PREP WRESTLING ROUNDUP : Irvine Dominates Vaquero Classic

Throughout the day, Irvine Coach John Phillips’ confidence seemed to grow with each individual victory at the Vaquero Wrestling Classic on Saturday at Irvine High.

By the end of the event, Irvine, ranked fifth in the county, not only won the tournament with 162 1/2 points--more than 40 points ahead of second-place Camarillo--but had two most valuable wrestlers declared in the lower and upper weights.

Irvine’s Justin Meier, ranked No. 1 in the county at 135 pounds, won top honors in the lower weights after he pinned Huck Finn of Villa Park in 3 minutes 46 seconds.

Meier, a senior, won last week at the El Toro 10-Way, as did teammate Steve Ruiz (189), who was the top wrestler in the upper weights Saturday. Ruiz, a senior, pinned Justin Klein of Simi Valley in 1:20. Ruiz was the only wrestler to record pins in every match.

At 112 pounds, Peter Hamilton defeated Paul Soliz of Riverside Norta Vista, 16-4, in the final. Hamilton, ranked No. 1 in the county, had two pins and two technical falls.

Jeremy Brown, at 125 pounds, was Irvine’s other champion. He defeated David Prusinkion of Goleta Dos Pueblos, 13-8. Seven Irvine wrestlers placed among the top four in their weight class.

Mission Viejo (109.5) finished third, Capistrano Valley (87) was sixth and Katella (65) ninth.