Fountain Valley’s Ayres eyes encore performance
A year ago, Fountain Valley High’s Karson Ayres was firing on all cylinders entering the postseason.
He parlayed his third Sunset League championship into a No. 1 seed, and he honored it with a CIF Southern Section Southern Division title in the 138-pound weight class.
An ACL tear threatened his senior year, but after undergoing a LARS procedure in Austria, he was back in three months.
Ayres has shown no ill effects following the surgery, and he is back in a position to make some noise in the spotlight of the divisional championships.
Following his fourth league title, Ayres will seek a repeat of last year’s success. He figures to enter the two-day tournament as a high seed in the 145s.
“I’m trying to top myself from last year,” Ayres said. “I got first last year, but this year I’m really trying to make a statement.”
“My goal, personally, is to be the MVP of the tournament, or the most outstanding wrestler. I want to get as many pins as possible.”
On his way to the 138s championship as a junior, Ayres tallied two pins, a major, and two decisions.
The Barons senior added that his motivation to make a statement prior to the Masters Meet comes from the way his season ended a year ago. Ayres missed the state tournament by one position, taking 10th.
Each league gets three entries into the tournament per weight class. That means that the vaunted 145s of the Sunset League could all face each other again this week at Brea Olinda High.
Ayres defeated Marina’s John McCoy, 5-3, in the league championship match. Newport Harbor’s Xander Moreno earned the third berth in the 145s, pinning Huntington Beach’s Josh Harrison in the third period.
Merrick O’Donnell is also among those expected to challenge for a spot at Masters. He placed fifth in the 182s at the Five Counties Tournament for the Barons.
The top five placers in the divisional championships will advance to Masters at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario on Feb. 24-25.
CIF-SS Individual Wrestling Finals
Where/When: Friday Feb. 17 and Saturday Feb. 18. Wrestling begins at 11 a.m. on both days.
Central Division: at Oak Hills High
Coastal Division: at Westminster High (includes Golden West and Orange Coast Leagues)
Eastern Division: at Rialto Carter High
Inland Division: at Temecula Valley High (includes Pacific Coast League)
Northern Division: at Grand Terrace High
Southern Division: at Brea Olinda High (includes Sunset League)
Fan Info: For the first day and the morning and afternoon session of Saturday, tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students with valid high school ID, and $5 for children ages 3-13. For the Saturday evening finals session, tickets will be $10 for adults, while all other prices will remain the same. Parking will be located at the hosting schools.
Girls’ basketball playoffs begin
The first round of the CIF-SS girls’ basketball playoffs took place on Thursday night.
One coastal team had already taken a spot in the second round, which will be played on Saturday.
That team was Huntington Beach, which received a first-round bye in the Division 1A draw.
Controversy had second-seeded Esperanza having to play Tesoro in the first round, but Huntington Beach and Antelope Valley both received byes as lower seeds.
Oilers Coach Russell McClurg had no explanation for the way the brackets turned out, but he was not about to complain. Huntington Beach lost to Esperanza in the regular season.
Seniors Frankie Wade-Sanchez and Kaylyn Nakaji will lead the Oilers (19-7) at home on Saturday. They will face the winner of Fontana Summit (20-7) and Placentia El Dorado (16-9).
The other area teams to qualify for the postseason were Edison in Division 1A and Ocean View in Division 2A. Los Amigos, Costa Mesa, and Sage Hill all made it in Division 4A.
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
