St. John Bosco Throws Weight Around, 32-22

Alemany High Coach Dennis Henderson knew if his wrestling team could get a jump on St. John Bosco in the lower weight divisions Thursday night, the Indians would be able to stay with the Mission League leaders until the heavyweight match.

Damien Loftus (112 pounds) and James Casteneda (119 pounds) came through with early pins and Henderson almost got his wish. It wasn’t until Frank Velasco outpointed Eddie Moran at 189 pounds, that the Braves, No. 2 in Southern Section Division IV, clinched a 32-22 victory at Harvard-Westlake.

It was a home match for the Indians but was played at Harvard-Westlake because of damage from the earthquake at Alemany.

Loftus (21-2) and Casteneda (25-0), Alemany’s strongest wrestlers, staked the Indians (9-5, 2-2 in league matches) to a 12-3 advantage.

Loftus was trailing, 7-2, in the third period, but rallied to pin Pedro Sanchez (33-7) with 22 seconds left in the match.

“I wasn’t focused when I started,” Loftus said. “My head wasn’t in it and I fell behind but I was glad I was able to get the pin and six points.”

The Indians kept the lead until St. John Bosco’s Gil Sanchez (16-8) pinned Sal Cisneros at 140 pounds, giving the Braves a 17-15 lead.

The lead changed hands until the 160-pound match, when St. John Bosco’s Jared Boyarski (35-4) needed only 30 seconds to pin Nick DePasquale. Boyarski’s victory ignited his team and gave the Braves (26-3, 6-0) a 23-22 lead.

“We knew coming in they were stronger at the lower weights,” Boyarski said. “I just wanted to come in and get a pin. I was confident in our guys they would come through.”

Brave Coach Mike DeJesus was ejected during the 171-pound match and was penalized two team points, giving Alemany a 22-21 lead. Earlier, the Braves were penalized a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.

But St. John Bosco rallied after the ejection to win in the last three weight classes.

“I know our seniors would be disappointed,” Henderson said. “If we had gotten a few points in close matches, it might have made a difference.”

Heavyweight Alex Garcia handed Alemany’s Ron Vitale only his fourth loss of the season, 13-4.

“I think if we were still in contention Ron would have done better,” Henderson said. “I’m really surprised he didn’t beat Garcia.”