SOUTHERN SECTION WRESTLING : Canyon Seeks Fourth Title in Five Years

Canyon High School’s wrestling team will try for its fourth Southern Section 4-A championship in five years beginning with preliminaries at 3 p.m. today at Rio Hondo College in Whittier.

Prelims in three other divisions also begin today at 3 at three sites: the 3-A at Valencia High School, the 2-A at Canyon Springs and the 1-A at Sierra Vista. All four finals begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the same sites.

This could be the best team Coach Gary Bowden has had in his 18 seasons at Canyon.

The Comanches extended their Century League dual meet winning streak to 71 last week and scored a school-record 260 1/2 points in winning the league tournament. Canyon wrestlers won 10 individual championships.

Canyon has at least two potential state meet qualifiers--Jason Mitchell at 140 pounds and Matt Padgett at 160.

Ever since Canyon finished second to Savanna in last month’s Five Counties Meet, the Comanches have “destroyed everybody,” Bowden said.

“The trouble is we don’t face Savanna again,” Bowden said.

Savanna, which replaced Canyon as the county’s top-ranked team after winning the head-to-head match, figures to be the team to beat in the 3-A meet.

“If Savanna doesn’t win, there’s something wrong,” Bowden said.

The Rebels’ Tony Okada won the state championship at 132 pounds last year and is a favorite at 135. Brad Belanger, a quarterback on the football team, is the county’s top-ranked 130-pounder.

Pacific Coast League rivals Laguna Hills and Costa Mesa are among the top teams in the 2-A division.

Garden Grove and Kennedy have the county’s top entries in 1-A.