Bautista Unexpectedly Wrestles Way to Final

Nobody expected Rio Mesa High wrestler Jesse Bautista to make an impact at the Southern Section individual championships.

Certainly not the coaches, who didn’t include Bautista in the seedings of the 119-pound weight class, mostly because of a 22-11 record.

Also, Bautista is a freshman, and lacking postseason experience.

But Bautista was one of six wrestlers from the area to make the finals of the Division I tournament Saturday night at El Monte High School.

After a brief lead in the first period, Bautista lost in the final to Channel League-rival Phil Nazario of Dos Pueblos, 10-4.

But Bautista did get the satisfaction of upsetting No. 1-seeded Lee Cabrera of Hesperia, 8-7, in the quarterfinals.

“I’d never wrestled any of these guys before,” Bautista said. “I just went in there and did my thing and got my confidence up.”

Ventura, the only area school with two finalists, won one title. Heavyweight Sean Burdick defeated Jesse Wright of San Marcos, 4-2.

At 145 pounds, Tim Bonebright of Thousand Oaks was the only other area wrestler to win a championship, defeating Kevin Young of Hueneme, 11-4.

Only a bloody nose briefly slowed Bonebright (31-2) on his way to the title.

The other finalist from the Marmonte League, Chad Payne of Agoura, was upset at 125 pounds. Payne jumped out to a 7-2 lead over Miguel Valencia of Santa Ana, but was nearly pinned in the second period and dropped an 11-9 decision. The loss was Payne’s second of the season.

At 103 pounds, Ventura senior Ryan Atherton (35-9) finished as a runner-up for the second consecutive year, dropping a 6-2 decision to Roger Santiago of Santa Ana.

Ventura finished second in the team standings with 88 points, trailing only El Modena (153), which entered the tournament as the top-ranked team in the Division I poll.