Wrestling: Moreno finds his potential at Masters
ONTARIO – Newport Harbor wrestling coach Dominic Bulone remembers well the trials that junior transfer Xander Moreno has been through this season.
Moreno spent more time off the mat than on it during league, nursing tendinitis in his right knee.
When the Sunset League Finals arrived, he was not close to his peak conditioning level, but the season had reached a point of now or never.
The top three wrestlers in each weight class would advance to the CIF Southern Section divisional championships, the first of three qualifying tournaments to get to the state meet.
A third-period comeback against Huntington Beach’s Josh Harrison in the third-place match of the 145s saved his season that day.
As he has gotten healthier, he has become tougher to beat.
In the CIF-SS Masters Meet on Saturday at Ontario Citizens Business Bank Arena, Moreno’s full potential was realized. He defeated Fountain Valley’s Karson Ayres with another stunning comeback, this one the most unlikely of them all.
“I just think it speaks to being young and getting in shape quick,” Bulone said of Moreno’s improbable run. “The talent was already there. He just didn’t have the lungs to utilize it in league finals.”
The week prior, Ayres did not surrender a takedown to Moreno in the CIF-SS Southern Division semifinals en route to his second consecutive CIF-SS individual title.
The Masters Meet would be different. Moreno erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period, scoring a reversal to tie it with 1:37 remaining.
When Ayres tried to take his shot in a scramble, Moreno flipped the Barons senior and then squeezed his head to secure a pin with nine seconds left in the match.
“Going into that match, I told myself, ‘I just need five minutes with him,’” Moreno said of his mentality. “‘I’m not giving up any of those five minutes, not one second. If I keep driving and pushing against him, I know I can win.’
“That’s what I did. Even when I was down, I just had to keep a positive attitude.”
In advancing to the fifth round of the consolation bracket, Moreno became the fifth wrestler (fourth boy) to advance to state in Bulone’s time at the school. Bulone has headed the wrestling program since the 1999-2000 season.
He is also Bulone’s highest Masters placer, taking sixth at the meet.
Moreno sustained a left groin strain in the fifth round of consolation. He was pulled from the fifth-place match as a precaution, but he is expected to wrestle at the state meet in Bakersfield next week.
At the start of the day, the 145s trio of the Sunset League all had a chance to get to state together. That possibility was erased when Marina’s John McCoy was edged out by Villa Park’s Caleb Reynolds, 3-2.
The result pitted Ayres and McCoy against each other in the ninth-place semifinals, ensuring that one of them would be eliminated.
“It feels great,” Moreno said of being the first from the league to qualify. “Knowing that one of them is not going to come with us is a little bit of a downer. Whichever one does, I hope I get to see them and beat them at the state tournament.”
If it is in the cards, Moreno may see Ayres one more time. After losing to the Sailors junior, Ayres took out McCoy, 4-2, to reach the ninth-place match.
It was the same stage that he lost on a year ago, leaving him one spot shy of a state berth. Ayres overcame those demons with surgical precision to beat Rialto Carter’s Jerry Rubio, 13-0.
“I wasn’t going to lose that match, no matter what,” Ayres said. “It definitely feels great to finally qualify.”
The loss to Moreno did not sit well with Ayres. He proclaimed that he would like nothing more than to meet up with his Sunset League rival at the state meet.
“I was pissed about losing to him, especially since I already beat him,” Ayres added. “I felt like I had that match under control up until he put me on my back.
“That was disappointing. I’m not over it, and I hope I see him again at state.”
Neither Huntington Beach’s Jackson Oehling (160s) or Fountain Valley’s Merrick O’Donnell (182s) were able to extend their seasons, as both fell in their ninth-place semifinals.
CIF-SS Masters Meet at Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario Locals On Day Two
145s
Fourth Consolation – Xander Moreno (Newport Harbor) pins Karson Ayres (Fountain Valley), 4:51.
Fifth Consolation – Xander Moreno (Newport Harbor) dec. Caleb Reynolds (Villa Park), 3-1.
Sixth Consolation – Jared Williams (Mira Costa) dec. Xander Moreno (Newport Harbor), 8-4.
Fifth-Place – Issiah Burks (Hemet) inj. def. Xander Moreno (Newport Harbor).
Fourth Consolation – Caleb Reynolds (Villa Park) dec. John McCoy (Marina), 3-2.
Ninth-Place Semis – Karson Ayres (Fountain Valley) dec. John McCoy (Marina), 4-2.
Ninth-Place – Karson Ayres (Fountain Valley) maj. Jerry Rubio (Carter), 13-0.
160s
Fourth Consolation – Michael Viramontes (Hesperia) dec. Jackson Oehling (Huntington Beach), 10-5.
Ninth-Place Semis – Michael Goldfeder (Buckley) dec. Jackson Oehling (Huntington Beach), 12-10.
182s
Fourth Consolation – Jeremiah Smith (Rim of the World) dec. Merrick O’Donnell (Fountain Valley), 8-5.
Ninth-Place Semis – Andrew Rasmussen (Faith Baptist) dec. Merrick O’Donnell (Fountain Valley), 11-4.
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
