STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS : Cooper, 3 Others From County Win Titles

Four Orange County high school wrestlers won championships on Saturday during the state meet at the University of the Pacific’s Spanos Center.

Esperanza’s Rob Langewalter (126 pounds), Savanna’s Tony Okada (132), Mater Dei’s Rick Monge (145) and Canyon’s Zach Cooper (191) won titles before about 5,700 fans.

“The Southern Section is definitely the toughest,” Monge said.

Cooper capped his high school career by beating Clovis West’s Brad Bell, 11-4, for his second consecutive championship. The senior says he saved his best performance for last.

“I felt really sharp going in,” Cooper said. “I knew I was going to win.”

Cooper, who defeated Burroughs’ Ivy Calvin, 8-3, in the semifinals, took a 5-1 lead and was never threatened in the final.

All according to plan, he said.

The scouting report said Bell had “really good wind,” so Cooper said he needed to take command early.

“He was in really good shape, so I knew I had to go out after him,” Cooper said. “He knew I was coming.”

While Cooper was expected to repeat as champion, Langewalter, ranked sixth in the state, said he enjoyed the role of underdog. The senior went from underdog to champion by beating Calexico’s Abraham Sanchez, 2-1, in the final.

Sanchez had beaten Langewalter by criteria at the Masters meet last Saturday. In Saturday’s semifinals, Langewalter beat Coachella Valley’s Jorge Ruiz, 3-1. Langewalter had lost to Ruiz in the divisional championships two weeks ago.

Langewalter said a “conservative, but tough” style enabled him to win the title.

Sanchez went ahead, 1-0, and held that lead until late in the third period. But with about 30 seconds remaining, Sanchez was penalized a point for stalling and the match was tied.

As if planning the late drama, Langewalter won on an escape with 12 seconds left.

“I knew I had to have the escape,” he said. “I just exploded.”

Okada defeated Vallejo’s Dominic Boutain, 7-1, to win his championship. His toughest challenge, though, came in the semifinals when he beat Oakland Tech’s Gerry Abas, the top-ranked wrestler in the state, 13-8.

“I was better than him on the bottom position,” Okada said. “I rode him longer and took him down a couple of times.”

After the match, Savanna Coach Tom Caspari had a talk with Okada. Overconfidence was the topic. “He just reaffirmed within himself that his goal was to win a state championship,” Caspari said.

Monge said he had extra inspiration to achieve the same goal after failing to qualify for the state tournament last season. He punctuated the comeback by defeating Schurr’s Mario Gonzales, 11-7.

Monge took an early 4-1 lead and held on for the victory.

“It was just my intensity compared to his intensity,” said Monge, holding his first-place medal. “When I started shooting in, he couldn’t wrestle the way he wanted.”

Monge defeated Valley’s Gabe Estrada, 14-7, in the semifinals.

Clovis captured the team title with 78.5 points. Ukiah was second with 73, followed by first-day leader Poway at 66.5.

In addition to Cooper, two other wrestlers repeated as state champions: Arroyo’s Can Tran at 98 pounds and Jim Aquirre at 119 pounds.

Wrestling Notes

Three other county wrestlers finished in the top eight of their weight classes. Frank Gagnon of Laguna Hills beat Bella Vista’s Ken Hall, 10-2, to take fifth place at 126 pounds. Canyon’s Jason Mitchell (138) lost to Soquel’s Theron Miller in the fifth-place match.

San Clemente’s Jason Booth (112) defeated Merced’s Rowellio Ramos, 6-1, in the seventh-place match. . . . Three other county wrestlers competed Saturday, but did not place among the top eight. Anaheim’s Javier Fernandez lost to Gagnon, 5-1, in the fourth round of consolation matches. Calvary Chapel’s Sam Holiday and Newport Harbor’s Mat Wilson also lost in the fourth round of consolations.