Wrestling: Vikings fall in second round

HUNTINGTON BEACH – This week, Fountain Valley coach Brad Woodbury made a conscious choice to skip the CIF Southern Section Dual Meet Wrestling Championships.

His reasoning was brief and to the point – he did not want to risk injury before CIF Individuals.

In a sport where injury could occur during any match, it seemed appropriate to raise this question.

What’s one more meet?

The Sunset League was projected to get two berths into the team CIF competition. With the Barons’ spot vacated, any of the four remaining teams could have opted to replace them.

They didn’t.

It all appeared strange at the time, but one look at the Coastal Division draw will change the minds of many.

The vaunted Trinity League weighed in prominently in the bracket, supplying four of the 16 entries into the tournament.

Host Marina fell victim to one of them, as second-seeded Servite defeated the Vikings, 57-16, in the second round of the CIF-SS Coastal Division Duals on Saturday.

“It’s the class in everything,” Friars coach Alan Clinton said of the Trinity League. “Find me someone who wants to come into the Trinity League in any sport, and we’ll be more than happy to take them. I don’t think we’re going to have any takers.”

The Friars came in as the top-ranked team in Orange County. For the most part, the two-time defending champions made quick work of the Vikings, winning 11 of the 14 weight classes.

Only two of those matches went the distance. Daniel Magana majored T.C. Mizukami, 15-7, in the 126s. Wyatt Been was more competitive, but he ultimately fell to Drew Guerrero, 7-4, in the 170s.

Elsewhere, the Friars posted five pins and four technical falls, an impressive display by the No. 2 seed.

The top seed was St. John Bosco. Clinton was hoping that a league rematch would be his team’s destiny, but it was not in the cards as the Friars were ousted by Trabuco Hills, 43-29, in the semifinals.

Despite the loss, the experience of facing top-flight competition was a fruitful one for the Vikings. John McCoy said a quality opponent was necessary to get the juices flowing before the CIF-SS Individuals at Brea Olinda High in two weeks.

“We definitely needed that to get the tempo back up,” McCoy said. “I definitely wanted to wrestle a tough school.”

“I’m glad that we got to wrestle Servite. It was good to get some tough matches to get our minds right.”

In order to meet the Friars, the Vikings had to do something they had not done since McCoy, a junior, entered high school. That was advancing out of the first round.

Marina did so with a 50-27 victory over Godinez.

McCoy won his match by fall over Diego Solorio in 49 seconds, giving his team a 22-21 lead.

The Vikings finished strong with pins from Wyatt Been (170s), Matt Putich (182s), and Tyler Skidmore (195s). Daniel Escamilla (285s) opened the match with a victory by fall, too.

“I think with the work that my kids have put in over the last four years, we’re now working our way up through our section,” Vikings coach Chris Rasmussen said. “We were the team that was kind of favored as far as seeds went. The kids earned it. That’s why we came here.

“It was really exciting to get an opportunity to win at this level.”

In the finals, the Trinity League proved its mettle once more. St. John Bosco delivered a near-perfect performance in defeating Trabuco Hills, 78-6.

The championship match took a total of 29 minutes, as the Braves secured a wave of first-period pins.

“I thought that we were phenomenal,” Braves coach Omar Delgado said. “Five freshmen in the lineup who all won. I’m proud of this team, and I’m proud of this coaching staff. They’ve done a wonderful job.”

This is Delgado’s sixth championship in 12 title match appearances.

CIF-SS Duals – Coastal Division First-Round Results

Marina 50, Godinez 27

106 – Mike McCoy (Mar) wins by forfeit.

113 – Brian Delgado (God) pins John Finney (Mar), 1:43.

120 – Ricardo Pineda (God) pins Joshua Herrera (Mar), 1:39.

126 – T.C. Mizukami (Mar) maj. Andrew Argueta (God), 18-5.

132 – Daniel Toledo (God) dec. Luke Glover (Mar), 11-9.

138 – Oliver Rivero (God) pins Jesus Ortiz (Mar), 1:58.

145 – John McCoy (Mar) pins Diego Solorio (God), 0:49.

152 – Tyler Jeffries (Mar) wins by forfeit.

160 – Harley Gomez (Mar) wins by forfeit.

170 – Wyatt Been (Mar) maj. Angel Resendiz (God), 11-2.

182 – Matt Putich (Mar) pins Rei Hurtado (God), 4:51.

195 – Tyler Skidmore (Mar) pins Hector Pineda (God), 4:26.

220 – Juan Mendoza (God) pins Ricardo Alcala (Mar), 0:52.

285 – Daniel Escamilla (Mar) pins Mario Lopez (God), 0:29.

Second-Round Results

Servite 57, Marina 16

106 – Andrew Silva (Ser) tech. fall Mike McCoy (Mar), 15-0.

113 – John Finney (Mar) pins Moises Segura (Ser), 4:30.

120 – Joshua Medina (Ser) pins Joshua Herrera (Mar), 1:28.

126 – Daniel Magana (Ser) maj. T.C. Mizukami (Mar), 15-7.

132 – Marcos Magana (Ser) tech. fall Luke Glover (Mar), 18-3.

138 – Valor Buck (Ser) tech. fall Jesus Ortiz (Mar), 16-1.

145 – John McCoy (Mar) maj. Joshua Arroyo (Ser), 11-3.

152 – Edmond Bernal (Ser) tech. fall Tyler Jeffries (Mar), 16-0.

160 – Michael Valdez (Ser) pins Harley Gomez (Mar), 1:37.

170 – Drew Guerrero (Ser) dec. Wyatt Been (Mar), 7-4.

182 – Ryan Tash (Ser) pins Matt Putich (Mar), 2:20.

195 – Jacob Espinosa (Ser) pins Tyler Skidmore (Mar), 1:10.

220 – Ricardo Alcala (Mar) wins by forfeit.

285 – Levi Ball-Bryant (Ser) inj. def. Daniel Escamilla (Mar), 4:40.

Championship Match

St. John Bosco 78, Trabuco Hills 6

106 – Timothy Levine (SJB) pins Brendan Dillen (TH), 0:21.

113 – Jesse Vasquez (SJB) pins Dontez Hunter (TH), 1:46.

120 – Christian Nunez (SJB) pins Joseph Fernandez (TH), 0:12.

126 – Andrew Garcia (SJB) pins William Burdette (TH), 0:39.

132 – Louis Rojas (SJB) pins Carlos Luqueno-Sanchez (TH), 1:59.

138 – Sonny Santiago (SJB) wins by forfeit.

145 – Joshua Solomon (SJB) wins by forfeit.

152 – Miguel Beltran (SJB) wins by forfeit.

160 – Jacob Bueno (SJB) pins Ryan Moayed (TH), 0:41.

170 – Guillermo Escobedo (SJB) pins Gregory Berg (TH), 0:38.

182 – Nathan Haas (SJB) wins by forfeit.

195 – Danny Salas (SJB) pins Justin McGowan (TH), 0:18.

220 – David Aranda (SJB) wins by forfeit.

285 – Christopher Adkins (TH) pins Nathan Wolfe (SJB), 3:46.