Calvary Chapel Gets Its Share of Qualifiers

Despite missing Tino Archuleta at 112 pounds, Calvary Chapel was impressive at the Southern Section Masters tournament, winning three individual titles Saturday at Fountain Valley High.

Calvary Chapel, Division I champion, had 11 wrestlers entered in this meet, which does not have team scoring, and managed to qualify seven wrestlers for the state meet.

Only the top eight wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes qualify for the state meet, which begins Friday at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

Joe Calavitta dominated the 135-pound final, beating Fo Dominquez of Norwalk Glenn, 22-7.

Calvary Chapel’s Matt Azevedo had a tough time with Ron Peterson of Camarillo, the Division II 119-pound champion.

With the score tied, 11-11, with seconds left in the third period, Azevedo was able to get a takedown to win, 13-11.

For Azevedo, who won two state titles in Nevada, this will be his first try at a state title in California.

Ty Wilcox was the third Eagle to win a title, defeating Goleta Dos Pueblos’ Ati Conner, 10-4, in the 152-pound final. Phil Wozniak was second at 145 pounds, losing to Kyle Little of Lake Elsinore, 10-6.

Other Eagles qualifiers were Louie Hernandez (fifth at 140 pounds), Burt Pierson (sixth at 125), and Chris Meineke (third at 171).

Calvary Chapel, which was second at the state meet last year, will be taking the same number of wrestlers they took last season.

And although Archuleta will be sorely missed, Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo ramains confident about his team’s chances at the state meet.

“I was hoping to get eight or 10 in [state],” Azevedo said.

“I can’t say I’m sure we’ll win state. We’ll just have to wait and see. But I think if we’re hot, we may be able to pull it off.”

Archuleta did not make weight at the Olympic League finals, making him ineligible for further competition.

Among Orange County schools, Irvine had the next highest number of qualifiers for the state meet with four.

“This is the most Irvine has ever qualified,” Irvine Coach John Phillips said. “We brought five to Masters and we’re taking four [to state]. That’s not bad at all.”

Vaqueros who qualified were Andrew Pena (fourth at 125), Alan Rush (fourth 140), Peter Hamilton (seventh at 119) and Zach Stevens (eighth at 145).

El Modena qualified three, including Aaron Santana (second at 171 pounds), Dan Kingman (fifth at 189) and Nathan Stauber (eighth at 152).

For El Modena, which had five entered in the tournament, Coach Alan Clinton said he would have loved to get all of his wrestlers in, particularly senior Nick Long at 160 pounds, who was second at the Division I finals last week.

Long was beaten in the first round by Jeff Spill of Atascadero.

“You never know what can happen at a meet like this,” Clinton said.

“It’s just really tough to see these guys work so hard all year and it ends with one match. But I’m still happy. To qualify three wrestlers to state is a great accomplishment for these guys.”

La Habra had two wrestlers qualify for the meet. Jason Lowe (eighth at 130) and Ryan Hernandez (eighth at 135).

In all, 31 county wrestlers qualified for the state meet.

Other county wrestlers to qualify for the state meet include Anaheim’s Rueben Droghns (189), Brea Olinda’s Andrew Murphy (215), Brethren Christian’s Pat Cadwallander (130). Cadwallander is the first Brethren Christian wrestler to qualify for the state meet.

Also reaching the state meet were Buena Park’s Joe Reilly, Dana Hills Bao Quach (140), El Dorado’s Delony Kelly (171), El Toro’s Damian deBeaubien (215), Huntington Beach’s Austen Cathey (160), Laguna Hills’ Thanh Nguyen (112), Loara’s Richard Meza (152), Marina’s Matthew Denne (103), Newport Harbor’s Jason Deere (275) and Rancho Alamitos’ John Colvin (215).

Esperanza, one of the county’s top teams this season, stumbled in the Masters meet, failing to qualify any of its four wrestlers for the state meet.