Calvary Chapel Rolls to 4th Title in Row

Calvary Chapel’s dominance in wrestling showed no signs of wilting Saturday as the Eagles won their fourth consecutive Southern Section dual meet championship, 43-22, over El Modena at San Clemente High.

Calvary Chapel, ranked fifth in the country, defended its Division I title after winning Division III championships the previous two years. The Eagles have won 93 consecutive dual-meet events the last five years.

El Modena, ranked second behind the Eagles in Division I, was stronger in the lower and upper weights, but could not contend with the string of middleweights who make up the Eagles’ nucleus.

El Modena Coach Alan Clinton, who watched his Vanguards lose to Calvary Chapel in the semifinals last year, was pleased with his team’s performance.

“Any time you make it to the finals, you’ve got to be happy with it,” he said.

Of concern to Clinton was the ankle injury to Aaron Santana, El Modena’s 171-pound contender who is ranked No. 1 in the county in his weight class.

Santana was injured early in his match against Chris Meineke, who is ranked No. 2 in the county. Meineke spun and threw Santana for a takedown late in the first period and Santana immediately grabbed for his ankle.

The injury default gave Calvary Chapel six points and an insurmountable 43-13 lead. Santana was sent to the hospital for X-rays.

El Modena then finished with three consecutive victories, including a 5-3 decision by David Saucedo in the heavyweight match. Saucedo scored the winning points on a takedown with two seconds remaining against Josh Schultz.

“If Santana doesn’t get injured and is able to score some points, this match could have been a lot closer,” Clinton said.

The Vanguards built a 10-0 lead on Mike Vaun’s pin against Jorge Perez and Jeff Sacramento’s 11-1 major decision over Armando Lucero.

However, Calvary Chapel won the next four matches, including pins by Matt Azevedo (119), Burt Pierson (125) and Joe Calavitta (135), for a 22-10 lead.

In the closest contest of the meet, El Modena’s Jever Mendoza managed an escape as the third period expired to give him a 12-11 victory over Dave Wall at 140 pounds.