Santa Ana Wrestlers Top Irvine, Win El Toro 10-Way Tournament

Santa Ana, ranked second in the county, defeated No. 5 Irvine to win the El Toro 10-way wrestling tournament Saturday at El Toro High School.

The Saints defeated Irvine, 40-17, after both teams posted the best records (7-0) of the two-day, 10-school competition.

Irvine kept the score in range until the 160-pound class, where the Vaqueros had to forfeit. Santa Ana senior Brian Schwalm then pinned Matt Johnson in the first period at 171 to begin to put the match out of reach. And after Irvine senior Steve Ruiz won by technical fall at 189, Santa Ana came back on a 53-second pin by heavyweight Juan Gonzalez, MVP of the upper weights.

Santa Ana Coach Scott Glabb was confident his team could beat Irvine but was surprised by some of the results.

One was the competition between his wrestler, junior Ignacio Bahena, and Irvine sophomore Andrew Pena; both were undefeated at 119 pounds and wrestling for the individual title. At times, the match resembled a street brawl, but Bahena made some last-second reverses to win, 15-13. “That really surprised me,” Glabb said. “That kid (Pena) was tough.”

Bahena (119), Sadie Morales (125), Jim Rodriguez (160), Schwalm (171) and Gonzalez (heavyweight) won their classes for Santa Ana. Peter Hamilton (112), Justin Meier (130), Alan Rush (145) and Ruiz (189) won for Irvine.

Thomas Juarez (103) of San Diego Montgomery, which placed third, was named MVP of the lower weights.