WRESTLING : No. 1-Ranked Calvary Chapel, No. 2 El Modena Meet Tonight

El Modena Coach Alan Clinton said anyone in Orange County who loves wrestling would be “stupid to miss (tonight’s meet).”

Clinton might be understating the interest level for the county’s wrestling showdown of the season, when top-ranked Calvary Chapel faces No. 2 El Modena in a nonleague dual meet at 7 tonight. Anyone with a passing interest in the sport should arrive at Calvary Chapel’s Santa Ana gym early enough to reserve a seat.

This has the potential to be quite a match. It is the first time the high-powered programs have met and the first time in Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo’s recollection that the county’s top two ranked teams have competed head-to-head during the regular season.

Both teams have been tested. Calvary Chapel (9-0), ranked second in the nation by the Amateur Wrestling News, finished third at the prestigious Ironman Tournament in Ohio and won a 70-team tournament in Reno last month.

El Modena hasn’t exactly scheduled cream puffs. The Vanguards (18-0) finished third behind El Cajon Granite Hills and Poway at an established San Diego tournament and won the 16-team Iolani Invitational in Hawaii last week.

Clinton downplayed the significance of the highly anticipated matchup.

“We’re treating it like any other match,” he said, although he added that there were more than the usual nauseous wrestlers Thursday.

Azevedo said this kind of match is good for the sport and the competitors. “It creates some publicity and excitement,” he said.

On the mat, several weight classes promise to provide the latter. There are three divisions in which Calvary Chapel’s top-ranked wrestlers meet the second-ranked wrestlers from El Modena.

At 135, Southern Section champion Mauricio Mora wrestles Juan Alvarez, El Modena’s only undefeated wrestler; at 145, the Eagles’ section champion Josh Holiday goes against the Vanguards’ State qualifier Chris Jaime; and at 152, Calvary Chapel’s section champion Ed Mosley meets sophomore Aaron Santana.

The match also features Eagle twins Shane and Dane Valdez. At 119, Shane is a two-time State runner-up and at 125, Dane is the defending State champion. For El Modena, David Wells is the defending section and Masters champion.