Edison takes down Newport

Edison High’s wrestling team is a confident bunch when it goes to a tournament.

Having two CIF State-caliber wrestlers in your lineup, as Edison can boast with the likes of Jared Williams and Elijah Palacio, goes a long way toward vaulting a program into the spotlight.

The two senior transfers — Williams from Manhattan Beach Mira Costa and Palacio for Calvary Chapel — have elevated the level of practice, and it has transferred to great team success.

Edison swept all seven matches that went on the mat at Newport Harbor on Wednesday night, as the Chargers defeated the Sailors 60-18 in a Sunset League dual meet.

The Chargers recorded four victories by fall. Williams, who wrestled at 152 pounds, and freshman Isaiah Seals, who sparred at 120, recorded first-period pins.

Palacio (138) and senior Zack Lund (182) ended their matches by fall in the second period.

Edison improved to 2-0 in league. The Chargers’ next league test is a home match against Los Alamitos on Jan. 18, but the likely league championship meet will come the following week when Edison hosts Fountain Valley on Jan. 24.

“I’m so pumped for that one,” Palacio said. “I am looking forward to that one a lot. I know that Fountain Valley is favored to win it, but we’re getting some good guys. Everyone who is in there right now is working their butt off.

“I think if we just keep pushing the pace up like how we have been doing, we should win.”

Chargers coach Pete Escandon believes that it will be an uphill battle to beat the Barons, who are the six-time defending league champions.

“What’s killing us right now is that we have a couple of injuries to our big boys, and that’s really killing us from a dual standpoint,” he said. “In a tournament setting, we’ll be fine, but in a league where the league champions are decided off of who has the best dual record, we’ve got to get them healthy. We have to have a full lineup if we want to compete with Fountain Valley.”

In its preferred setting, Edison’s next tournament will be this Friday and Saturday at the Battle for the Belt, hosted by Temecula Valley High.

Palacio said that he believes that the Battle for the Belt will provide the best preparation for state and Masters Meet competition, adding that he plans to remain at 132 pounds because it is a division he can “do a lot of damage in.”

“There will be a couple of those kids in Elijah’s weight that are ranked above him at the moment,” Escandon added. “We want to go and try to take them out before we go into postseason.

“Winner gets a big, shiny belt, and I know they want one.”

Newport Harbor dropped to 2-10 overall and 0-2 in league. Senior Conrad Izzi turned in a strong showing for the Sailors, going the distance in a 17-9 loss to Edison junior Jared Jimenez.

Izzi trailed 7-3 after the second period, but he was in a position to win in a back-and-forth final frame.

“That was a very close one,” Sailors coach Dominic Bulone said. “It was very exciting. He was very close to a pin, but he made the mistake of looking at it.

“In a pinning situation, you want to look up so that the ref can view everything. When you look up, you push your chest down, so it makes it easier to get the pin.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner