Wrestling Tournament Goes Down to Wire

Santa Ana wrestling Coach Scott Glabb did his best to promote Friday’s Orange County All-Star Tournament at Santa Ana High. He brought in the county’s top seniors and even invited a former actor to sign his photograph from the wrestling movie “Vision Quest.”

The combination worked for Glabb as the 38 wrestlers, and former actor Frank Jasper, kept the spectators entertained throughout the 20-match contest.

The tournament title was not decided until the final matches as El Modena’s Chad Adams, who was a late substitute, and Dan De Clark of Villa Park won their weight classes to give the Red team a 34-28 victory over the Blue.

The ending was not anticipated as much as the matchups, however.

Anaheim’s Reuben Droughns, who won the Division I title at 189 pounds, locked up with third-place finisher Dan Kingman of El Modena. Droughns managed a takedown with a second remaining to pull out an 8-7 victory.

Aaron Santana, who also won a Division I crown for El Modena, faced off against Calvary Chapel’s Chris Meineke, who finished third in Division I and seventh at the state meet. Santana built a 5-1 lead after two periods and held on for a 6-4 victory.

Thanh Nguyen of Laguna Hills had the match’s biggest upset, defeating Ignacio Bahena, a 112-pounder from Santa Ana who finished seventh at state, 5-2.

State champion Calvary Chapel sent five wrestlers to the meet. Matt Azevedo defeated Irvine’s Peter Hamilton, 13-2, and Phil Wozniak won a 6-0 decision over Esperanza’s Tyler Monson.