Hoover wrestling dismantles Monrovia en route to championship match
GLENDALE — For the first time in program history, the Hoover High wrestling team will host a Rio Hondo League championship match.
That’s because the Tornadoes, who are in their sixth season as a program, remained undefeated in league action after a 50-15 victory over visiting Monrovia on Thursday afternoon.
With the triumph, not only did Hoover (3-0) become the first team in league to pick up three victories, but the squad will host rival La Cañada (2-0) on Jan. 26 for the chance to claim an outright championship.
The team title match is the second in as many years for Hoover, which fell at San Marino, 58-18, in last season’s championship bout.
“We’re excited about that opportunity and that’s what we want and that’s what we set our goal for when the year began,” Hoover Coach Dave Beard said. “We want this place rocking when we come back here next week. It should be great.”
Hoover won in a variety of ways Thursday, ranging from a pair of 1-0 victories all the way to four falls.
Perhaps the biggest of those pins came from Allen Melikyan at 160 pounds.
The Tornadoes led the Wildcats by 20 points, but surrendered back-to-back decisions to Monrovia’s Daniel Orozco (6-4 score) and Ulises Morales (4-3) at 145 pounds and 152 pounds, respectively.
The wins brought Monrovia (0-2) within striking distance, down 26-12.
Melikyan helped his team shake its mini funk quickly when the 160-pounder picked up a fall in 55 seconds to erase Monrovia’s run as Hoover went up, 32-12.
“Not only do I want to perform well individually, but I want to do my job for the team,” Melikyan said. “My job for this team is to get a pin in the right weight class. I went out there, thought about the team and did what I had to do.”
Monrovia countered with a 7-2 win from Gabe Nicely at 170 pounds to close to within 32-15. The match also marked a moral victory for Hoover’s Quinton Smith, Nicely’s opponent.
Smith held off a pin for over a minute in the second period, while Nicely also came up short in the third period. Though Nicely picked up a takedown, a near fall and an eventual win, the Wildcats’ wrestler only grabbed three points instead of six.
“I think we only gave up one pin, so I was really happy about that,” Beard said. “We had some close matches that could have gone either way. But we battled, in both wins and losses.”
Ara Toubeh clinched the victory for Hoover when he pulled out a 6-1 win at 182 pounds over Monrovia’s Christian Alonzo to give the Tornadoes an insurmountable 35-15 advantage with only three weight classes remaining.
Chris White (220 pounds) and Arthur Harutyunyan (132) picked up pins, Elmer Moreno (195 pounds) and Tigran Aleksanyan (138) were awarded forfeit victories and Cesar Aviles (126) landed a last-second near fall for a 16-1 technical pin for Hoover.
Maybe the best effort for the Tornadoes came early when newcomer Dakarri Malone overcame a 9-2 second-round deficit for a pin in 5:18 at 106 pounds.
“I just went out there and tried,” Malone said. “The [Monrovia] guy was being sloppy and cocky and that’s not what you’re supposed to do. It’s my first year wrestling and I just want to learn and get better.”
Hoover 120-pounder Angel Celio and heavyweight Azad Markosian won in similar fashions as each picked up critical escapes in eventual 1-0 victories.
