STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT : Langewalter, Cooper, Monge, Okada Advance to Semifinals

Rob Langewalter might not know it, but he is envied by one of the top high school wrestlers in the state.

Langewalter, a 126-pound wrestler for Esperanza High School, entered the state wrestling meet Friday a self-described underdog.

Zach Cooper of Canyon, the defending state champion at 191 pounds, wished he had the luxury of competing without high expectations. He said he laid in bed an hour Thursday night worrying about the meet.

Whatever their circumstances, however, both county wrestlers advanced to Saturday’s semifinals at the University of the Pacific.

Two other county wrestlers, Mater Dei’s Rick Monge (145 pounds) and Savanna’s Tony Okada (132) also will compete in today’s semifinals at 10 a.m. at Pacific’s Spanos Center.

Championship matches begin at 7 p.m.

Langewalter placed third in the Masters meet Feb. 24, a showing he admitted probably had competitors looking past him.

“I was the underdog, no doubt about it,” he said. “I feel more comfortable that way. There’s no pressure.”

Langewalter beat Ponderosa’s Brent Lyman, 5-1, in Friday’s first round and won by a default in the second. Langewalter’s third match, against Selma’s Gary Quintana, proved his toughest.

They entered the third period tied, 3-3. Langewalter’s escape with about 50 seconds remaining gave him the victory.

“I got the escape and from that point on, I just held on,” he said. “I knew I had to hold on.”

Langewalter will meet Coachella Valley’s Jorge Ruiz in the semifinals. His goal, however, goes beyond that match.

“I think I can win it all,” Langewalter said.

Many will be surprised if Cooper, who has won 94 consecutive matches, doesn’t win it all. Such pressure, he said, caused him to be disappointed in the way he wrestled in his first two matches.

“I enjoy it, but this is my senior year and there’s a lot of pressure,” he said. ‘My weight class is 10 times tougher than it was last year. Everybody expects me to blow guys out.”

Cooper didn’t disappoint in his first two matches, winning by scores of 14-0 and 11-5. He got his toughest challenge of the afternoon in the quarterfinals, and he responded with a 9-1 victory over Carlsbad’s Phil Martinez.

“It was my best match of the day,” he said. “I didn’t dominate him, but I was in control the whole time.”

Cooper will meet Ivy Calvin of Burroughs in today’s semifinals.

Monge reached the semifinals by pinning Jacob Clark of Albany in 1 minute 58 seconds and Richard Keefe of Orange Glenn in 4:25. Monge defeated Mike Evans of Turlock, 11-1, in the quarterfinals and today will face Gabe Estrada of Valley.

Okada defeated Pat Coffing of Elk Grove, 9-3; Darien Sturges of Miramonte, 11-4, and David Koch of Poway, 11-1. Okada will meet Gerry Abas of Oakland Tech in today’s semifinal.

Defending state champions Can Tran (98) of Arroyo and Jim Aquirre (119) of Clovis also advanced.

Heading into the semifinals, Poway of San Diego led the team standings with 47.5 points, followed by Clovis with 39.5.

Wrestling Notes

Several Orange County wrestlers competed Friday but did not reach the semifinals: Josh Kitner (San Clemente) and Greg Carrescia (Esperanza) at 98 pounds; Jason Booth (San Clemente) at 112; Frank Gagnon (Laguna Hills) and Javier Fernandez (Anaheim) at 126; Brian Burgess (Edison) at 132; Jason Mitchell (Canyon), Sean Kenney (El Dorado), Chad Stansbury (Edison) at 138; Sam Holiday (Calvary Chapel) at 145; Mat Wilson (Newport Harbor) at 165; Trevor Cooper (Huntington Beach) at 191, and Paul Jaramillo (Valencia) at heavyweight.