Calvary Chapel’s Show of Strength Too Much for Rest

It was the first time Calvary Chapel participated in the Estancia wrestling tournament. Well, they came--and they conquered.

Eight Eagles won in the finals as Calvary Chapel dominated the two-day tournament, winning with 309.5 points. Anaheim was second (189.5) and Irvine was third (173).

“I honestly thought this tournament would be tougher,” Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo said. “It’s too bad some teams didn’t come. It would have been nice if Santa Ana or Loara was here.”

Azevedo said he decided to enter his state-ranked team in this tournament because he wanted a local tournament to go to.

Calvary Chapel’s Tino Archuleta started the Eagle romp at 112 pounds, beating Matt Kreper of Capistrano Valley, 13-4. At 119 pounds, Matt Azevedo, a two-time Nevada state champion before coming to Calvary Chapel, continued the streak by pinning Irvine’s Peter Hamilton in 4 minutes 42 seconds.

Ty Wilcox, at 152 pounds, was the other Eagle to win by a fall, pinning Jose Rodriguez of Anaheim in 3:55.

The Eagles’ Kris Camacho defeated San Clemente’s Chris Sayer, 14-4, at 130 pounds. Joe Calavitta defeated Cisto Nava with a technical fall at 135 pounds and Louie Hernandez beat Alan Rush of Irvine, 10-6, at 140 pounds. Chris Meineke decisioned Anaheim’s Robert Droughns, 19-6, at 171 pounds.

In addition to the eight champions, the Eagles also had two wrestlers--Phil Woznick at 145 and Mike Pawasin at 215--take third.

In the 103-pound final, Matt Demned of Marina used a headlock in the third period to decision San Clemente’s Paul Virgin, 6-4.

At 145 pounds, Zak Stevens of Irvine easily defeated Brian Canfield of Capistrano Valley, 17-5. Huntington Beach’s Austen Cathey defeated Steve Cooper of Marina, 12-2, in the 160-pound final.

At 189 pounds, Reuben Droughns contributed to Anaheim’s point total with a victory over Mark Tognazzini of Morro Bay, 9-4. And Jason Deere of Newport Beach, the only finalist for the Sailors, won at 175 pounds, getting by Kelly Richardson of Long Beach Millikan, 7-0.