Rio Mesa Sends 10 Wrestlers to Individual Meet

If Todd Stoke had his way, he would have been coaching his Rio Mesa High wrestlers at the Southern Section Division I dual meet championships Wednesday instead of watching from the stands.

But 10 Spartan wrestlers--more than any area school in Division I--qualified for the Southern Section individual championships that begin today. The championship round is Saturday.

Division I wrestlers, including those from the Channel and Marmonte leagues, will meet at El Monte High. Wrestlers from the Golden, Mission and Frontier leagues will compete in the Division IV meet at Sierra Vista High in Baldwin Park.

Only the top two Channel teams qualified for the team championships, but third-place Rio Mesa tempered that disappointment with a strong effort last weekend in the league individual championships, the qualifying tournament for today’s meet. Nine wrestlers from five-time defending league champion Ventura qualified.

“I’m not surprised we qualified a lot of wrestlers, but I am surprised we qualified more than Ventura,” Stoke said. “We just had a good week of practice.”

Ventura, ranked second in Division I, is led by Ryan Atherton (103 pounds), a finalist in last year’s individual championships. At least four wrestlers from seven of the eight Marmonte schools qualified for the championships. Sophomore twins Ronnie (112 pounds) and Rick Peterson (119) lead a contingent of seven from league champion Camarillo.

In Division IV, Golden League champion Highland, ranked No. 1, has nine qualifiers. Junior Roger Izzo (130 pounds) is 38-3, and six teammates won league titles.

Harvard-Westlake finished in fifth place in the Mission League but the Saracens had six qualifiers, including four league champions.

Only three wrestlers from Alemany qualified but junior James Castenada (112) finished the season undefeated (29-0) and is a section champion.

Frontier League champion Santa Paula had qualifiers in 12 of the 13 classes. Ruben Venagas (145 pounds) leads the Cardinals with a 20-0 record.

The top five finishers in each weight class in Division I and the top two in Division IV qualify for the Masters meet, Feb. 26.