SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION III WRESTLING : Powerful Calvary Chapel Wins Six Individual and Team Titles

Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana dominated the Southern Section Division III wrestling championship finals Saturday night at Downey High, with six individual titles and a runner-up. Coach John Azevedo’s Eagles amassed 195 1/2 points to breeze to the team title. Chaffey was a distant runner-up with 109 points, and Baldwin Park was third with 102 1/2. Irvine came in eighth with 63 1/2 points, led by Sean Billings’ pin of Chaffey’s Ruben DeLeon at 57 seconds in the 103-pound final.

Entering the finals, Calvary Chapel--having placed seven finalists--had already clinched the team championship. But four of the six victories were close.

“We didn’t have our best performances in the finals,” Azevedo said. “But we stayed in there, played it tough and pulled it off.”

Only the Valdez twins--Shane and Dane--won decisively. Sean won by decision over Baldwin Park’s Tommy Montoya, 12-6, in the 112-pound class, and Dan stopped Gus Fonseca of Baldwin Park, 14-5, at 119 pounds.

Calvary Chapel’s Joey Coughran had a tough match with Rim of the World’s T.J. VanDandusen in the 130-pound class before prevailing, 12-11. Mauricio Mora edged Baldwin Park’s Gene Riestro, 4-2, in the 135-pound category. Sophomores Josh Holiday and Ed Mosley also captured titles in the 140 and 145-pound categories.

Greg Smith was the only Eagle to lose in the finals, dropping a 4-2 decision to Centennial’s Aren Arechiga in the 125-pound category.

The top four finishers in each weight category qualified for the Masters meet next Saturday at Fountain Valley.