Santa Ana Pleased With Five Counties Performance

Santa Ana came out with a vengeance to get seventh place at Five Counties wrestling tournament Saturday at Fountain Valley High.

“I feel great,” Santa Ana Coach Scott Glabb said.

“Our kids showed a lot of courage out there. They came through the back door to win some tough matches to place for us.”

Finishing among the top 10 was no small feat because many of the state’s top teams were here.

Poway won with 203 points. Union City Logan was second with 151 1/2 and Loomis Del Oro was third (143 1/2).

The Saints’ Sadie Morales was the only county wrestler to reach the finals, where he lost to Carlos Blanco of Canyon Springs, 21-6.

Santa Ana had three other medalists in the tournament.

Jose Serratos was impressive at 119 pounds and finished third.

Serratos moved up in weight class to allow teammate Ignacio Behena to go at 114.

Santa Ana’s Tony Perez was sixth at 105 pounds and Behena was fifth at 114.

Other county wrestlers who earned medals were Loara’s Richard Meza (third at 154), Esperanza’s Matt Steinmeyer (third at 173) and Mission Viejo’s Mike Tibbitts (sixth at 173).

Capistrano Valley’s Andrew Tuzzolino (sixth at 191) and Newport Harbor’s Jason Deere (sixth at 277) were the other medalists.

There was more than enough talent among the 54 schools entered to make the two-day contest competitive.

“It would have been nice to have Calvary [Chapel] or [defending champion San Jose] Independence here, but there’s so much talent here,” El Modena Coach Alan Clinton said.

“This is still by far the best pre-Masters and state tournament.”

In nonleague girls’ basketball:

Riverside J.W. North 48, University 47 (OT)--Lyz Day’s three-point attempt for University rattled in the basket and came out at the overtime buzzer.

Jerri Armendariz sent the game into overtime with a three-pointer after University (10-7) blew an eight-point lead.

Monique Mathews finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Trojans.

In nonleague girls’ soccer:

Santa Margarita 1, Torrance Bishop Montgomery 0--Pa’tra Glavin scored the game’s only goal in the second half for top-ranked Santa Margarita (16-0-1).