Canyon Wrestling Tournament : Comanches Win Their Own Meet for 4th Year in a Row

Zach Cooper of Canyon High School used his savvy to score a 13-2 victory over Huntington Beach’s Trevor Cooper in the 191-pound division final to lead the Comanches to the team championship of the Canyon Wrestling Tournament Saturday.

Cooper (31-0), who led, 2-0, after one period, was never threatened and extended his lead to 9-1 after two periods thanks largely to a near-pin late in the second period.

The loss dropped Cooper’s record to 37-6.

Canyon, the 2-time defending Southern Section 4-A champion, has won its own tournament the past 4 years. The Comanches, who have won three tournaments this season, finished Saturday’s competition with 175 points.

Fresno Bullard finished second with 131 points, while Savanna finished third with 130 1/2 points. Edison was fourth with 129 1/2 points while Esperanza tied with Rowland for fifth place with 80 points.

Other Orange County winners included David Niederinghaus of Edison in the 105-pound division. Niederinghaus (31-3), who was tied with Savanna’s Vince Surra (30-8-1), 8-8, after two periods, took down Surra early in the third period and went on to pin Surra with 30 seconds left in the match.

In the 132-pound weight class, sophomore Tony Okada (36-4) of Savanna built an 8-1 advantage over Edison’s Kevin Burgess (21-5) and then pinned him with 3:31 gone in the match.

In the 138-pound division finals, Mission Viejo’s Nathan Kerley (36-2) dominated Savanna’s Mike Verbeck (36-4) in the overtime period as he broke a 4-4 regulation tie to score a 15-8 victory.

Esperanza’s Jonathan Williams (30-5-1), who is ranked first in Orange County in the 165-pound division, pinned Bullard’s Greg Cook (20-7) with 1:06 gone to take the championship in his weight class.

Also, Kenny Richards (30-6) of Edison scored a 7-3 decision over Phillip Holmes (18-8-4) of Katella in the 145-pound division; Chris Mollkoy (28-1) of Katella pinned Santa Clara’s Bret Weaver (23-2) with 1:45 gone in the 154-pound finals; and Canyon’s Brad Mugar (15-4) won by injury default over Comanche teammate Jerry Arthur (18-6).

In other finals featuring Orange County performers, Tan Nguyen (23-6) of Esperanza was pinned by freshman Nickey Zinkin (32-1) of Bullard with 1:30 gone in the 98-pound division finals.

In the 112-pound division, Tony Trujillo (32-0) of Covina took down Ravi Ramsamooj (8-1) of Canyon early in his match and then used his quickness to maintain his advantage and pin Ramsamooj with 12 seconds left in the match.

In the 119-pound division, junior Tam Nguyen (22-6) of Covina scored a takedown midway in the overtime period and held on to score an 18-16 decision over Shane Sailer (30-8) of Savanna.