Dozen La Cañada wrestlers move on from league finals
MONROVIA – Championships and CIF Southern Section individual placement were the goals that mattered most for the La Cañada High wrestling team at Wednesday afternoon’s Rio Hondo League finals at Monrovia High.
The Rio Hondo League team champion Spartans boasted two individual champions and 12 CIF Southern Section individual placers out of 14 weight classes in the one-day tournament.
While that number falls short of last season’s total of six titlists, the Spartans matched last year’s 12 qualifiers.
All earned a spot to the two-day CIF Southern Section Inland Division Championships at Temecula Great Oak High, beginning on Feb. 16.
“It’s always about growth and progress and getting better and I liked that,” La Cañada coach Justin Luthey said. “We didn’t do as well as we did last year, but there are different wrestlers this year in comparison to last year.”
The Spartans’ two victories came in title defenses, with La Cañada junior Johnny Vasily winning at 170 pounds and senior Colman Trulik claiming a title at 195 pounds.
La Cañada had five runner-ups in Aram Behshid (126 pounds), Cameron Carey (132), David Sarkisian (145), Ben Donoho (160) and Lyndon Forest (182).
Vasily pinned Monrovia’s Ulises Morales in 3 minutes, 11 seconds for the 170-pound title.
The crown is the second straight for Vasily, who defeated Hoover’s Quinton Smith, 5-4, last season.
“It feels good to be a champion again,” Vasily said. “This is what I did last year and I wanted to repeat.”
Vasily was in control, taking a 2-0 lead after one round, extending that advantage to 3-0 thanks to an escape and eventually securing the fall midway through the round.
Two weight classes later, Trulik captured another league crown in dominant fashion.
Trulik led, 4-0, after one round, and reached 12-0 before finishing off the pin in 2:29.
“It’s nice to win again,” Trulik said. “When I started today, I wasn’t sure how I would do with health and fatigue, but once I hit the mat, adrenaline helped me.”
Trulik pinned Monrovia’s Christian Alonzo at 182 pounds last year.
San Marino’s Caleb Trumbell took a 2-0 lead with an early takedown before pinning Behshid in 1:03 for the Rio Hondo League 126-pound individual title.
San Marino’s Kurt Trumbell picked up a major victory, 14-0, over Carey in the 138-pound individual championship, while San Marino’s Beau Perez pinned Sarkisian in 1:53 for the 145-pound championship.
Monrovia’s Gage Nicely rallied from a quick deficit to pin Forest in 1:24 for the 182-pound championship, while the much-anticipated 160-pound rematch bout between Donoho and Hoover’s Allen Melikyan resulted in a Donoho injury default.
La Cañada’s Hayden Henderson (106 pounds), Stephen Broberg (113), Brandon Abboud (138), William Henderson (152) and John Woodhouse (285) finished third and earned advancement to CIF.
Twitter: @campadresports
