MASTERS WRESTLING : Calvary Chapel Flexes Muscles Again as Seven Qualify for State Meet

Seven wrestlers from defending State champion Calvary Chapel advanced to the State final and again demonstrated why the Eagles probably will win their third consecutive title.

Leading the way for the Eagles were defending State and Masters champions Josh Holiday and Ed Mosley. Holiday won the 154-pound championship by beating Tom Nelford of Oxnard Rio Mesa, 9-3; Mosley pounded Jason Webster of Corona Centennial, 20-9.

Sophomore Joe Calavitta, with an impressive 8-2 victory over Jesse Bautista of Rio Mesa, won the 127-pound championship for the Eagles.

Although the Eagles made an impressive showing, not everything went their way. In the 191-pound match, Mike Aquirre was expected to win the Masters title, but Eddie Fukuma of Alhambra, who finished first at Southern Section Division II finals last week, put a clamp on those expectations, battling Aguirre to a 4-2 overtime victory.

Nevertheless, Calvary Chapel probably has the strongest team in school history.

More than 100 teams participated in the meet, and Orange County made a good showing, with 28 of the 208 wrestlers advancing to State.

Richard Meza of Loara, who besides Calvary Chapel winners, was the only Orange County champion.

Meza, a junior who wrestles at 147 pounds, took first at the Southern Section Division II last week and impressively won two of his matches. But in the championship final round, Meza wrestled Monico Enriquez of Norwalk John Glenn, who also took first in his Division IV Southern Section finals last week. However, Meza shut out Enriquez, 5-0.

In another noteworthy match, the top two 105-pounders in the county--Anthony Pham of Loara and Tino Archuleta of Calvary Chapel, met for seventh place. But Pham, who is ranked No. 1, was able to hold off the aggressive freshman, 7-3.

Other county wrestlers to advance to the State finals include Richard Bahena of Santa Ana and Burt Pierson of Calvary Chapel at 114 pounds; Sadie Morales of Santa Ana (121); Justin Meier of Irvine (127); Joe Reilly of Buena Park and Jeremy Brown of Irvine at 132 pounds; Noah Culp of Esperanza and Jeff Greco of Laguna Hills at 142 pounds; Adam Miller and Josh Hoblick of San Clemente at 147 pounds; Casey Elliott of Laguna Hills and Aaron Greco of San Clemente at 154 pounds; Steve Sedillos of Kennedy and Ishmail Abdullah of El Dorado at 162 pounds; Eric Schirmacher of Katella (173); John Pelzer of Troy (191) and heavyweights Jim Ambriz of Saddleback, Dave Wheeler of Cypress and Mark Zolikoff of Laguna Hills.

The Masters Tournament determines who competes in the State Championships, which begin Friday in Stockton. The top eight finishers advance to State.