The San Diego Section’s inaugural multi-divisional dual meet wrestling championships face off Monday and Tuesday with quarterfinal-round matches and conclude Thursday with semifinals and finals.
It’s not a new idea – the section held single-division dual championship tournaments in 1991 and 1992 – but the expansion to four divisions embarks on new territory.
Four Metro Conference teams will be involved: Eastlake, Hilltop, Olympian and Mater Dei Catholic high schools.
Eastlake, seeded fourth, will host fifth-seeded Mira Mesa in a Division I quarterfinal encounter on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The winner advances to Thursday’s semifinals at top-seeded Rancho Buena Vista after the Longhorns defeated eighth-seeded Mission Hills, 58-18, in Monday’s quarterfinals.
Other seeded teams in Division I include No. 2 San Marcos (5-1), No. 3. Helix (4-1), No. 6 Granite Hills (9-2) and No. 7 Patrick Henry (16-4).
Teams are guaranteed two matches on Thursday. The two semifinal winners will advance to the championship match while the two semifinal losers will wrestle off for third place.
The higher-seeded team will host quarterfinal matches and the remaining higher-seeded team will host the finals in their respective division.
The Titans finished Mesa League dual competition with a 4-1 record and are coming off the team championship at Saturday’s South Bay Invitational at Otay Ranch High School.
It will be a busy week for Eastlake, which will also compete in Friday’s upcoming Metro Conference championship tournament at Mar Vista High School. The Titans also competed in the annual Holtville Invitational on Jan. 30-31.
“It’s an honor, but it’s a lot of wrestling at the end of the season,” EHS head coach Troy Vierra said in a somewhat cautionary tone. “We’re going into it with the idea of having fun. It’s a great experience for the kids.”
The new format seems a bit ambitious for a first effort, with some teams wrestling three dual matches during the week while competing also in back-to-back weekend invitational tournaments. Metro Conference wrestlers, for instance, could wrestle as many as 12 matches during a seven-day span.
That’s a lot of wrestling in a short time span, and one wonders about the potential risk for injury, especially coming at the tail end of a physically-demanding season.
Also, not all league champions will be represented in this week’s CIF dual divisional championships. That’s a deviation from the standard playoff format in other sports in which league champions automatically qualify for post-season competition.
The absence of South Bay League champion San Ysidro, for instance, diminishes somewhat the overall stature of the event. To be considered an across-the-board championship tournament, all league champions should be represented.
However, the section’s coaches have expressed a desire over the past several years to determine a separate dual meet champion apart from the traditional tournament team champion, so it’s finally going forward.
Divisions are based on school enrollment; the seeding was conducted by a selection committee.
Mesa League champion Hilltop received the No. 7 seed in Division II. Despite not earning a higher seed, the Lancers still competed well in their 47-30 quarterfinal loss Monday at second-seeded La Costa Canyon.
Olympian, which finished behind Hilltop and Eastlake in the Mesa League standings, received the No. 8 seed and will wrestle at top-seeded (and nationally-ranked) Poway in another Division II dual match-up on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Mater Dei Catholic, also from the Mesa League, received the No. 7 seed in Division IV and will wrestle at No. 2 seed Mt. Miguel on Tuesday, also at 6:30 p.m.
Brawley received the top seed among Division III teams while Holtville received the top seed in Division IV and will host the Division IV finals after trouncing St. Augustine, 60-7, in Monday’s quarterfinals.
Olympian coach Myron Griffin and Mater Dei Catholic coach Scott Ullsperger both expressed enthusiasm about having their teams included in this week’s playoff draw despite facing higher-seeded opponents.
“I’m excited about it,” said Griffin, whose Eagles finished 3-2 in Mesa League dual competition. “I want everyone to go and have fun. It’s an opportunity to face some really tough competition, see where some of our guys stack up against the best in the section, and it gives us a chance to work on things for the upcoming conference and division finals. We’ll see how well we do.”
Ullsperger was equally excited about the new CIF divisional dual championship.
“I love it,” he said. “It’s an amazing idea. I’m glad we’re doing it again. I think we match up well against Mt. Miguel. It feels great to be picked to be in it, to be considered to be in the top eight in our division.”
Which teams will add their names to the list of section dual meet champions? Valhalla defeated Escondido in the inaugural tournament in 1991. Poway defeated San Dieguito to win the second tournament in 1992.
It’s been a long wait to find out.
South Bay Invitational
Eastlake topped Otay Ranch by 18.5 points to win the team title at Saturday’s SBI event. Among other Metro entrants, Montgomery placed seventh while Chula Vista was ninth, Hilltop was 11th, Castle Park was 14th and Mater Dei Catholic was 15th.
Twenty-two varsity teams competed, however, not all teams brought full squads and some also fielded B-teams.
Otay Ranch led the local field with three individual weight class champions: Dylan Costello (140), Kristian Aguirre (162) and Mustafa Farha (222). Eastlake’s Ronnie Sallee won the 197-pound title while Bonita Vista’s Joey Babauta won he 122-pound title (with an overtime decision), Hilltop’s Alberto Garcia won the 134-pound title and Chula Vista’s Roman Delgado won the heavyweight title.
Mater Dei Catholic’s Ivan Duran finished runner-up at 184 pounds while Montomgery had three finalists: Andrew Jaffee (147), Chase Riegg (197) and Miguel Ballesteros (222).
Costello was named the Outstanding Lower Weight Wrestler while Sallee was named the Outstanding Upper Weight Wrestler.
Costello finished 4-0 in the tournament with a 5:58 pin against Valhalla’s Karl King in the finals while Sallee finished 3-0 with three first-period pins, including a 1:53 fall against Montgomery’s Riegg in the finals.
Medals were awarded to eighth place in each weight class.
Third-place finishers included Eastlake’s Paul Crampton (108), Otay Ranch’s Brandon McCurdy (115), Mater Dei Catholic’s Jonas Ullsperger (128), Montgomery’s Adrian Lopez (134), Eastlake’s Carlos Vazquez (162), Hilltop’s Seamus Beyerle (172) and Castle Park’s Hassen Montiel (197).
Fourth-place finishers included Eastlake’s Jesus Gavaldon (115), Chula Vista’s Paul Lopez (147) and Castle Park’s Angel Juarez (287).
Fifth-place finishers included Hilltop’s Carlos Callejas (115), Eastlake’s Isai Garcia (128), Otay Ranch’s Eddy Acosta (147), Eastlake’s Micah Mendillo (154), Castle Park’s Erick Robles (172) and Hector Albanez (184), Chula Vista’s Carlos Cazares (197), Castle Park’s Ramon Cooper (222) and Hilltop’s Josue Dario Caro (287).
Sixth-place finishers included Montgomery’s Brian Alegre (108), Eastlake’s Joshua Auditor (122), Mater Dei Catholic’s Tristan Wesson (140), Bonita Vista’s Emmanuel Barajas (172), Eastlke’s Ceasar Pacheco (184), Bonita Vista’s ? Robledo (197) and Eastlake’s Yasir Farha (287).
Seventh-place finishers included Chula Vista’s Anthony Ortiz (122), Eastlake’s Michael Johnson (128), Otay Ranch’s Sithara Diungela (154) and Daniel Da’Rold (172), Mater Dei Catholic’s Salvador Lutteroth (184), Chula Vista’s Juan Perez (222) and Mater Dei Catholic’s Steve Bradley (287).
Eighth-place finishers included Otay Ranch’s Joseph DeJesus (128), Eastlake’s Sir Avington (134), Otay Ranch’s Chris Gomez (197) and Mater Dei Catholic’s Tyler Buenviaje (287).
Ken Jenkins Memorial Invitational
Thirty-one teams competed at Mt. Miguel High School. Mar Vista’s Aaron Olmos repeated as an individual champion at the event while dropping a weight class to 147 pounds. He was the only Metro grappler to make the finals.
RBV won the team title, followed by San Marcos and Helix. Olympian, with a partial squad, finished 14th in the field.
Holtville Invitational
The 52nd annual tournament featured six Metro Conference finalists and four champions. Individual weight class winners included Olympian’s Bryan Sanchez (108), Mar Vista’s Aaron Olmos (147), San Ysidro’s Roberto A La Torre (154) and Eastlake’s Ronnie Sallee (197). Runner-up finishers included Olympian’s Dante Preciado (134) and Eastlake’s Jake Suggett (287).
Third-place finishers included Eastlake’s Ben Martinez (108) and San Ysidro’s Pablo Perez (162).
Fourth-place finishers included Hilltop’s Alberto Garcia (134) and San Ysidro’s Mario A La Torre (140) and Leonardo De La Rocha (172).
Fifth-place finishers included Hilltop’s Seamus Beyerle (162), Bonita Vista’s Emmanuel Barajas (172) and Eastlake’s Joshua Pultorak (184).
Sixth-place finishers included Eastlake’s Jesus Gavaldon (115), Hilltop’s Giany Barbosa (128) and Dominic Esparza (154), Eastlake’s Sebastian Smith (172), Mater Dei Catholic’s Ivan Duran (184).
Brawley won the team title with an 85.5-point lead over runner-up Rancho Bernardo. Eastlake was third in the team standings — 38.5 points behind Rancho Bernardo — while San Ysidro was fourth, Hilltop was 13th, Olympian was 17th, Mar Vista was 21st, Bonita Vista was 23rd, Mater Dei Catholic was 26th and Southwest was 28th in the 30-team two-day tournament.
Titans flatten Marauders to face off SD CIF dual meet championships
Of the 16 quarterfinal-round matches to jump start this week’s San Diego Section dual meet championships, only one lower-seeded team advanced (sixth-seeded Madison topped third-seeded Imperial, 51-27, in Division IV).
Eastlake joined top-seeded Rancho Buena Vista, second-seeded San Marcos and third-seeded Helix in Thursday’s Division I semifinals after topping the visiting Mira Mesa Marauders, 55-12, in a Division I quarterfinal on Tuesday.
The Titans won 11 of the 14 matches against the Marauders, who forfeited three weight classes. Eastlake led, 12-0, after three matches and went on to blow out to a 52-9 lead.
The Titans recorded four pins, one major decision and three minor decisions (including one overtime win).
“We went into it with the idea of having fun, to make it exciting and learn from it,” EHS head coach Troy Vierra said. “I know Mira Mesa had some issues with a league dual still remaining this week, but I don’t want to take away anything from our kids.”
San Diego Section Dual Meet Championships
Monday, Feb. 9
Division I
(1) Rancho Buena Vista 58, (8) Mission Hills 18
Division II
(2) La Costa Canyon 47, (7) Hilltop 30
(4) Vista 40, (5) Grossmont 38
Division III
(2) Ramona 51, (7) Morse 22
(3) Monte Vista 37, (6) Oceanside 23
Division IV
(1) Holtville 69, (8) St. Augustine 7
(4) Valley Center 41, (5) Clairemont 33
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Division I
(4) Eastlake 55, (5) Mira Mesa 12
(3) Helix 67, (6) Granite Hills 7
(2) San Marcos 67, (7) Patrick Henry 6
Thursday’s semifinals hosted by Rancho Buena Vista:
(1) Rancho Buena Vista 60, (4) Eastlake 12
(2) San Marcos 44, (3) Helix 19
Championship dual: (2) San Marcos 58, (1) Rancho Buena Vista 25
Division II
(1) Poway 71, (8) Olympian 0
(3) Rancho Bernardo 50, (6) Westview 18
Thursday’s semifinals hosted by Poway:
(1) Poway 81, (4) Vista 0
(3) Rancho Bernardo 62, (2) La Costa Canyon 12
Championship dual: (1) Poway 58, (3) Rancho Bernardo 9
Division III
(1) Brawley 64, (8) University City 18
(4) Del Norte 50, (5) Cathedral Catholic 27
Friday’s semifinals hosted by Brawley:
(1) Brawley vs. (4) Del Norte,4:30 p.m.
(2) Ramona vs. (3) Monte Vista, 4:30 p.m.
Championship dual: Brawley 55, Ramona 21
Division
IV
Madison 51, (3) Imperial 27
(2) Mt. Miguel 65, (7) Mater Dei Catholic 15
Friday’s semifinals hosted by Holtville:
(1) Holtville vs. (4) Valley Center, 4:30 p.m.
(2) Mt. Miguel vs. (6) Madison, 4:30 p.m.
Championship dual: Holtville 70, Madison
