PREP ROUNDUP : Wrestling Trio Leads Canyon to Estancia Title

Three individual championships helped Canyon High School’s wrestling team win its third consecutive Estancia tournament title Saturday at Estancia High School.

Pins by Matt Padgett (154 pounds) and Zach Cooper (191) and a decision by Jason Mitchell (138) led Canyon, which finished with 195.5 points. El Modena placed second with 154 points and Valencia was third with 131.

“Winning the tournament was a surprise after our performance Friday, the worst first-day tournament performance we’ve had in years,” Canyon Coach Gary Bowden said. “We only had three days to practice after the Reno tournament, but the kids came back Saturday, showed a lot of character and wrestled well. I’m really proud of them.”

Bowden, who has the top-ranked team in the Southern Section, was pleased with the performances of Cooper and Padgett. Cooper, who was named the tournament’s most valuable wrestler in the upper-weight division, and Padgett pinned all five of their opponents.

Cooper, 17-0 with 15 pins and two technical falls this season, pinned Notre Vista’s Jesse Medina in 2 minutes 35 seconds in the final.

“Medina let me have my tie (hold) and he didn’t seem to be working for his shots against me,” Cooper said. “I think he was waiting for me to make a mistake.”

Padgett (23-4), a sophomore from Boulder, Colo., pinned George Mestakedes of Katella in 3:00.

“Mestakedes was the toughest opponent I faced in my weight class, but I knew I could beat him when I got him on his back on the first take down,” Padgett said.

Mestakedes said the outcome might have been different had he not sustained an injury to his right wrist during football season.

El Modena Coach Alan Clinton said, “Canyon is a good squad, tough for anyone to beat. We did well, but we just can’t break the barrier of the semifinal choke. We just can’t win the semifinal matches.”

El Modena’s Min Park placed second (112) and Danny Wells (105), Danny Santana (138), Erik Jacobs (165) and Matt Jones (175) finished third.

In nonleague boys’ soccer:

Foothill 2, Tustin 1--Jonathan Jacobs and Jeff Fishbeck scored for Foothill (13-1-2) at Tustin.

In Olympic League girls’ soccer:

Orange Lutheran 1, Valley Christian 1--Freshman Amber Parkinson scored with 10 minutes to play to give host Orange Lutheran (6-1-2, 1-0-2) the tie. Junior Suzzane Vandenberg scored 10 minutes into the second half for Valley Christian (6-4-1, 2-1-1).