PREP WRESTLING ROUNDUP : Irvine Comes Up Short at Estancia Meet

Defending champion Irvine was edged by surprisingly tough Norwalk John Glenn for first place in the Estancia wrestling tournament Saturday at Estancia High.

John Glenn, which had 10 wrestlers in the semifinals, finished with 227 points in the 31-team competition, 24 points ahead of Irvine. Morro Bay took third with 112.5 points.

Though losing, Irvine did tie Norwalk Glenn with three champions. Peter Hamilton, third-seeded at 112 pounds, upset top-seeded Paco Arriaga of Chino, 6-4, in overtime. Jeremy Brown easily defeated Chino’s Drew Morton, 15-7, and Steve Ruiz, who overcame a leg injury in the last few seconds of his championship match, beat Morro Bay’s Ricardo Camacho, 12-2, in a 171-pound match.

However, two of Irvine’s top-seeded competitors, Justin Meier at 130 pounds and Andrew Pena at 119, were defeated.

Other county matches: Sunny Hills’ Robbie Andres defeated Magnolia’s Matt Torres by injury default; Los Amigos’ Luis Rivas was a champion at 140 pounds after defeating Bryan Ysais, 16-6, and John Deher won the heavyweight championship in a close match with John Glenn’s Willie Henderson.

Capistrano Valley also had a good showing, taking fourth in team competition. Leading the way was Ysais and Mark Stephenson (145), who took second in the championships.

One highlight of the meet came during the 189-pound title match between Upland’s Detreias Huff and John Glenn’s Ray Granillo. Huff is top-ranked in the state and Granillo, who was MVP of the upper weights, is ranked third.

Instead of an expected battle royal between the two, Granillo came out strong, seemingly catching Huff by surprise. Granillo pinned Huff in 1 minute 25 seconds, the only pin in the entire championship round.

In the Bolsa Grande Tournament:

Anaheim wins--Anaheim had six wrestlers win weight classes for a first-place finish in the Bolsa Grande tournament. The Colonists set the 19-team tournament record with 252 points, 95 better than second-place Pason (Ariz.).

Winning was Jose Lopez (103), Alez Coria (125), Manny Megia (135), Leonard Ruiz (160) and Reuben Droughns (189). Heavyweight Jim Ambriz led Saddleback (119.5 points) to third place.