Runaway Tran Has Been a Bright Spot for Bulldogs

Buena High wrestling coach Wayne Thomas, despite a 2-17-1 record in dual meets, has at least one reason to be excited this season.

The Bulldogs have one of the region’s top performers in senior Thien Tran.

Tran (20-0 with 17 pins at 119 pounds) was the only local champion in last weekend’s Rio Mesa tournament, which featured strong programs from Idaho, Arizona and Oregon. He also won the Camarillo dual tournament.

“I knew he could win, but now he knows he can win,” Thomas said. “Some of those schools at Rio Mesa were monsters. It was pretty intense competition. He stepped up. The level went up and he went up.”

Tran, who was born in Vietnam, has been wrestling for three years. He has also competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments. Exposure to other wrestling styles has helped Tran perfect body throws which have led to quick pins this season.

Six of Tran’s pins have been in 42 seconds or less, including two falls in 15 seconds.

“The throw is the killer,” Thomas said. “It takes the air out of the opponent. [Tran] has learned that wrestling is not only in the legs.”

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Top-ranked Ventura showed its youth and took a beating during the Rio Mesa tournament.

The Cougars, who have six sophomores in their lineup, went 6-4 and placed seventh out of 17 teams. Blackfoot of Idaho went unbeaten, including a 72-3 thumping of Ventura.

“It was a meat-grinder,” Ventura co-coach Paul Clementi said. “We’ve got a months worth of practicing from the mistakes we made.”

Joaquim Real (140 pounds), David Lopez (160) and Shane Nautu (heavyweight) each placed sixth for Ventura. Jesse Ramos (119) was seventh.

Rio Mesa got runner-up finishes from Caleb Bautista (125) and Scott Speakman (145), and heavyweight Josh Ferrel was third. Buena’s Curt Brown (140) took fourth and Hueneme’s Ramiro Ruiz (215) was fifth.

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Highland coach Mike Young now has 408 victories, which according to the Cal-Hi Sports record book, is an all-time state best.

Young, a San Fernando High graduate, coached at Los Angeles Franklin from 1974-85 and served as an assistant at Palmdale for two seasons before taking over at Highland in 1989.

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Monroe 215-pounder Arthur Bryan, who won 31 of his first 32 matches last year, is off to another fast start.

Bryan, who also competes for the Vikings’ golf team, is 14-0 with 10 pins. Last season, he finished 35-3, including two victories at the state meet.

However, Bryan weighed just over 190 pounds last season, which meant most of his opponents had an advantage in bulk.

But after spending the summer working hard in the weight room, Bryan is tipping the scale close to 215 pounds.

“He’s just grown,” Monroe coach Tom Jones said. “He has aggressively gone after the weights and he’s pumped himself up.”

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Buena is not fielding a full varsity team this year even though the Bulldogs have a complete junior varsity lineup.

Thomas, who has been at the school since 1995, is reluctant to move underclassmen to the varsity even though several juniors who had been with the squad as freshman didn’t come out for the sport.

“I found out that [the varsity level] spooked them,” Thomas said.

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San Fernando’s Willie German, who won the City Section 145-pound title last year as a freshman, is 4-0 in the 171-pound class this season.

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Camarillo hosts an individual tournament December 29. El Camino Real, San Fernando, Royal, Thousand Oaks, Channel Islands, Hueneme, Alemany, and Chaminade are among the schools expected to compete.

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The Top 10

Rankings of region wrestling teams

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Ventura (Pacific View North) 2 2 Highland (Golden) 3 3 El Camino Real (City) 4 4 Simi Valley (Marmonte) 5 5 Camarillo (Pacific View South) 6 6 Quartz Hill (Golden) 7 7 Rio Mesa (Pacific View South) 8 8 San Fernando (City) 9 9 Agoura (Marmonte) 10 10 Royal (Marmonte)

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