West Torrance Wrestlers Hope This Is the Year

It has been 16 years since West Torrance High School won a CIF wrestling championship, but that doesn’t mean the Warriors haven’t had their chances or that they have a weak program.

In fact, this year West Torrance may have one of its best shots to win a 3-A CIF championship since it last won one in 1974. The 3-A tournament begins Friday at Valencia High School in Placentia. The championship round is scheduled for Saturday night.

West Torrance qualified 12 wrestlers, including six seeded entrants. (Eight wrestlers in each weight division are seeded.) South Torrance and North Torrance were each awarded two seeded positions, and Inglewood’s Morningside got one.

West Torrance has two top seeds in their weight divisions: senior Steve Lee (105 pounds) and Josh Gormley (heavyweight). Three are seeded third: Scott Herman (132 pounds), Demian Botero (145 pounds) and Dan Chaney (175 pounds). Seeded sixth is David Ishii (112 pounds).

But it’s about this time of the year when West Torrance usually falters after a strong league and pre-season showing. Last year, when the Warriors finished fourth in the CIF tournament, Coach Kent Wyatt lost three wrestlers to injuries. In 1986 he lost one key wrestler and finished third.

“I was joking with my assistant coach the other day that this might be the year,” Wyatt said. “We never seem to have any luck before the CIFs.”

This may be the year West Torrance prevails, however. Everyone is healthy, and Wyatt has assembled a balanced squad, the largest--though also the youngest--in his 20 years of coaching at the school.

Still, he’s not counting on anything. “I never feel confident at CIF,” Wyatt said.

Judging from the seedings, West should be a favorite, along with Victor Valley, which qualified three No. 1 seeds.

“The key is an overall, total team effort,” Wyatt said. “We don’t have the dominating kid that Victor Valley has, so we’re going to have to have scoring from the whole lineup.”

South Torrance’s seeded entries are Chuck Schmitz (112 pounds) and Brent Tako (138 pounds). North’s seeds are Jason Roper (119 pounds) and Richard Rose (126 pounds). Morningside’s only seed is Danny Katoa (191 pounds).

In other CIF division finals, scheduled for this weekend at different venues:

Torrance qualified 11 wrestlers, Hawthorne eight and Rolling Hills three in the 2-A division finals, to be held at Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley.

El Segundo qualified three wrestlers and Miraleste one in the 1-A division finals, to be held at Sierra Vista High School in Baldwin Park.