Calvary Chapel Again Shows It Is Master of the Wrestling Mat

In a scene that is becoming familiar, Calvary Chapel again demonstrated its wrestling dominance, advancing nine of its 14 wrestlers to the state finals at the Southern Section Masters Tournament Saturday at Fountain Valley High.

The Eagles’ two defending state and Masters champions, Joe Calavitta (140 pounds) and Ty Wilcox (160) cruised through their matches and each won his division.

The other Calvary Chapel wrestlers on the state team are Tino Archuletta (125), Burt Pierson (130), Jay McGuffin (135), Louie Hernandez (145), Arsen Aleksanyan (152), Joshua Saul (215) and Joshua Schultz (275).

“The Masters is a very tough meet, so any time you get nine to state and seven into the championship final, that’s pretty darn good,” Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo said.

With no team scores, wrestlers battled exclusively for the first through eighth place weight-class finish that means a trip to the state tournament.

The Eagles have won state championships in three of the last four seasons and Azevedo said he feels confident going into this week’s meet in Stockton. “If they perform like they did today,” he said, “then I feel we could have a good showing.”

Fernando Serratos of Santa Ana, won his first Masters title at 112 pounds, beating Brethren Christian’s Michael Delaney, 9-4. Also advancing from Santa Ana were Tony Perez (103) and Jose Morales (130).

“You wouldn’t believe how hard these kids have been training the last three weeks,” Santa Ana Coach Scott Glabb said. “As for Fernando, I think he has as good a chance as anyone to win at state.”

Brethren Christian’s 103-pounder Michael Simpson, who was the Southern Section Division I champion, was upset in his first-round match and failed to advance. The Warriors had strong performances from Delaney and Pat Cadwallader. Cadwallader beat Calvary Chapel’s McGuffin, 7-4, in the 135-pound final. It was the third time Cadwallader has beaten McGuffin this season.

Other county wresters who advanced were: Jose Rodriguez (171) and Tim Dye (160) of Anaheim; Cameron St. Clair (152) and Mike Sloan (145) of Brea Olinda; Tim Humphrey (160) and Paul Virgin (125) of San Clemente; Austin Cathey (171) of Huntington Beach; Rick Oishi (171) of Canyon; Hyatt Moore (189) of Dana Hills; Matt Dohm (152) of El Dorado; Mike Nowell (152) of Esperanza; Dennis Garcia (215) of Garden Grove; Andrew Pena (125) of Irvine; Richard Feistman (135) of Kennedy; Matt Denne (103) of Marina; Rino Pinon (119) of Newport Harbor; Omar Orosco (119) of Orange; Tai Nguyen (103) of Troy and Jack Anaya (112) of Valencia.