5 Wrestlers Qualify for State Meet by Placing in Masters

Five wrestlers from three South Bay high schools placed in the top six or better in their weight divisions Saturday at the Masters Meet at Fountain Valley High School. That qualified them for the state meet at the University of the Pacific in Stockton this weekend.

Inglewood Morningside’s Danny Katoa and West Torrance’s Josh Gormley, two of the area’s best hopes for a state championship, both made it to the final matches in their divisions at the Masters.

Katoa, a 191-pound junior, placed second to Canyon’s Zachary Cooper, the defending state champion. Gormley, a heavyweight, placed second to Rim of the World’s Jeff Maier.

Katoa got into the final with three close decisions: 8-5 over Huntington Beach’s Travis Cooper, 7-4 over Westlake’s David Schumm and 6-4 over Coachella Valley’s Gabriel Herrera.

In the final, Zachary Cooper, leading 5-1, pinned Katoa at 3:32. “He told me afterwards it was his hardest match of the year,” Katoa said.

It was also Cooper’s longest match of the day. His previous three matches lasted a total of less than two minutes, resulting in two pins and a default victory.

Gormley made a comeback at the Masters after a disappointing fifth-place finish at the Southern Section 3-A Meet last weekend, where he had been the top seed in his division.

He won his first three matches Saturday rather handily. He decisioned Newbury’s Jeff Jay, 8-2, pinned Damien’s Mike Balian 25 seconds into the match and defeated Valencia’s Paul Jaramillo, 6-0.

Jaramillo, the 3-A champion, was twice penalized two points for stalling.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Gormley, a junior, was overmatched in the final against Maier, a senior who is four inches taller and 20 pounds heavier.

Other qualifers for the state meet include Torrance’s Chris Xavier (98), who placed third, and Erick Gaunt (165), who placed fifth. West’s Demian Botero (145) also placed fifth.