HUNTINGTON BEACH : Prep Wrestling Star, Friend Badly Hurt

Victor Molina was honored this week at an awards banquet as the best Orange County high school wrestler in his weight class. But Molina was grappling for his life.

Molina, a 17-year-old Huntington Beach High School senior, and a friend, John Hayen, 18, remained in critical condition at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with internal injuries suffered in a car accident early Saturday.

Their conditions have improved markedly, but neither is conscious more than a few hours a day nor able to say more than an occasional word, friends and hospital officials said.

Another friend, Richard Hawthorne, 19, was also involved in the crash but fared better. He is in stable condition at Mission Regional Hospital Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where he is recovering from reconstructive surgery on his leg, broken in numerous places in the accident.

The three Huntington Beach teen-agers were traveling on MacArthur Boulevard near Bristol Street on their way back from a movie about 1:50 a.m. Saturday, when Hayen lost control of his car, according to a Santa Ana police report.

The car bounced over a concrete divider and crashed into a tree, sending Molina, in the passenger’s seat, through the windshield, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Art Echternacht said. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, Echternacht said.

Until Tuesday, Molina, who also suffered a broken arm and leg in the accident, had been in an induced coma to limit swelling of cerebral tissue, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Jeff Smith, a friend of the family who visited on Tuesday afternoon, said Molina is showing significant improvement.

“He’s communicating more than he has since the accident,” said Smith, whose son, Matt, has been a teammate of Molina the past two years. “He’ll now squeeze your hand to respond to you. And he said ‘yes’ to his father today.”

Smith said Hayen is similarly “moving in a positive direction.”

Meanwhile, school friends are rallying to help. Several students said they have donated blood to the Red Cross in the names of Molina and Hayen, and a small group of Molina’s friends are raising money on campus for his hospital costs and related expenses. The group is also gathering signatures for a banner reading “Get well, Vic,” which they plan to give Molina later this week, organizer Tim Slama said.

Additionally, the proceeds from a pancake breakfast and freestyle wrestling tournament scheduled Saturday, which had been earmarked for the school’s wrestling program, will instead go to the Molina fund, wrestling coach Bob Rice said.

Friends of Molina and Hawthorne describe them as best friends since childhood, weightlifting partners and wrestling teammates at Huntington Beach High School last year before Hawthorne’s graduation.

“They’re a lot alike,” Rice said. “Both big, quiet guys.”

None of Molina’s and Hawthorne’s friends said they knew Hayen. He was staying with Hawthorne while his parents were out of town, they said.

Russell Corbin, a close friend of Molina who graduated from the high school last year and now attends Golden West College, described Molina as an easygoing, hard-working young man who led by example on the wrestling team.

“He’s one of the nicest guys around. I let him go out with my sister,” Corbin said.

Before the accident, Molina had talked about attending Golden West next year to study law enforcement and continue wrestling, Corbin said.

“Because of Vic’s nature, I know he’s going to pull through this,” Rice said. “Whatever comes up, he’s going to handle it. He’s a fighter.”