Wrestling: Random thoughts from postseason wrestling

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Before we move on in Southern Section postseason wrestling action, from last weekend’s divisional rounds to the Masters meet this weekend at Carter ...

-- San Dimas 125-pound wrestler Angel Garcia won his fourth Southern Section divisional title last weekend. The Eastern Division’s lower-weight MVP appears poised to snatch his first Masters championship this weekend -- after all, he finished fourth as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second as a junior, losing in the 119-pound finals, 4-3, to Santa Fe’s Marcus Orona, who is still at 119 this season.

-- South Hills senior Thomas Williams won divisional titles as a freshman and sophomore but dropped off to third place last year. This season the 119-pound wrestler is back on top, after defeating Richard Alarcon of Mayfair, 3-0, in the Coastal Division finals. He also earned lower-weight MVP honors, a feat he also accomplished as a sophomore in the Northern Division.

-- Arlington seniors David Skane and Phillip Tobin spent less time on the mat -- combined -- during the final round of the Southern Division tournament than any of the other 12 individual champions Saturday night at Chino Hills. Skane, the fourth-seeded wrestler at 189, pinned top-seeded Anthony Trabuco of Orange Lutheran in 3 minutes 40 seconds. Tobin, the top-seeded wrestler at 215, followed immediately with a 42-second pin of third-seeded Kenney Wilson of Orange Lutheran. They were the only two Southern Division wrestlers to pin their opponents in the final round and the only two Arlington wrestlers to advance to Masters.

Tobin, in fact, turned in one of the most impressive performances of the weekend at any of the six divisional tournaments. He pinned four of his five opponents, with three of his matches not even lasting a minute. One of those matches lasted a mere 15 seconds and another only 21 seconds. But notice I said one of the most impressive performances ...

-- Both Eric Reyes of Temecula Valley and Robert Alcantar of Northview pinned all five of their opponents. Like Tobin, Reyes kept three of his matches to less than a minute in claiming the 103-pound title in the Inland Division. Alcantar, the 215-pound champion in the Eastern Division, had one pin in the first period, three in the second and one in the third. Eight other tournament champions pinned four opponents last weekend.

-- The two quickest pins by any divisional champion took place in upper weights of the Northern Division. Atascadero 189-pound wrestler Jack Robinett and Laguna Hills 215-pounder John Hayes each pinned an opponent in 12 seconds. And in the Central Division, El Modena 135-pounder Vinny Pisani turned in a 14-second pin. Tobin’s 15-second pin was the fourth-best in the category.

-- Brandon Spain of Atascadero found a different way to win each of his five matches en route to the 171-pound title in the Northern Division -- by pin, technical fall, major decision, decision and default.

-- Chuck Schilken, guest blogger

-- Image from www.wrestlingsbest.com