SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A WRESTLING : Cooper, Mitchell Lead Canyon to Third 4-A Title in Four Years

Canyon High School’s wrestling team won its third Southern Section 4-A championship in four years on Saturday at Edison High School.

Canyon, which won titles in 1984, 1987 and ‘88, won the championship with 159.5 points and qualified six of its wrestlers for the the Masters tournament next Saturday at Fountain Valley High School.

Westlake was second with 112 points and Indio took third with 108. Other Orange County schools’ placing in the tournament: El Modena (fifth, 97.5), Edison (sixth, 95.5), Huntington Beach (eighth, 84), Irvine (ninth, 72), and Esperanza (10th, 70).

“We came back from Friday’s preliminaries trailing Indio by one point; I thought we were in a tough squeeze,” Canyon Coach Gary Bowden said. “I told the kids they would have to wrestle exceptionally well Saturday and they did. I’m really proud of them.”

Canyon senior Zach Cooper won the 191-pound weight class with a 16-1 technical fall over Westlake’s Dave Schumm. Cooper, who has won 87 consecutive matches and is 30-0 this season, last lost in the 1988 championships.

Even though he felt ill, Cooper said he still went out and wrestled hard. “There’s something about wrestling that makes me feel better,” he said.

Also contributing to Canyon’s victory was Jason Mitchell (42-2), who decisioned Los Alamitos’ Amir Yates (42-5-1) for the 138-pound title.

Other Orange County champions included El Toro’s Dave Garcia (145), who pinned Irvine’s Dave Piquette in 3:01, and Huntington Beach’s Matt Smith (165), who pinned El Modena’s Eric Jacobs in 2:57.

In addition to Canyon, 10 county schools qualified wrestlers for the Masters: Edison and El Modena (five); Esperanza and Huntington Beach (four); San Clemente (three); El Dorado, Irvine and Los Alamitos (two); and El Toro and Mission Viejo (one).