Nine shine at Rio Hondo League wrestling finals for Hoover
Hoover’s Murad Muradyan screams after pinning San Marino’s Adrian Licon in the Rio Hondo League wrestling championships.
MONROVIA — It was a day of advancing for the Hoover High wrestling team at the Rio Hondo League championships at Monrovia High.
The Tornadoes produced one titlist in senior Murad Muradyan and qualified another eight grapplers to the next round of the postseason out of Wednesday afternoon’s action.
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“For Murad, it was great to see him win,” Hoover Coach Dave Beard said. “For the other guys, it was great to see them move on. Getting nine guys to CIF is exciting and we’re excited with the opportunities.”
The first three placers per weight class earned advancement to the two-day CIF Southern Section Coastal Division Championships at Corona Santiago High, beginning Feb. 19.
For Muradyan, the senior qualified for a second straight year to the Coastal Division Championships, but with one big change.
Last season, Muradyan was the league’s runner-up at 170 pounds after being pinned by St. Paul’s David Castillo.
This time around, Muradyan earned his redemption by pinning San Marino’s Adrian Licon in 4:33 for the 170-pound title.
“My wish was for a pin and I was doing this for my coach and my team,” Muradyan said. “I just wanted to give my team energy and get a win.”
Muradyan was one of five Tornadoes in championship bouts, but was the only of three to get through the San Marino buzz saw.
The reigning Rio Hondo League champion Titans earned titles in eight of 14 weights, including at 138 and 145 pounds against the Tornadoes.
At 138 pounds, defending 132-pound state champion Julian Flores pinned Hoover’s Narek Zamanyan, the defending league champion, with nine seconds remaining in the first round.
In the very next bout, Hoover’s Geraldy Martinez took some solace in not getting pinned by San Marino’s Zander Wick, the state’s top-ranked wrestler, as the Titan picked up a technical fall, 18-3, for the 145-pound championship.
“I just went out there to compete,” Martinez said. “Honestly, surprisingly, you think I’d be more nervous for a guy like that. I knew it was going to be tough and I had slim chances, but I just wanted to do my best.”
In the only all-local matchup, La Cañada senior David Vardanian avoided an early takedown against Hoover’s Chris White and secured a first-round pin to win at 220 pounds.
In the heavyweight final, St. Paul’s Justin Urquidez and Hoover’s Azad Markosian danced around for an entire minute before Urquidez landed a takedown followed by a pin with 25 seconds left in the first round.
Hoover senior Jessie Martinez overcame an upset loss to La Cañada’s Andrew Aghadjanians in the 132-pound semifinals via pin to defeat Monrovia’s Danny Dubon for third place and the final postseason spot.
Hoover had three additional third-place finishers in Karlen Hakobyan (126 pounds), Allen Melikyan (182) and Diego Escalante (195).
The league’s other champions consisted of San Marino’s Beau Perez (112), Zander Silva (126), Isaiah Mora (132), Evan Wick (152), Aaron Padilla (160) and Tino Maese (182), St. Paul’s Joel Navarro (120) and Jasper Gallardo (195) and La Cañada’s Brandon Abboud (106).
“We had some disappointments in the championship matches and some other guys who didn’t do as well as they should,” Beard said, “and that happens. Overall, I like the nine guys. That’s a good qualifying number and now we’re just looking forward and not back.”
