El Camino Real Wrestlers on Top of World

The highly vocal crowd made it seem El Camino Real High was against the rest of the world in the City Section wrestling finals.

Well, the rest of the world lost.

The Conquistadores, prematch favorites, dominated the middle weight classes, much to the chagrin of the crowd, which booed each Conquistadore during introductions and during matches, and won the team title for the third time in five years.

“It’s tough to maintain a successful program,” El Camino Real Coach Terry Fischer said. “But really good kids find ways to win. We’ve had incredible support and we needed it. This was closer than it’s been in a while. There’s a lot more parity this year.”

El Camino Real trailed San Fernando, 197-191 1/2, but won three consecutive weight classes at 140 pounds (Hugo Monje), 145 pounds (Francisco Jordan) and 152 pounds (David Amaya) to go ahead and won by a 207 1/2-203 margin.

“We knew we had a good shot going in to those matches because we had more guys left,” said Amaya, who was named outstanding wrestler. “They were booing us, but it just made us more focused.”

The Conquistadores had eight wrestlers finish first or second and 13 in the top four.

San Fernando, which had seven finalists, won individual titles at 103 pounds (Richard Aguirre), 119 pounds (Joe Hernandez), 130 pounds (Andy Moro) and 135 pounds (Eddie Moro).

Andy Moro broke his nose late in the first period but held on for a 5-4 decision over Eric Mendez of Monroe with the aid of a protective mask.

El Camino Real’s 171-pound standout Erick Cornejo was upset, 5-4, in the 171-pound semifinals by Mark Gabrielli of Monroe.

Melkon Melkonian of Granada Hills won his third consecutive 189-pound title, pinning Alex Perez of El Camino Real at 3:15. Melkonian, who missed the first two months of the season because of a knee injury, had to lose 16 pounds in December to make his weight.

Individual winners advance to next week’s state finals in Stockton.