounds
Championship: Ethan Ramos (Olympian) pinned Joshua Auditor (Eastlake) in 2:58
Third place: Joseph Fonseca (Sweetwater) defeated Roy Figueroa (Mar Vista) by 4-0 decision
134 Pounds
Championship: Jonas Ullsperger (Mater Dei Catholic) pinned Jedrik Farin (Olympian) in 2:50
Third place: Paul Crampton (Eastlake) defeated Francisco Herrera (Sweetwater) by 7-3 decision
140 Pounds
Championship: Mikey Moyna (Eastlake) defeated Jakob Balderas (San Ysidro) by 9-4 decision
Third place: Andres Espinoza (Olympian) defeated Ricardo Flores (Mar Vista) by 5-4 decision
147 Pounds
Championship: Michael Johnson (Eastlake) pinned Brenden Gregorio (Olympian) in 4:30
Third place: Axell Perez (Otay Ranch) pinned Conrad Grayson (Hilltop) in :30
154 Pounds
Championship: Cade Congden (Mater Dei Catholic) defeated Sithara Diunguala (Otay Ranch) by 3-2 decision
Third place: Luciano Parra (Olympian) pinned Cesar Santana (Hilltop) in 1:18
162 Pounds
Championship: Aaron Olmos (Mater Dei Catholic) defeated Abraham Pena (Olympian) by medical forfeit
Third place: Mathew Frith (Mar Vista) pinned Camilo Mariscal (San Ysidro) in 3:56
172 Pounds
Championship: Pablo Perez (San Ysidro) defeated Uriel Beristain (Mater Dei Catholic) by 11-5 decision
Third place: Guillermo Gonzalez (Sweetwater) defeated Michael Morgan (Eastlake) by medical forfeit
184 Pounds
Championship: Thomas Schmitt (Mater Dei Catholic) defeated Javier Puga (San Ysidro) by 4-1 decision
Third place: Joshua Juarez (Olympian) pinned Andres Gonzales (Hilltop) in 4:47
197 Pounds
Championship: Chris Gomez-Dominguez (Hilltop) defeated Aldo Rosales (San Ysidro) by 8-5 decision
Third place: Camryn Griffin (Olympian) pinned Jacob Mendez (Otay Ranch) in 3:17
222 Pounds
Championship: Andrew Villagomez (Montgomery) pinned Hassan Montiel (Castle Park) in 3:35
Third place: Luis Castro (Olympian) pinned David Monjaraz (Mater Dei Catholic) 1:25
287 Pounds
Championship: Jason Miller (Olympian) pinned Chase Riegg (Montgomery) in 3:57
Third place: German Contreras (Chula Vista) defeated Josue Gonzalez (San Ysidro) by 3-1 decision
Outstanding Wrestlers
Lower weight MVP: Julian Winnie, Mar Vista (108)
Upper weight MVP: Pablo Perez, San Ysidro (172)
Metro Conference Wrestling
Championship Tournament Junior Varsity Division
Team standings
Points: 1. Olympian 245, 2. Eastlake 113.5, 3. San Ysidro 50, 4. Otay Ranch 30, 5. Mater Dei Catholic 29, 6. Bonita Vista 18, 7. Castle Park 17, 8. Chula Vista 12. Tie: Hilltop 0, Mar Vista 0, Montgomery 0, Southwest 0, Sweetwater 0
Top Individuals
108 Pounds
Championship: Jacob Neiman (Olympian) pinned Robert Soriano (Olympian) in 1:30
Third place: Adrian Plascencia (San Ysidro) pinned Sebastian Magana (Eastlake) 2:29
115 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Jaydon Caoile (Olympian), 2. Jacob Mejia (Eastlake). 3. Elias Glaman (Eastlake), 4. Xavier Lagmay (Olympian). Championship series: Caoile (Olympian) defeated Mejia (Eastlake) by 7-0 decision; Caoile (Olympian) defeated Lagmay (Olympian) by forfeit; Caoile (Olympian) pinned Glaman (Eastlake) in 3:45.
122 Pounds
Championship: Axel Chilaca (Eastlake) defeated Cruz Alarcon (Olympian) by 10-1 major decision
Third place: Jesus Luna (Eastlake) pinned Chris Trovato (Mater Dei Catholic) in :30
128 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Raphael Sanvictores (Olympian), 2. Victor Eberle (Eastlake), 3. Jeremiah Murphy (San Ysidro), 4. Esteban Orozco (Bonita Vista). Championship series: Sanvictores pinned Eberle in :42; Sanvictores pinned Murphy in 1:10; Sanvictores pinned Orozco in :21
134 Pounds
Championship: Ethan Ryan Deguzman (Olympian) defeated Esteban Bonilla (Olympian) by 12-0 major decision
Third place: Matthew Montoya (Eastlake) pinned Emiliano Vazquez (Eastlake) in 4:30
140 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Diego Hook (Eastlake), 2. Renz Casiano (Olympian). Championship series: Hook defeated Casiano by 10-4 decision; Hook defeated Casiano by 9-2 decision
147 Pounds
Championship: Marko Alvarez (Olympian) defeated Jonathon Ugarte (Otay Ranch) by 7-4 decision
Third place: David Rodriguez (Olympian) defeated Sean Gidley (Eastlake) by 5-4 decision
154 Pounds
Championship: Ryan Wolley-Herrera (Olympian) pinned Ivan Solis (Otay Ranch) in 3:10
Third place: John Burre Rodriguez (Olympian) pinned Emiliano Galeana (San Ysidro) in :57
162 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Christian Silva (Mater Dei Catholic), 2. German Corea (Olympian), 3. Anthony Neese (Olympian), 4. Ivan Caraceza (San Ysidro). Championship series: Silva pinned Neese in 4:07; Silva defeated Caraceza by injury default; Silva pinned Corea in 2:08
172 Pounds
Championship: Jossue Dejesus (Olympian) defeated Andres Boquiren (Olympian) by 10-5 decision
Third place: Jarren Fabunan (San Ysidro) pinned Oskar Czekadko (Eastlake) in :58
184 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Brian Reyes (Olympian), 2. Anthony Reyes (Castle Park), 3. Nicholas Pultorak (Eastlake). Championship series: B. Reyes pinned Pultorak in 3:45; B. Reyes pinned A. Reyes in 2:03
197 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Diego Sanchez (Eastlake), 2. Shaihi Baker (Olympian), 3. Jovan Guizar (Olympian), 4. Cruz Castillo (Bonita Vista). Championship series: Sanchez pinned Baker in :52; Sanchez lost by :40 to Guizar; Sanchez pinned Castillo in 1:07
222 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Joseph Ferrer (Olympian), 2. Ricardo Cantreas (Chula Vista), 3. Isaac Doumere (Castle Park). Championship series: Ferrer defeated Cantreas by 3-1 decision; Ferrer pinned Doumere in 1:58
287 Pounds
Round-robin: 1. Mychal David Perry (Olympian), 2. Ayodele Ogundeji (Bonita Vista). Championship series: Perry pinned Ogundeji in 2:58; Perry pinned Ogundeji in 1:27
