Spartans Finish Strong to Win Wrestling Tournament

Villa Park wrestling Coach Steve Stewart was a little concerned Wednesday about his team’s slim lead going into the semifinals of the El Modena Mann tournament at Santa Ana College.

He needn’t have worried. The Spartans, who led by only two points after the first four rounds Tuesday, demonstrated why they are ranked second in the county, winning three individual titles and finishing with 179.5 points to win the tournament.

“Coming back from 19th place after the first round, our guys really stepped it up,” Stewart said. “I’m very happy with the team. Individually, we weren’t seeded as high as we would have liked and that had me worried.”

St. Louis of Hawaii finished second with 175 points, Dana Hills was third (155) and Loara finished fifth (129).

Tommy Peralta, ranked second in the county at 112 pounds, upset top-ranked Josh Galvan of Loara in the final, 6-4.

Another Villa Park wrestler, senior Doug Yadon, followed with a 10-6 victory at 119 pounds over Zeke Trevino of Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe.

Yadon’s two victories were particularly noteworthy. His semifinal opponent was second-seeded James Lee, a two-time Hawaii state champion. And Trevino is ranked fourth in the state and the defending Southern Section Division II champion.

“I didn’t even think about it,” said Yadon, seeded third Wednesday and top-ranked in the county at 119. “I just wanted to wrestle. And it looks like all that hard work during the off-season is paying off.”

Willie Parks capped the Spartans’ gold-medal performances with an easy 8-4 victory over Tim Pollard of Victorville Victor Valley in the final at 152 pounds.

Dana Hills was the surprise of the tournament, winning two individual titles: Risto Marttinen at 135 pounds and Sohail Abrahim at 140.

Loara’s Orlando Galvan won the gold at 103 pounds, and Danny Pierro of El Dorado , who’s unranked in the county, beat second-seeded Fernando Magana of Loara, 4-1, at 171.

Robert Antenore of Irvine won the 125-pound championship. Antenore’s two-day tally of four pins and one major earned him the tournament’s most valuable wrestler award MVP of for the lower weights.