Masters Wrestling : Poway Does Just Fine Until the Final Challenge : It Wins Sixth Team Title in Seven Years, but Seven Finalists Lose Matches

Wayne Branstetter did not know quite how to feel.

For most Saturday’s San Diego Section Masters wrestling meet, Branstetter, the Poway High School coach, said he felt like he was on top of the world.

His team was cruising to its sixth Masters title in seven years.

Guys who were not expected to be in the top four were winning. Seven Poway wrestlers made it to the finals.

Poway had earned 187 1/2 points before the finals even started. But it did not receive one more point.

The first omen came when Brett Christensen, a 135-pounder who Branstetter felt was sure to make it to the state tournament next weekend in Stockton, sprained an ankle in the first round and could not wrestle further.

After all seven of those wrestlers lost in the finals, Branstetter’s feeling changed from one of perfection to persecution.

“It’s like it’s us against the world sometimes,” Branstetter said. “We don’t get a break. It was a great day until the finals, but (now) I’m real disappointed in the kids.”

Branstetter felt that way because of a combination of tough opponents and a tough call in the 122-pound final.

In that match, Garrett Story led, 1-0, against Chris Winkler of Monte Vista, who had beaten Story in last Saturday’s 3-A finals.

But Story lost the match in the last 45 seconds. Three times, Story picked up Winkler and threw him to the mat. Each time he landed on his face, which had to hurt because Winkler had received nine stitches above his right eye after the semifinals.

Referee Joe Papaleo decided that the last two slams were violent enough to award Winkler a point each time, giving Winkler a 2-1 lead.

After Winkler escaped one more time, he won the 122-pound title, 3-1.

“That’s a poor way to give a guy a win,” Branstetter said. “We were getting warned for stalling, so Story had to take him down. When he takes him down, we get called for a slam. The first time was one thing, but to give a guy a Masters title that way . . . “

Said Papaleo: “I conferred with my assistant referee (Bob Steckman) both times. The Poway wrestler brought him to the mat with force.”

But that was only the beginning of the hard luck for Branstetter and Poway.

Dale Hannover led, 6-2, in the 115-pound final against Thomas Hofrieter of El Camino. Hofrieter tied the match, 6-6, but Hannover immediately escaped to take a 7-6 lead.

When Hofrieter scored a two-point takedown with 25 seconds left for a 8-7 victory, Poway had lost another. It was the third time this season Hofrieter had beaten Hannover after Hannover led with less than 30 seconds left.

Not all of the losses could be blamed on bad luck.

Chris Box of Clairemont beat Marc Pease, 2-1, for the 248-pound title. Box took Pease down early in the first period, then hung on for the win.

Box (33-1) was named the wrestler of the meet.

Shane Roselle lost the same type of match. He was up against Mike Grubbs (33-1) of El Camino, the No. 2 wrestler in the state at 108 pounds.

Roselle had beaten Grubbs last year for the Masters title. But this time, Grubbs, a junior, said he had Roselle figured out and won, 6-3.

“I wasn’t going to let up this year,” Grubbs said. “Last year, I got ahead early and then just tried to hang on to win. This year, I forgot about the score. The score was 0-0 in my head the whole match.”

Branstetter couldn’t even take much joy in two guys who were almost surprise stories.

Brian Davisson had wrestled at the state meet in 1987. But he was only 11-5 this season after he had the calf muscle in his left leg torn away from the bone during football and then strained ligaments in his ankle two weeks before the 3-A meet.

Davission, seeded sixth at 168, made it to the finals anyway, only to lose to Al Martell of Mt. Carmel, 7-5.

Branstetter’s feeling of “us against the world” were amplified when Eric Young, who was also seeded sixth at 148, lost to Vista’s Dwight Weevie, 10-4.

“I’m real proud of Davisson and Young,” Branstetter said, “but they didn’t win.”

A.J. Perez lost, too. Jim Toten, a 194-pounder from Holtville, beat him, 9-3.

The Gaier brothers, Jake and Aaron, of Granite Hills had lost only two matches between them before Saturday. but it was a day of mixed emotions for them, too.

Even though he surfed and stayed up late on Friday, Aaron Gaier beat Dwayne Buth of Mount Miguel, 17-3, in the 157-pound final. Jake Gaier lost at 141 pounds, 4-3, to Frank Millsap of Monte Vista, whom Gaier had beaten at the 3-A meet.