Calvary Chapel Applies the Clincher and Wins Again

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel established itself as the state wrestling team of the 1990s Saturday night at the University of Pacific by winning its fifth title.

The Eagles are second behind Clovis High with the most state titles. Clovis won six titles between 1974 and 1992.

Clovis Buchanan took second with 102, and Bakersfield Foothill was third with 93.

Although the Eagles trailed by 13 at the end of Friday’s competition, it become clear in Saturday’s semifinal and consolation rounds that the school would win again. At that point, emotions started to run high.

Ventura’s Cristobal Gonzalez also came away with a state title. The 189-pound senior scored a deciding two-point takedown against David Schenk of Anderson with 13 seconds remaining, then bearhugged him until the final whistle to earn a 5-4 victory.

“No words can express the way I feel,” said Gonzalez, undefeated in five matches in the two-day tournament. “I knew I had to take him down in the last seconds, and I did.”

Gonzalez (56-3), the first state champion in school history.

Gonzalez helped Ventura finish 10th with 58 points.

Schenk, a senior and state champion at 171 last season, had lost only once in 52 previous matches.

Gonzalez, third in the state at 189 last season, defeated Schenk, 10-8, in overtime in December. Schenk twice defeated Gonzalez, including a 3-2 overtime decision in January in the final of the Fountain Valley tournament.

Last season, Ventura Coach Paul Clementi, frustrated by Gonzalez’s truancy and indifference, suspended him from the team for the duration of a tournament. This season, Gonzalez transformed.

“Nobody deserves this more than Cristobal,” Clementi said. “He’s turned things around in his personal life and he just worked so hard this year. He grew up as a leader and he grew up as a man.”

Said Gonzalez: “It was a lot of people talking to me. Coaches, my brothers. . . . I said, ‘Who is going to lead this team?’ ”

Gonzalez took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, but Schenk pulled even by the end of the period. An escape gave Schenk a 4-3 lead in the third period.