La Cañada wrestling looks for bounce-back campaign

Perhaps it’s fair to say that the La Cañada High wrestling program enjoyed mixed results during the 2015-16 season.

While the Spartans finished with a 12-5 record and earned advancement to the CIF Southern Section Western Division Dual Meet playoffs, the program also was knocked from its usual Rio Hondo League second-place perch by Hoover.

The Tornadoes defeated the Spartans, 42-27, on Jan. 21 for the first time in school history to clinch second place in league and relegate La Cañada to third.

La Cañada, however, found some redemption at the league finals at Monrovia High on Feb. 10. La Cañada won two league titles versus only one victory for Hoover, while Spartans senior David Vardanian pinned Tornadoes senior Chris White in the 220-pound championship.

The good vibrations from that effort faded, however, as La Cañada failed to advance a wrestler past the CIF Southern Section Coastal Division Championships.

“I thought we did better toward the end of the season and, in particular, at Rio Hondo League finals,” La Cañada Coach Justin Luthey said. “I think the thing that’s encouraging is that we had several guys take part in camps this year. There was a determined effort to improve and I think you’re going to see that.”

Luthey’s optimism rose during the summer, not just because of camps, but also because of his team’s swelling numbers.

The program’s has its highest tally in the Luthey era with 57 wrestlers.

Not only does La Cañada return a slew of talented athletes, but it also welcomes back a pair of pioneers.

Sisters Sophie and Cheyenne Garcia are back after advancing to the CIF Southern Section Girls Finals, which is one step below the state tournament.

“It’s incredible to make history and be the first couple of girls in wrestling and to do well and really enjoy the sport,” said Sophie Garcia, a sophomore who counts Glendale Fighting Club’s Ronda Rousey as one of her inspirations. “A lot of people think wrestling is only for boys, but we’re proving it’s for girls. The guys have been supportive and the coaches, too.”

Sophie Garcia finished third at the girls’ CIF regional in Upland at 170 pounds, while Cheyenne was seventh in the same tournament at 189 pounds.

From there, Cheyenne finished 1-2 at the girls’ finals, while Sophie took ninth with a 3-2 mark and was listed as a second alternate to the state meet.

“I think [CIF regional] was our first tournament where we actually wrestled girls,” Cheyenne said. “We had only wrestled against boys and it was a different experience. It was something else to figure out.”

Luthey has three girls on his squad this season and will enter them in girls’ tournaments rather than mix them into male competitions as was the case in 2015-16.

As for his boys’ team, Luthey has an experienced team captain in senior Andrew Aghadjanians, last season’s Rio Hondo League 132-pound runner-up.

“The goals are for us are to win league and for me to advance to the Masters tournament,” said Aghadjanians, who’s moved up to 145. “Last year, I picked up a good amount of success, but I felt like I was weaker than a lot of opponents. So, this offseason, I really got into weightlifting and even got as big as 155, so it’s nice to have added strength.”

Luthey also has league champions Brandon Abboud and David Vardanian back. Abboud, a sophomore, is expected to move up from 106 pounds to 113 or 120 this year, while Vardanian is healthy and will likely move up to heavyweight after two years at 220 pounds.

Sophomore Aram Behshid, a CIF qualifier from last year, is back and will wrestle at 120 or 126 pounds. Luthey is also excited about the progress of junior Lyndon Forest, who’s set at 195 pounds.

As for league, Luthey believes his team is due for a bounce-back season and may even be in line to take down four-time reigning league champion San Marino. The last time La Cañada defeated San Marino was in 2012, which also happens to be the final instance when the Spartans won the league crown.

“You know there’s a lot of question marks in our league,” Luthey said. “St. Paul is out and San Marino lost a whole stable of awesome kids who either graduated or transferred.

“On one hand, the No. 1 goal for us is to keep growing the program and that’s most important. However, a goal to win league is a serious one and we’re going to put all our work in to do it.”