Wrestlers Johnson, Waasdorp Lead Area March Out of Contention

Narrow losses eliminated area favorites Larry Johnson of Antelope Valley High and Jacob Waasdorp of Quartz Hill from championship contention in the State wrestling finals Friday at University of the Pacific.

Johnson (160 pounds) and Waasdorp (215), each Southern Section champions with only one loss in more than 50 matches before Friday, remain among six area competitors in contention for third place. Twenty-two area wrestlers entered the two-day tournament at Spanos Center, but 16 were eliminated Friday by virtue of two losses.

Johnson (54-2), after two victories, was defeated by Mike Mellor of Shingle Springs Ponderosa, 6-4, in overtime after rallying for a takedown with four seconds left in regulation.

Waasdorp (56-2), who recorded a first-round pin against Chuks Amajor of San Jose Oak Grove in 2 minutes 28 seconds, was defeated in the second round, 2-1, by Chad Herron of El Cajon Valhalla.

Waasdorp rebounded with a 9-5 victory over Damien de Beabien of Lake Forest El Toro. But the loss to Herron remained fresh in Waasdorp’s mind.

“He was ready, I wasn’t,” Waasdorp said. “That’s what happens. I feel I should be in the championship round, but that’s in the past now. I just gotta go on.”

Area wrestlers still left in the consolation bracket are Ron Peterson of Camarillo (119), Cristobal Gonzalez of Ventura (171), Rey Torres of Royal (160) and heavyweight Anthony Vitale of Alemany.

Peterson (47-7), Southern Section Division II champion, reached the quarterfinals before losing, 11-5, to Paris Ruiz of Clovis West. Ruiz, who scored 16 points in each of his first two matches, recorded a takedown in the opening seconds and maintained the lead until the finish.

“I wasn’t totally prepared,” Peterson said. “I wasn’t really focused. My mind went kind of blank. I could have done better.”

Senior Jeff Macrea of El Camino Real, the City Section heavyweight champion, defeated freshman Nick Kindred of Turlock, 11-5, in his opening bout before being eliminated with consecutive losses to Victor Leyva of Porterville Monache, 18-3, and Gary Smith of Stockton Edison, who pinned Macrea in 1:29.

Ventura’s Gonzalez, the first sophomore in school history to qualify for the State meet, defeated Central Section champion Matt Hill of South Bakersfield, 7-4, but lost to Joey Olivas of Ceres, 7-2. Gonzalez rebounded with a 12-10 overtime victory over Ryan Stockton of Clovis Buchanan.

Torres of Royal defeated Billy Joe Wynn of Oakland Fremont, 12-3, then lost to Dion Garza of San Jose Independence, 7-5. Torres closed with a 7-5 victory over Jose Salcedo of Exeter.