The San Diego Masters wrestling tournament isn’t called a meat-grinder for nothing. The two-day event features 24 wrestlers from throughout the section in each weight class. Before the tournament is over, just three mat men per weight class will qualify to advance to the state championship tournament the following week.
A total of 68 schools qualified wrestlers for last weekend’s Master tournament at Southwest El Centro High School.
Four Metro Conference grapplers will wrestle another week after beating the odds – and exceptionally tough competition — at the Feb. 27-28 section-wide tournament.
The heroes of the day include Olympian senior Bryan Sanchez, junior Dante Preciado and freshman Uriel Beristain and Mar Vista sophomore Aaron Olmos.
Sanchez placed second in his 108-pound weight class while Preciado placed second in his 134-pound weight class, Olmos placed second in his 147-pound weight class and Beristain placed second in his 172-pound weight class.
The three state qualifiers from Metro Conference tournament champion Olympian are a first for the east side Chula Vista school.
“It hasn’t really sunk in because we had such high goals for the season – getting to state was part of the process,” OHS head coach Myron Griffin said. “It was a victory but it was part of the process.”
Still, it was an exceptional moment.
Sanchez (42-6) entered the Masters tournament as the No. 2 seed and scored two pins before meeting third-seeded Joseph Meier of Brawley in the semifinals. Sanchez won an 8-6 overtime decision from Meier to advance to the championship round — and a rematch with Poway freshman Chase Zollman from the finals of the preceding week’s Division II qualifying tournament.
Zollman (37-7) out-pointed Sanchez, 3-1, at the Division II finals and scored a 4-2 win at the Masters finals.
“We figured out the adjustments we needed for Poway but (Zollman) caught Bryan by surprise for two points and that was the difference in the match,” Griffin said. “The match was very close. I know what we need to win that next one if it happens.
“Bryan has all the tools to place at state. His goal is to win state.”
Preciado (36-6) also received the No. 2 seed in his weight class and drew a rematch from the Division II championship match in the finals at Masters. Preciado dropped a 3-1 decision to Poway’s Manny Lair at the Division II tournament; the two were separated again by two points a week later, with Lair (39-7) winning by a score of 5-3.
Lair is a returning state medalist (eighth in 2014).
“Dante’s goal is to place at state,” Griffin explained. “Dante is such a solid wrestler. He’s really had one big loss this season; the others have been by two points. We’re working on his cardio, so he can pull out those matches.”
Griffin admitted Beristain was the team’s surprise at Masters.
“Uriel had wrestled 160s during the season but placed at 172 in the postseason even though he weighs about 163 pounds,” the OHS coach explained. “We felt that 172 would be a better fit because of the depth of talent at 162. He could compete at either weight. It was a smart choice, especially since he was a freshman for making that adjustment.”
Beristain won the 172-pound weight class at the Metro finals on Feb. 14 and placed fifth at the ensuing Division II championships. He pinned Patrick Henry’s Blake Liscum in 3:23 in his first match at Masters, and then pinned Carlsbad’s Joshua Jeetan in 4:44 in his next match. Beristain won a 4-3 decision from Mission Hills’ Alex Penning in the quarterfinals to meet Valhalla’s Nico Gabriel, another upset winner, in the semifinals.
The Eagle mat man topped Gabriel by a 3-1 score to advance to the championship match against third-seeded Duke Mackle of La Costa Canyon. Mackle won the finals match-up by a 6-1 decision, though Beristain had made his statement.
“He was ranked below people he had beaten during the season, but it’s all about seeding points when you get to these postseason tournaments,” Griffin said. “He’s very excited to get this far. He’s ambitious for a freshman but his mat experience is beyond his years.”
Olmos finished fourth as a freshman at Masters and has been chasing his dream for a second straight season. This year, dream became reality.
The reigning Metro champion entered Masters as the No. 3 seed after winning the Division III individual title the previous week. After scoring wins in his opening two matches, he took down second-seeded Troy Charles of LCC by a 6-4 score in the semifinals.
Olmos then dropped a 7-0 decision to Poway senior Ralphy Tovar in the championship match. Tovar placed fourth at last year’s state tournament.
Olympian finished seventh out of the 68 teams with 77 points — tops among Metro, Grossmont and City conference entrants.
“The guys have been working hard all season and it’s paying off,” Griffin said. “The kids are real excited about the direction the program is going. We set the tone for years to come. The kids want to make this a tradition at Olympian.”
Wrestlers from 12 Metro Conference schools competed at Masters. Otay Ranch (52.5 points) finished 13th, while San Ysidro (40 points) was 17th, Eastlake (35 points) was 21st, Hilltop (32 points) was 24th, Mar Vista (26 points) was 30th, Castle Park (17 points) was 43rd, Chula Vista (eight points) was 53rd, Bonita Vista (four points) was 58th, Mater Dei Catholic (two points) was 60th and Montgomery and Southwest tied with five other teams for 62nd place with zero points scored.
Best of the rest
The Metro Conference had a chance to add a fifth state qualifier to its honor roll but San Ysidro senior Roberto A La Torre (39-5) came up on the short end of a 3-2 decision to Helix 154-pounder Walter Todd in the battle for that all-important third-place finish.
A La Torre finished second at the preceding Division II section finals after dropping a 7-5 overtime decision to Poway sophomore Hampton Boyd.
The San Ysidro wrestler won his opening two matches by decision (8-5 over West Hills’ Seth Moore and 9-5 over Oceanside’s Esteban Susa) to advance to the semifinals against La Costa Canyon’s Adam Young.
Young defeated A La Torre by a 6-2 decision to advance to the championship round against Ramona’s Troy Jordan, the Division III champion.
A La Torre dropped down to the consolation semifinals and handed Boyd an 8-3 setback to avenge his loss at the division finals and keep his dream alive of qualifying for the state tournament.
Todd, the Division I champion, defeated Susa, 3-2, in the consolation semifinals to meet A La Torre in the bronze medal match. The winner would advance to the state meet and the loser would stay home.
Without a fourth-place state qualifier from the section, it’s a brutal way to end one’s season and A La Torre did so with a tight 3-2 loss to Todd.
Boyd, the Division II champion, finished sixth in the weight class.
Young recorded a 10-8 win over Jordan in the championship match.
Medals are handed out to the top six place-finishers at Masters. The Metro didn’t fare too badly at all with four state qualifiers and nine total medal-winners.
Hilltop’s Alberto Garcia finished fifth at 134 pounds while Eastlake’s Ronnie Sallee was fifth at 197 pounds, Otay Ranch’s Mustafa Farha was fifth at 222 pounds, Eastlake’s Jake Suggett was fifth at 287 pounds and Otay Ranch’s Dylan Costello was sixth at 140 pounds.
Garcia, Sallee and Suggett all advanced to the semifinals before suffering their first loss to the tournament to drop down to the consolation semifinals. Costello and Farha both advanced as far as the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual champion in their respective weight classes.
The consolations semifinals winners advance to the third-place match while the consolation semifinal losers drop to the fifth-place match. All of the five Metro wrestlers to drop to the consolation semifinals lost to drop to fifth-place match-ups.
Garcia won by rule over Brawley’s Victor Gonzalez while Sallee won by rule over Steele Canyon’s J.R. Fischer, Farha won by rule over Holtville’s Esteban Llamas, Suggett won by rule over Granite Hills’ Victor Garcia and Costello lost by rule to San Marcos’ Bailey Cambra.
High school wrestlers cannot wrestle more than five matches in one day (10 matches in a two-day tournament), thus necessitating rule wins and losses when one wrestlers reaches the maximum allotment.
Sallee won this year’s Division I individual championship and carried a record of x-x into last weekend’s Masters tournament. Costello, Farha and Suggett all placed runner-up at the Division I finals while Garcia was fifth at the Division II finals.
Poway, ranked second in the state entering post-season competition, qualified 13 of its 14 wrestlers for this weekend’s state tournament in Bakersfield. The Titans could be making a push to capture their fifth state title in school history.
Poway led this year’s Masters field with eight champions (out of 12 finalists) and a section best 356 points. Division II runner-up La Costa Canyon placed second in the field with 208 points, followed by Division III champion Brawley with 145 points in third place, Rancho Bernardo with 102 points in fourth place, Division I runner-up Rancho Buena Vista with 85.5 points in fifth place and Division I champion San Marcos with 85 points in sixth place.
LCC tallied five state qualifiers, including two Masters champions while Brawley had two state qualifiers and one Masters champion.
Masters champions included Poway’s Zollman, Jason Chua (115), Brandon Kier (122), Lair, Tovar, Colt Doyle (162), Chris Bailey (197) and Liam Sorahan (222); LCC’s Alec Baker (140), Young and Mackle (172); Brawley’s Daxton Gordon (128); Rancho Bernardo’s Chasen Blair (184) and Mira Mesa’s Richard Belmontez (287).
Doyle, a returning state champion, remained undefeated on the season at 38-0.
The state tournament is scheduled Friday and Saturday, March 6-7, at Rabobank Arena.
