Canoga Park Rides 3 Late Pins to a Tri-Championship

Canoga Park High muscled in on a piece of the Valley League wrestling title Thursday with a 43-25 season-ending upset of visiting San Fernando, the defending City Section champion.

Closing the match with three quick pins, the Hunters (9-4 overall) forged a tri-championship among themselves, San Fernando (8-7) and El Camino Real. Each finished with a 3-1 league mark.

With the match tied, 25-25, after 10 bouts, Tony Pavlowsky shocked San Fernando’s Nate Green with an escape move and pin with 10 seconds left in the second period of the 171-pound match. Green had been in control with a 10-6 lead.

“That was a major upset,” Canoga Park Coach Rudy Lugo said. “Tony wrestled smart and didn’t try to outmuscle someone who was stronger than he is.”

Said Pavlowsky: “It was all a matter of momentum. If they’re standing up and getting too big, it gives you the momentum to turn ‘em over.”

Canoga Park’s Phillip Duffield (189) followed with a pin of Dennis Anerios in 2 minutes 30 seconds, and heavyweight Keith Jardine (20-0), the City’s defending champion, pinned Steve Serrano in 1:05.

In the 145-pound match, San Fernando’s Jorge Hernandez dominated Andy Fort and appeared to be closing in on a pin in the final minute. But Fort finished the bout, losing, 9-0, to deny Hernandez a six-point win and San Fernando a burst of momentum. Hernandez was awarded four points.

“Just staying off his back and not getting pinned was a big lift for us,” Lugo said of Fort.

Canoga Park last won a league title in 1986.