Teams Vie for Dual-Meet Titles

High school wrestlers aim toward winning individual state titles March 5-6 at University of the Pacific in Stockton.

But the emphasis will be on teamwork Saturday for seven regional schools entered in the Southern Section dual-meet championships.

Ventura (4-0 in the Channel League) will compete in the Division I meet at Temecula Valley High. Ventura wrestles against Magnolia at 10 a.m. There are five divisions of 16 teams.

Ventura won the Division I dual-meet title in 1992, the inaugural season of the dual-meet championships.

Thousand Oaks, the Marmonte League champion, and Simi Valley, the Marmonte runner-up, will compete in the Division III meet at Loara High in Anaheim.

Thousand Oaks (7-0), winner of 13 consecutive league dual meets, will open against Huntington Beach Marina. Simi Valley, which lost only to Thousand Oaks in league competition, wrestles against West Torrance, the Bay League champion.

Highland, Hueneme and Palmdale are entered in the Division IV meet at Laguna Hills. Alemany, the Frontier League champion, will compete in the Division V meet at Atascadero.

Highland, seven-time Golden League champion, appears to have the best chance of winning a title among the region’s entries. The Bulldogs were Division IV dual-meet and individual champions in 1997 after three consecutive seasons as dual-meet runners-up. Highland opens against Etiwanda, an at-large entry.

Hueneme, which defeated Rio Mesa to claim first in the fledgling Pacific View League, wrestles against Garden Grove Santiago. Palmdale, at-large entry from the Golden League, opens against top-seeded Laguna Hills, the Pacific Coast League champion.

Alemany, which defeated Calabasas for the league title in the season finale, wrestles against at-large entry Fullerton Troy.

Southern Section individual finals are scheduled for Feb. 20. The Southern Section Masters Meet, the qualifying meet for the state tournament, is scheduled for Feb. 26-27 at Fountain Valley.

The Masters matches the top competitors among five divisions.

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The City Section will hold its dual-meet championships Thursday at El Camino Real, with six of the City’s 10 teams participating.

El Camino Real will attempt to win a second consecutive dual-meet title. San Fernando, Monroe, Bell, University and Garfield also are entered.

The City individual finals, the qualifying meet for the state finals at Stockton, is Feb. 27 at Monroe.

El Camino Real was defeated last season by San Fernando during the regular season but defeated the Tigers for the dual-meet championship.