Irvine Easily Wins League Title

Not only did Irvine win its fourth consecutive Sea View League wrestling title Saturday, but the host Vaqueros had 12 wrestlers advance to the Southern Section Division II finals.

Irvine (6-0, 5-0 in league) had little trouble in the meet, dominating almost every weight class to compile 199 points.

El Toro finished second with 131.5 points, followed by Santa Margarita (110), Woodbridge (108.5) and Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar, which both finished with 79 points.

“It’s great to win the league four times straight, but any time you have 12 [Southern Section] qualifiers, two alternates and six league champions, that is something to be proud of,” Irvine Coach John Phillips said.

Irvine started its championship run at 119 pounds, when three-time league champion Peter Hamilton beat Rig Pinon of Newport Harbor, 7-2. From there, the Vaqueros won five of the next 11 matches.

Junior Andrew Pena (125 pounds), ranked third in the county, earned the victory with a pin of El Toro’s Jeff Ortiz in 4 minutes 18 seconds. Other Irvine wrestlers who pinned their opponents in the finals were senior Alan Rush (140 pounds) over Tom Pettit of Newport Harbor in 5:01, and Zak Stevens, who beat Brian Kramer in 5:18. Irvine junior Tim Testerman defeated Charles Gellman of Corona del Mar by technical fall, 17-2.

Irvine’s C.H. Rush might have had the most dramatic comeback in his match against Woodbridge’s Sam Lahioshi. Lahioshi beat Rush last week, 18-2, in a league dual meet with Woodbridge.

Ahead by four points at the end of the first period, it was clear Rush did not have the upper hand in the 135-pound match.

Seemingly locked up by Lahioshi with the seconds ticking, Rush was able to perform a gramby roll for five points and a four-point lead. And Lahioshi’s desperate efforts to score were in vain, with the match ending, 11-9.

Champions for El Toro included Satoshi Baba (112), who defeated Kyle Dungan of Woodbridge by technical fall; Ben Laxton (189), who beat Gabe Sanches of Irvine and Damian de Beaubien (215), who won his second consecutive league title with a 1:05 pin of Woodbridge’s Brad Guzman.

Newport Harbor had two champions; Matt Large, who won the 103-pound match against Brian Clark of El Toro with a 3:37 pin, and Jason Deere, who pinned Irvine’s Ryan Dickie in 1:53.

Woodbridge also had two champions, Deniz Ari (171), who beat Nima Mamdar of Corona del Mar, 9-7, and Brett Shainfeld, whose 32-second pin of Alec Thompson, was the fastest in the finals.

At the Garden Grove League finals:

Santiago wins six--The Cavaliers, ranked sixth in the county, had champions in six divisions and both MVPs. Lower-weight MVP Jimmy Rubalcaba (119 pounds) improved to 39-0. Upper-weight MVP Carlos Garcia (145 pounds) improved to 37-2.