HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Heavyweight Comes Up With Big Victory to Spark Valhalla Wrestlers

A heavyweight who couldn’t even wrestle his way onto Valhalla’s varsity last week found himself on Thursday accepting congratulations as the hero of that very same team.

Junior Nick Ingrande threw Monte Vista’s Richard Sandoval to the mat 40 seconds into the final bout of what is arguably the county’s fiercest high school sports rivalry, then earned the pin at 1:05.

With the six points awarded for a pin, Ingrande provided a 28-24 come-from-behind victory and saved Valhalla’s undefeated streak that now has reached 14 dual meets. The Norsemen are 4-0 this season.

Before the final two bouts, favored Monte Vista (3-1) held a comfortable five-point advantage, 24-19.

After Ingrande reversed that advantage, the Valhalla crowd poured down from the stands even before the referee could raise the victor’s arm.

Having created the moment, though, Ingrande was unable to fathom it.

“I just went out there and wrestled,” he said between congratulatory slaps to the back. “No matter what the situation, I would have wrestled the same way.”

The situation was this: A year earlier, Valhalla edged Monte Vista by one point, ending the Monarch’s string of 37 consecutive dual-meet victories.

It was a give back because in 1990, Monte Vista had snapped a Valhalla winning streak of 20 dual meets with a one-point victory.

These two teams historically are the best in the Grossmont Conference, having won more than 90% of the wrestling championships in the conference’s 31 years.

A week earlier Ingrande wasn’t even afforded the opportunity to wrestle. He had lost his spot in the starting lineup to teammate Jason Fleury, a sophomore.

“He just got beat off the team,” said Coach Glen Takahashi, who intimated that loss could have been the motivation Ingrande had lacked.

“Nick kind of has a hard time getting focused,” Takahashi continued. “But this week he was all business.”

And on Wednesday when the wrestlers decide for themselves who gets the nod in the next day’s dual meet, Ingrande avenged the past week’s disappointment and beat Fleury.

Of course, Ingrande would not have had the opportunity to win the meet were it not for earlier victories from his teammates.

Perhaps the most crucial came from Tom North, the county’s No. 1-ranked wrestler at 189 pounds, who gained a 7-1 decision over Kevin Collier in the next-to-last bout.