La Cañada wrestling advances three to Masters Meet
What had already been a historic postseason for the La Cañada High wrestling program continued on Saturday’s second and final day of the CIF Southern Section Inland Division Championships at Temecula Great Oak High.
The reigning two-time Rio Hondo League champion Spartans snapped a two-year Masters Meet hiatus by setting a school record in sending three grapplers to the prestigious tournament.
La Cañada 145-pounder David Sarkisian, 160-pounder Ben Donoho and 195-pounder Colman Trulik, all seniors, earned advancement to the two-day meet at Temecula Valley High beginning Friday.
“We’re pretty happy since it’s the first time we sent three guys,” said La Cañada coach Justin Luthey, who earlier this postseason qualified his first girl, Sophie Garcia, to the state meet. “We had two guys in 2014 and once before, so we’re proud of the accomplishment.”
They are the first La Cañada wrestlers to advance to the Masters Meet since David Vardanian during the 2014-15 season.
Sarkisian, a league junior varsity champion a season ago, continued his ascent by finishing fifth in his weight class with a 6-2 record with four pins.
Sarkisian began the day in the second-chance bracket and notched falls against Murrieta Valley’s Chris Martinez and Corona Del Mar’s Cole Jensen. Sarkisian was pinned by Etiwanda’s Jacob Blandino and picked up a default victory over Temecula Valley’s Mike Alawneh in the fifth-place bout.
Like Sarkisian, Donoho also placed fifth place after posting a 4-2 record with four pins.
The senior 160-pounder was defeated by top-seeded Kaimana McCreadie, 13-9, in the championship semifinals to open Saturday, which dropped him to the second-chance bracket.
Donoho was defeated by Santa Maria’s Frank Lopez, 13-4, to fall into the fifth-place match. Donoho rebounded with a pin of Temecula Valley’s Marco Ruiz to clinch a Masters berth.
As for Trulik, he finished a 4-3 run with three pins and took sixth, which in most divisions would have cost him. Yet, the CIF allowed for some sixth-place finishers to advance in specific weight classes, which included 195 pounds.
Trulik started Saturday in the consolation round and earned pins over Santa Maria’s Eluterio Edralin and Mira Costa’s Joseph Smith. Irvine’s Nuri Ozer defeated Colman, 8-0, while Colman defaulted in the fifth-place bout.
As a team, La Cañada finished 10th in the 62-school division with 75 points.
La Cañada’s other eight grapplers ended their seasons Friday.
La Cañada 170-pounder Johnny Vasily and 182-pounder Lyndon Forest finished 2-2 with two pins, 132-pounder Cameron Carey and 138-pounder Brandon Abboud finished 1-2, while 126-pounder Aram Behshid, 106-pounder Hayden Henderson, 113-pounder Stephen Broberg and 152-pounder William Henderson were 0-2.
Twitter: @campadresports
