4-A Wrestling : Canyon Places 5 in Finals, Wins Second Straight Title

Canyon High School placed five wrestlers in the finals to win its second straight Southern Section 4-A wrestling championship Saturday at Edison High.

Canyon won with 168.5 points, well ahead of Indio’s 105.5. South Hills (87) was third, El Dorado (86) fourth, Esperanza (84) fifth and Marina (69.5) sixth.

Though the margin was wide, Gary Bowden, Canyon coach, said he really didn’t expect the outcome.

Indio, by virtue of its seedings in each weight class, was the meet favorite. But with wrestlers such as Ravi Ramsamooj and J.D. Jeppson wrestling well above their seedings, Canyon cruised to the championship.

Ramsamooj was seeded sixth at 108 pounds, but made his way to the final before losing to Covina’s Tony Trujillo, the defending state champion. Jeppson was seeded fifth at 148 pounds but also advanced to the finals. However that’s where he stopped. Jeppson was injured in the semifinals, falling on his head, and had to forfeit the final match.

“Those guys won the championship for us,” Bowden said. “They did what people didn’t expect them to do.”

It wasn’t all surprises for Canyon. Brothers Bryon and Brett Schultz each won his division as expected, though in very different manners.

Bryon, at 122 pounds, totally dominated Coachella Valley’s Albert Morales, winning on a technical fall in the third period, 19-3. He was named the meet’s outstanding lower-weight wrestler.

Brett, wrestling at 129 pounds, needed a two-point reversal with 30 seconds left in the match to defeat Marina’s Bryson Benninger, 6-4.

Canyon’s fifth finalist, sophomore Zack Cooper, went overtime with El Dorado’s Andy Leon at 178 pounds. Leon won the match, 1-0, scoring the winning point in the third overtime period.

Fountain Valley’s Brad Woodbury came by a championship the hardest way. Woodbury won the 135-pound title, but in his final match against Indio’s Homer Ruiz, he had to ask officials to stop the match because he was having difficulty breathing.

Huntington Beach’s Doobie Escobedo, wrestling at 168-pounds, was the meet’s most expressive winner. After defeating Coachella Valley’s Frank Acuna in the finals, 8-5, Escobedo went into the kind of dance you see wide receivers do after they catch a touchdown pass. Escobedo’s dance pleased the crowd, but not the referee, who immediately put a stop to his groove.