Wrestling: Wrapping up the weekend’s events

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Of course, the Five Counties tournament at Fountain Valley was the biggest event, so I’ll start with a couple more notes from there. And then I’ll never mention it again, I promise ... well, don’t hold me to that:

-- Three Southland wrestlers, all unranked in the state, improved dramatically on their original seedings to place in the top three at Five Counties. Randy Tinoco of Corona Centennial was seeded 12th at 112 but won four straight to start the tournament -- including victories over the fourth and fifth seeds -- before falling in the finals to second-seeded Britain Longmire of Las Vegas (Nev.) Cimarrron Memorial, 4-1.

Erick Rodriguez of Redlands East Valley, the eighth seed at 130, lost his second match but battled back with four victories and two defaults in the consolation bracket -- including an 8-6 win over second-seeded Henry Yorba of Poway, also ranked No. 2 in the state, in the third-place finals.

Daniel Couts of Santa Fe, the 11th seed at 145, went 4-1 with a default to claim third place, defeating fourth-seeded Jonathan Urango of Camarillo, 3-2, along the way.

-- Based on the results at Five Counties, the argument could be made that the most talented weight classes in the Southland are 119 and 171, as five of the top six finishers in each of those classes came from the Southern Section. Actually, 119 has six of the top eight, so maybe the edge goes to those guys.

-- The San Bernardino County Championships were also held last weekend at Miller. Oddly enough, a Riverside County team, San Jacinto, took first place in the 20-team tournament. The Tigers, who outpaced runner-up Alta Loma, 241-184, had individual champions in the first four weight classes (Daniel Tapia at 103, Nathaniel Barnes at 112, Adrian Salas at 119 and Chad Thornock at 125). Read all about it here.

-- Adam Ali of El Camino Real won the 125-pound class and was named ‘Champion of Champions’ at the San Clemente Varsity Rotary wrestling tournament. Atascadero was the team champion with 218 points -- led by individual winners Andrew Hernandez at 140 and Brandon Spain at 171 -- followed by Orange Lutheran with 154.5 and El Camino Real with 136.

-- La Mirada won the Arroyo Invitational, led by individual champions Justin Gonzales at 125, Jeff Blanco at 160 and Bud Coit at heavyweight. South Hills won the Girls Southern Regional tournament, led by 154-pound champ Alex Jacobo.

-- Chuck Schilken, guest blogger

-- Image from www.wrestlingsbest.com