La Cañada wrestling moves on with six from Rio Hondo League finals

MONROVIA – Even before the season began, the La Cañada High wrestling team’s strength appeared to be its depth.

A Spartans program that numbered near 45 grapplers will now pin its hopes on six after two won league titles and another four advanced out of Wednesday afternoon’s Rio Hondo League Championships at Monrovia High.

The first three placers per weight class earned qualification to the two-day CIF Southern Section Coastal Division Championships at Corona Santiago High, beginning Feb. 19.

On one end of the spectrum, La Cañada freshman Brandon Abboud earned a title at 106 pounds, while the Spartans’ other crown came from 220-pound junior David Vardanian.

“We’re a young team, a growing program with a lot of young guys and I think you could tell that,” La Cañada Coach Justin Luthey said. “We had several semifinal and third-place matches that we lost. It’s a learning experience, but I’m still satisfied with what we accomplished.”

Vardanian captured his second straight 220-pound league championship, this time in an all-local bout against Hoover’s Chris White.

Vardanian was injured when La Cañada lost to Hoover, 42-27, on Jan. 21 and did not face White, who picked up the match-clinching pin.

Now at “80%,” Vardanian eluded an early takedown attempt from White and delivered a first-round pin against the Hoover junior for the 220-pound crown.

“This was pretty big for me and my team,” Vardanian said. “We lost to Hoover and I feel like if I was there, it would have been at least a little different. I just wanted a comeback [win] for my team to prove we could win.”

While Vardanian only had two bouts on Wednesday, it was one more than Abboud, who received two byes and advanced directly into the 106-pound title bout versus South Pasadena’s George Barrone.

Even in the finals, Abboud saw little action, as he landed a takedown followed by a pin in 1:20 for the championship.

“I warmed up at 11 a.m., so I’ve been sitting around all day,” said Abboud, whose bout started at 5:35 p.m. “I had to warm up again, but I was pretty ready because my teammates were helping me stay focused the entire way.”

The Spartans had three more title shots, but came up short in each.

La Cañada junior Andrew Aghadjanians picked up an upset victory in the semifinals of the 132-pound class in pinning Hoover’s Jessie Martinez in 5:48. When the duo met on Jan. 21, Martinez came out with an 8-3 win.

The momentum from Wednesday’s victory was quashed, though, by San Marino’s Isaiah Mora, who picked up a first-round fall for the 132-pound title.

Spartans senior Shawyane Emadi fell behind, 14-4, to San Marino’s Tino Maese in the 182-pound final before he was pinned at 4:53.

In the closest match of the day by scoring, St. Paul’s Jasper Gallardo defeated Spartans senior Armand Bogossian, 5-2, for the 195-pound title. Bogossian took a 1-0 lead via an escape midway through the second round before allowing two takedowns.

La Cañada could have had more than six qualifiers, but finished one for six in third-place bouts. Spartans senior Jacob Barsom was his team’s lone third-place finisher at 120 pounds.

The league’s other champions consisted of San Marino’s Beau Perez (112), Zander Silva (126), Julian Flores (138), Zander Wick (145), Evan Wick (152) and Aaron Padilla (160), St. Paul’s Joel Navarro (120) and Jasper Gallardo (195) and Hoover’s Murad Muradyan (170).