Community College Notebook : Cypress and Rancho Santiago Wrestlers Take Their Best Shots at the State Title

The Cypress and Rancho Santiago college wrestling teams moved into position for a shot at the state title with fine showings in the Southern California Regionals last weekend.

Cypress qualified eight wrestlers and Rancho Santiago seven for the state tournament that begins Friday at El Camino College. Golden West, the only other county school with a wrestling program, will send six wrestlers to the tournament.

Six wrestlers from the south and six from the north qualify in each weight division.

The tournament opens Friday at 6 p.m. The quarterfinals are at 9 a.m. Saturday with the finals to start about 8 p.m.

Cypress, Palomar, Rancho Santiago from the south and Lassen and Sacramento City from the north are the favorites for the championship.

Cypress might have the best chance of the Southern California teams because four of its eight wrestlers were in the state tournament last season.

Ralph Rucker (150 pounds) and Bill Montgomery (126 pounds) both finished third. Randy Gonzalez (heavyweight) and Art Orozco (158) finished sixth.

Doug Haring (134), Greg Monteith (167), Vito Vecerra (177) and Leo Garand (190) also qualified for Cypress.

“I felt like we have a shot to win it, but Lassen is the favorite,” Cypress Coach Mike Flook said. “We will have to use extra hustle, desire and courage to upset them.”

Kyle Iwanaga (118), Fred Mora (126), Bret Fry (134), Chad Sessions (167), David Grisafe (177), Ken Gominsky (190) and heavyweight Hossien Kalabi qualified for Rancho Santiago.

Dave Bestenlehner (126), Brad Woodberry (134), Jason Dallas (142), Trent Kenny (150), Ken Torres (158), and Matt Hoffman (177) qualified for Golden West.

Jackie Cook of Golden West’s state champion women’s volleyball team was voted Orange Empire Conference player of the year by conference coaches.

Cook, a sophomore outside hitter from Fountain Valley High School, played 1 season at the University of Nebraska before transferring to Golden West this season.

Sabrina Dennis, Maureen Flannigan, Dannie Doll and Jennifer Noonan of Golden West, Susan Guest of Fullerton, and Jody Fee of Orange Coast also made the first team.

Heidi Shikuma and Valerie Thurman of Fullerton, Liz Krenwinkle and Amy Vanderpool of Saddleback, Lisa McBroom and Yulisa Rodriguez of Orange Coast and Andrea Parent of Rancho Santiago made the second team.

Cook, Dennis and Guest also were All-Southern California selections.

As expected, Bakersfield, which defeated Fullerton, 30-24, in the Potato Bowl Saturday, was picked as the J.C. Grid-Wire national champion for 1988, Hank Ives of the Grid-Wire said Monday.

Glendale, Ariz. (10-0) was second and Fullerton (10-1) third. Fullerton was the top-ranked team and Bakersfield (11-0) third going into the Potato Bowl.

Bobby Joyce, a Times’ all-county basketball player last season at Santa Ana High School, returns to Orange County this week with the Riverside team in the Golden West basketball tournament.

Joyce had signed to attend Nevada Las Vegas, but would have been academically ineligible there. He transferred to Riverside this fall, and is a starting forward. Riverside opens at 6 p.m. against Citrus Wednesday. Cypress plays Cerritos at 8 p.m.

Glendale plays Oxnard at 6 p.m. and Golden West plays Antelope Valley at 8 p.m. Thursday. The tournament continues Friday and the final is Saturday at 8 p.m.

Community College Notes

The Cypress women’s basketball team is averaging 57.6 points a game and guard Vicky Silva and forward Becky Wayland have combined to average 47.8. Silva, an all-state player last season, is averaging 25.7. Wayland, an All-Orange Empire Conference player last season, is averaging 22.1. . . . The Fullerton women’s basketball team lost its first game of the season Sunday. The Hornets (8-1) lost to College of the Sequoias, 60-51, in the championship of the Sequoias tournament.