PREP WRESTLING ROUNDUP : Buena Park Heavyweight’s Victory Wins Dual Meet

The lights. The roar of the crowd. The smiles and stream of handshakes.

The end justified everything else that transpired Thursday night at Buena Park.

With one side shouting “Wa-li, Wa-li,” and other countering with “Gie-sen, Gie-sen,” at ear-shattering decibels during the heavyweight match between Wali Sibrie and Glenn Giesen, the Freeway League showdown between ninth-ranked Sunny Hills and No. 10 Buena Park didn’t disappoint.

Sunny Hills trailed going into the final weight class and needed a pin from Giesen to win the key dual meet between rivals that have long dominated the league.

Sibrie demonstrated flashes of why he’s the second-ranked heavyweight in the state with a second-period pin that gave the Coyotes a 34-24 victory.

“When you have the No. 2 wrestler in the state going out to wrestle last, you feel pretty good about your chances,” Buena Park Coach Rick Zabala said. “All he had to do was win. We thought we’d be OK.”

It wasn’t a feeling the Coyotes could enjoy all night.

Sunny Hills (15-1, 3-1) jumped to a 12-4 lead after three weight classes, courtesy of a pin by the Lancers’ Robert Andres at 103 pounds and a forfeit at 119 by Buena Park (14-2, 4-0).

Buena Park took its first lead after Vince Virgen (135) pinned Dean Roman at 2 minutes 35 seconds for a 16-12 lead, which it extended to 19-12 after a 6-2 decision by Shawn Pena at 140.

The Lancers pulled to 19-18 when Justin Tetley pinned Ricky Otiz at 145, but consecutive decisions by Mario Rojas (152), Ben Parra (160) and Shawn Burch (171) put Buena Park back in command, 28-18, with two classes remaining.

Sunny Hills’ Darren Beard pinned Jason Mosgrove early at 189 to put the Lancers within four points, until Sibrie went to work.

Last year, Sunny Hills defeated Buena Park in the season-ending league meet to share the title, but it was the third year in a row the Lancers have lost a dual meet to the Coyotes.

“Rick does a good job of coaching,” Sunny Hills Coach Curt Mellem said. “But we didn’t wrestle well. . . . I have no idea why.”