The 2023-24 Metro-Mesa League dual meet championship came down to the Jan. 25 meeting between the Bonita Vista Barons and Eastlake Titans, the 2022-23 defending champions, on the Barons’ home mat.
With both teams undefeated in league duals, it was winner-take-all event and Bonita Vista took it with a power-packed 54-28 victory that featured an unrelenting 48-0 explosion to start the highly anticipated matchup.
The Barons recorded eight consecutive pins to fuel their first league championship since 2009 and finished the high-energy dual with nine pins overall. Eastlake finished the dual with four pins and one major decision victory.
Seven of the nine pins, including the first five, occurred in the first period.
“This year’s team wrestled for each other,” BVHS coach Joe Marcotte said. “The kids don’t miss practice. They work hard. This is the hardest-working team I’ve had in five years.
“The kids wanted to pin so they could win every match.”
Bonita Vista pinners included Max Yepps (108 pounds), Edwin Flores (115 pounds), Josue Garcia (122 pounds), Ivan Hernandez (128 pounds), Nathan Banaszek (134 pounds), Matthew Molina (142 pounds), Julian Valdivia (146 pounds), Conlon Merton (152 pounds) and Isaiah Benitez (217 pounds).
Eastlake’s pinners included Omar Rodriguez (167 pounds), Brayden Zingano (177 pounds), Eric Ramos (192 pounds) and Daniel Salido (heavyweight).
Leo Pedregal (159 pounds) won by a 13-3 major decision over BV’s Christian Peoples.
Garcia entered the dual ranked 36th in his weight class in the state.
Following the teams’ dual meet, Bonita Vista competed in the 60th Holtville Rotary Invitational while Eastlake competed in the Kai Atesalp Invitational at Escondido High School.
The Barons represented themselves well with a 10th place finish in the 32-team multi-state field headlined by power brokers Brawley (first with 262 points) and Granite Hills (second with 260 points). Bonita Vista racked up 81 points as the top Metro Conference team.
Among individuals, Garcia (124 pounds) placed third while Flores (117 pounds) placed sixth.
Eastlake posted a fourth-place team finish at the 17-team Escondido event. Place-winners included John Paul Arballo (fourth place, 115 pounds), Patrick Parker (third place, 140 pounds), Vincent Lam (fourth place, 146 pounds), Pedregal (second place, 159 pounds), Zingano (first place, 167 pounds), Ramos (second place, 192 pounds), Diego De La Vega (sixth place, 217 pounds) and Salcido (sixth place, 287 pounds).
Other Metro Conference place-finishers at the Holtville Invitational included Olympian’s Andres Gonzalez (sixth place, 154 pounds) and Mater Dei Catholic’s Madden Poderick (sixth place, 161 pounds).
Other Metro Conference place-finishers at the Escondido Invitational included Hilltop’s Justin Bernardo (first place, 122 pounds), Isaac Medrano (fourth place, 152 pounds), Ricardo De la Torre (fourth place, 167 pounds), Lukas Mendez (fourth place, 177 pounds) and Cole Rivera (fifth place, 108 pounds).
The post-season looms with Friday’s Metro Conference championship tournament at Chula Vista High School, followed by the San Diego Section divisionals Feb. 10 and the San Diego Masters state-qualifying tournament Feb. 16-17 at Southwest El Centro High School.
“Now our focus has always been to win CIF Division II,” Marcotte said.
With Poway and Granite Hills both moving up to Division I, the Barons hope to help fill the power void.
Photos by Phillip Brents
Eagles nest
Olympian was the top Metro Conference finisher at the 11th annual Hilltop dual team tournament on Jan. 6. The Eagles placed fourth in the 10-team field following a 40-33 loss to Central Union. Olympian finished 3-2 in its five duals on the day.
Top performers included Diego Gastellum at 5-0 and Will Costa, Alex Sarabia, Ion Ramos, Andrew Gonzalez and Jakob Frijas, all at 4-1.
The Eagles won last year’s Metro tournament team title.
“The kids wrestled really tough,” OHS coach Joe Schaeffer said. “We finished with eight wrestlers. The last couple duals we gave up 36 points in forfeits. It’s definitely a rebuilding year. We don’t have any four-year wrestlers on the team. But they have been doing better than expected. We’re hoping for a good finish at the league finals and CIF.”
Hilltop Dual Team Tournament
Team Rotation
Round 1: Olympian 51, Grossmont 25; Mt. Carmel 72, San Ysidro 12; Central Union 45, Eastlake 31; Torrey Pines 59, Patrick Henry 24
Round 2: Olympian 45, Hilltop 20, Mt. Carmel 50, Grossmont 12; Eastlake 45, Chula Vista 28; Central Union 49, Patrick Henry 24
Round 3: Olympian 45, San Ysidro 30, Grossmont 39, Hilltop 34; Torrey Pines 56, Eastlake 21; Central union 41, Chula Vista 33
Round 4: Mt. Carmel 56, Olympian 21; Hilltop 60, San Ysidro 24; Eastlake 37, Patrick Henry 33; Torrey Pines 45, Chula Vista 15
Round 5: Grossmont 63, San Ysidro 6; Mt. Carmel 60, Hilltop 18; Torrey Pines defeated Central Union (score unavailable); Patrick Henry 37, Chula Vista 36
Round 6: Torrey Pines 39, Mt. Carmel 38 (first place); Central Union 40, Olympian 33 (third place), Grossmont 54, Eastlake 28 (fifth place), Hilltop 48, Patrick Henry 30 (seventh place); Chula Vista 48, San Ysidro 27 (ninth place)
Top individuals
Chula Vista: John Reyna (5-0) 177 pounds; Alex Scolari (heavyweight) 5-0; Edgar Ramos (4-1) 152 pounds
Eastlake: Leo Pedregal (5-0), Brayden Zingano (5-0)
Hilltop: Justin Bernardo (5-0) 122 pounds, Joshua Ruiz (3-0) 287 pounds, Cole Rivera (4-1) 108 pounds
Olympian: Diego Gastellum (5-0), Will Costa (4-1), Alex Sarabia (4-1), Ion Ramos (4-1), Andres Gonzalez (4-1), Jakob Frijas (4-1)
San Ysidro: Andres Figueroa (3-1) heavyweight
High School Wrestling Tournament Scoreboard
(South County Place-finishers)
Carlsbad Invitational
126 pounds: 6. Cash Schreiber (Eastlake)
144 pounds: 6. Vincent Lam (Eastlake)
165 pounds: 6. Brayden Zingano (Eastlake), Leo Pedregal (Eastlake)
190 pounds: 5. Eric Ramos (Eastlake)
Team standings: 11. Eastlake (118 points)
Marauder Invitational
108 pounds: 2. Cole Rivera (Hilltop)
122 pounds: 1. Justin Bernardo (Hilltop), 5. Dominick Martinez (Otay Ranch)
134 pounds: 2. Timothy Finnie (Montgomery), 4. Alijah Wardrobe (Otay Ranch)
146 pounds: 5. Alan Jean (Montgomery)
159 pounds: 1. Jose Aspericueta (Montgomery), 6. Edgar Ramos (Chula Vista)
167 pounds: 4. Ricardo De La Torre (Hilltop)
177 pounds: 2. John Reyna (Chula Vista)
192 pounds: 6. Ke’Andre Davis (Chula Vista)
217 pounds: 1. Esteban Sanchez (Montgomery)
287 pounds: 1. Alejandro Scolari (Chula Vista)
Team standings (top 10): 5. Montgomery (113.5 points), 9. Hilltop (77.5 points), 10. Chula Vista (75 points)
Girls Wrestling
Mira Mesa Invitational
107 pounds: 3. Karina Lopez (Chula Vista)
112 pounds: 3. Maliya Lumahan (Otay Ranch)
117 pounds: 6. Keira Grantham (Otay Ranch)
142 pounds: 3. Ariana Enriquez (Chula Vista)
147 pounds: 5. Renata Maldonado (Chula Vista)
192 pounds: 4. Viviana Romo (Chula Vista)
Team scores: 7. Chula Vista (63 points), 14. Otay Ranch (32 points)
