League opener almost perfect for La Cañada wrestling
LA CAÑADA — It wasn’t supposed to be a statement match nor an absolute blowout.
That’s at least what third-year La Cañada High Coach Justin Luthey was trying to explain Thursday evening.
Perhaps that’s why Luthey was as surprised as anyone when his Spartans, who finished runner-up in the Rio Hondo League last year, kicked off the league season with a dismantling of visiting Monrovia, 81-0, due to 10 pins and three forfeits in 14 bouts.
The score was three points short of perfection and was the second-highest in the Luthey era, whose team notched an 84-0 victory over Mark Keppel on Dec. 13, 2014.
“I never imagined this because Monrovia had a full lineup except for one or two spots,” said Luthey, whose Spartans improved to 8-2. “It wasn’t even like we had a bunch of easy wins. We were fighting, battling and got some pins late. The score is really deceptive because there were no walkovers.”
The Wildcats (0-1) forfeited two bouts ahead of time at 120 and 182 pounds and had an injury forfeit at 113 pounds that led to a victory for La Cañada’s Dylan Kalanatar.
Although there were 10 falls in Thursday’s contest, only four came in the first round and were attributed to Brandon Abboud (106 pounds), Jason Ko (126), Colman Trulik (170) and Jared Linsel-Janoian (220).
The other six pins took place in the later rounds, with La Cañada 195-pounder Armand Bogossian claiming the latest fall with a victory over Monrovia’s Ulises Morales in 5:32.
La Cañada’s Tim Skaggs (138 pounds) and Tyler Breneman (152) also recorded third-period falls for the Spartans, who received three pins in the second round from Andrew Aghadjanians (132), David Sarkisian (145) and heavyweight David Vardanian.
“I was expecting to win by a good 40 points, but this was something else,” said Aghadjanians, who had a 7-0 lead over Monrovia’s Danny Duban before notching the fall in 2:37. “Just the shutout part was amazing that we didn’t let them score a single point.
“Some guys were really tested today and they didn’t give up.”
Perhaps it’s fair to say that the match of the night came at 160 pounds, which was the lone bout not to be decided by a pin or forfeit.
La Cañada’s Ben Donaho wrestled above his normal weight and faced Monrovia’s Christian Luna, arguably the Wildcats’ top grappler.
Donaho landed two near falls in racing to a 12-5 advantage before holding off a late surge from Luna and winning via a 15-13 decision.
“I wasn’t thinking that I wasn’t going to win because he was their team captain and I’m wrestling up a weight class,” said Donaho, who had wrestled at 152 pounds for most of the season. “He was trying to throw a lot and I just kept scrambling.”
