The future of local high school wrestling was showcased at last Saturday’s 18th annual Hilltop frosh/soph dual meet tournament in the Lancers’ gym.
Eastlake High School defeated Vista, 60-18, to capture the team championship in the 10-team field.
The Titans finished the event in impressive fashion with 11 medalists, including nine gold medal winners.
“We’ve been developing this team since middle school,” EHS program co-coach Ricardo Martinez said. “A lot of them started at Eastlake Middle School. They have been wrestling hard during the offseason and in-season. They’re starting to show progress. It looks like they have been wrestling.”
The Titans finished 5-0 at last Saturday’s duals, defeating Mira Mesa A (52-18), Olympian (57-21), Castle Park (66-6) and Torrey Pines/Westview (59-23) in preliminary rounds heading into the championship round.
Wrestlers received medals based on individual records.
Gold medalists for Eastlake included Nathaniel Lamadrid (106 pounds), Tomas Jocobo (120 pounds), Alex Martinez (145 pounds), Gabe Duron (152 pounds), Jayden Kendricks (170 pounds), Dawson Galvan (182 pounds), Orlando Amado (195 pounds), Max Garcia (220 pounds) and Sebastian Lopez-Rodriguez (285 pounds).
Jocobo, Martinez, Duron, Kendricks, Galvan and Garcia all finished with 5-0 individual records.
Keshawn Hicks (113 pounds) received a silver medal after posting a 4-1 individual record while Luis Bracamontes (138 pounds) earned a bronze medal with a 3-2 individual record.
Previously, the Titans captured first place at the inaugural Aztec Battle with six individual gold medalists.
Hicks (freshman), Martinez (freshman), Kendricks (sophomore) and Amado (freshman) have combined for a 31-1 record in the last two tournaments.
“Our young wrestlers have been putting in a lot of work in the room and we are starting to see the results paying off in competition,” Ricardo Martinez said. “Many of our wrestlers are new to the sport and are multi-sport athletes but they have come into the room with the right mindset. We are excited to see this young team putting it all together in the next few years and bringing Eastlake back on top.”
Mira Mesa A defeated Grossmont, 60-18, to capture third place while Steele Canyon defeated Olympian, 21-6, to capture fifth place.
Tourney-host Hilltop defeated Torrey Pines, 42-24, to place seventh while Mira Mesa’s B squad defeated Castle Park, 24-18, to finish ninth.
Hilltop had four medalists.
Coaches said the focus was on gaining experience — and confidence — on the mat against fellow newcomers to the sport.
“It’s about team-building and new experiences,” explained Hilltop novice coach Jason Jasmund, a 2011 Lancer grad. “From Day One, these are new wrestlers. You can noticeably see their improvement.”
Hilltop, which finished the day with a 3-2 team record, had four wrestlers win medals. James Robinson (134 pounds) earned a silver medal while Noah Heredia (108 pounds), Carlos Mendez (154 pounds) and Adolfo Gutierrez (162 pounds) all received bronze medals.
Steele Canyon found success on the mat with a limited lineup by recording 24 wins against six losses in individual matches.
“We brought six guys and all six medaled,” said Cougar coach John Mendoza, whose team finished with a 3-2 record in the dual standings. “We got a lot farther than we thought. It was an outstanding effort by the group.”
Hudson Beamon won a gold medal in his 152-pound weight class while silver medalists included Giajomo Lalicaca (115 pounds), Jacob Jimenez (122 pounds), Adam Rochford (197 pounds) and Sergio Romero (heavyweight).
Freshman Brayden Mount earned a bronze medal in his 140-pound weight class with a pin in his final match.
HILLTOP FROSH/SOPH
Dual Scoreboard
Round 1
Steele Canyon 24, Grossmont 24
Eastlake 52, Mira Mesa A 18
Torrey Pines/Westview 48, Castle Park 15
Vista defeated Mira Mesa B
Round 2
Vista 52, Steele Canyon 18
Eastlake 57, Olympian 21
Mira Mesa A 57, Torrey Pines/Westview 12
Hilltop defeated Mira Mesa B
Round 3
Vista 52, Hilltop 12
Eastlake 66, Castle Park 6
Mira Mesa A 54, Olympian 18
Grossmont defeated Mira Mesa B
Round 4
Grossmont 48, Hilltop 36
Eastlake 59, Torrey Pines/Westview 23
Olympian 45, Castle Park 12
Steele Canyon defeated Mira Mesa B
Round 5
Vista 48, Grossmont 30
Hilltop 40, Steele Canyon 31
Mira Mesa A 18, Castle Park 12
Olympian 30, Torrey Pines/Westview 30
Round 6
First place: Eastlake 60, Vista 18
Third place: Mira Mesa A 60, Grossmont 18
Fifth place: Steele Canyon 21, Olympian 6
Seventh place: Hilltop 42, Torrey Pines/Westview 24
Ninth place: Mira Mesa B 24, Castle Park 18
Eagles score runner-up finish at King of Beasts varsity mat tourney
Olympian High School finished runner-up to Mountain View High School from Mesa, Ariz. at last weekend’s King of Beasts wrestling tournament at Mater Dei Catholic High School.
Olympian finished with 261 points to trail the 312 points posted by Mountain View.
West Hills finished third with 167 points, followed by San Diego with 128 points, St. Augustine with 98 points, Grossmont with 97 points and Escondido with 83 points.
Tournament host Mater Dei Catholic finished in eighth place in the team standings with 79 points, followed by El Camino with 73.5 points. San Ysidro finished 10th with 58.5 points.
Among Metro Conference schools, Otay Ranch finished 12th with 45 points, Chula Vista finished 14th with 37 points, Mar Vista finished 15th with 33 points, Sweetwater finished 16th with 32 points, Montgomery finished 19th with 29.5 points and Castle Park finished 20th with 27 points.
Twenty-six teams participated.
Olympian recorded five finalists — three weight class champions and two runners-up.
Individual champions included Zachary Ramos (113 pounds), Mico Gonzalez (152 pounds) and Michael Esquer (160 pounds).
Finalists included Benjamin Daluz (106 pounds) and Alejandro Llarena (160 pounds).
Ramos recorded a 3-1 major decision over Point Loma’s Austin Tran in the championship round while Gonzalez pinned Mountain View’s Dylan Leivas in 5:52. Esquer won a 3-1 decision over teammate Llarena in the finals.
Esquer finished 5-0 in the tournament while Ramos and Gonzalez both finished 4-0.
Other place-finishers for the Eagles included Ralph Magsino (third, 126 pounds), John Johnson (third, 170 pounds), Brandon Dequito (fourth, 120 pounds), Brian Reyes (fourth, 182 pounds), Jovan Guizar (fourth, 220 pounds), Wyatt Costa (fifth, 106 pounds), Edel Vargas (fifth, 195 pounds), Audric Famisan (sixth, 138 pounds), Jacob Neiman (seventh, 145 pounds), Brandon Susana (seventh, 182 pounds) and Oscar Perez (eighth, 145 pounds).
Weight class champions from Metro Conference schools also included San Ysidro’s Israel Ramirez (126 pounds) and Mater Dei Catholic’s Javier Salas (132 pounds).
Ramirez defeated El Camino’s Robert Gonzalez by a 9-0 major decision in the finals while Salas won by disqualification over West Hills’s Justin Zingale.
Both Ramirez and Salas finished 4-0 in the tournament.
Mater Dei Catholic’s place-finishers also included Daniel Gilbert (third, 113 pounds), Keith Moreno (fourth, 106 pounds), Jacob Gilbert (fifth, 113 pounds) and Davian Monjaraz (sixth, 220 pounds)
San Ysidro’s place-finishers also included Sandy Luevano (sixth, 113 pounds), Rodrigo Umali (sixth, 195 pounds) and Rahmen Ferguson (seventh, 120 pounds)
Montgomery’s place-finishers included Lyle Nacua (third, 195 pounds), Ruben Rodriguez (fourth, 138 pounds), Victor Flores (eighth, 195 pounds) and Jason McCanahan (eighth, 220 pounds).
Otay Ranch’s place-finishers included Aydan Wohlford (sixth, 120 pounds), Jonathan Nava (seventh, 152 pounds) and Jeremy Gearhart (seventh, 220 pounds).
Chula Vista’s place-finishers included Daniel Topete (sixth, 285 pounds), Andrew Marquez (seventh, 285 pounds) and Jake Muniz (eighth, 152 pounds).
Mar Vista’s place-finishers included Damien Toscano (eighth, 113 pounds) and Raul Moreno (sixth, 182 pounds).
Other place-finishers included Sweetwater’s Anjelo Dios (fifth, 285 pounds) and Castle Park’s Ivan Vasquez (seventh, 195 pounds).
Other tournament weight class champions included St. Augustine’s Dominic Pacheco (106), Mountain View’s Gabe Ortiz (120), San Diego’s Alexander Schwaebe (138), Mountain View’s Adam Booth (145), Dallin Larson (170), Wayne Dunn (182) and Kimball Begay (195), Morse’s Iverson Sandoval (220) and Grossmont’s Darryn White (285).
