Calvary Chapel’s Title Streak Ends

Calvary Chapel’s run of Southern Section dual meet wrestling championships ended Saturday.

The Eagles were denied a seventh consecutive title--their fifth in Division I--by a hungry and energetic host Temecula Valley, which won, 36-31.

Tony Berg’s pin of Calvary Chapel’s Peter Mosley at 189 pounds was the deciding match for Temecula Valley, which had won the last four Division II championships before moving to Division I this season.

The win was particularly sweet for Bear Coach Arnold Alpert whose teams had lost to Calvary Chapel in three previous dual meets, including once this season.

“The big picture is they still have gotten us three out of four times,” Alpert said. “They are a great program with a great coach in John Azevedo. But tonight was our night. This time the magic was with us.”

Azevedo, whose young team had lost only one dual meet this year (to Santa Ana), had nothing but praise for Temecula Valley.

“They wrestled very tough,” Azevedo said. “They were in better shape than the first time we wrestled. And they also won the key matches that could have gone either way.”

Both coaches agreed those were the 103-and 145-pound matches. Tyler Moran got the Bears off to a good start at 103 pounds, beating Anthony Archuleta, 5-1. Temecula Valley’s Patrick Meredith edged Conan Williams, 5-4, at 145 pounds.

“Ten days ago Meredith was getting shut out [10-0] in the Canyon Springs tournament,” Alpert said. “His win was huge.”

Calvary Chapel had its moments. Steve Esparza won at 119 pounds and Adam Bones won at 125. Adam Benitez pinned Temecula Valley’s Brett Roberts at 135 and Mike Porter, who might have been the Eagles’ best wrestler Saturday, pinned Zach Weir at 171 pounds.

Porter’s win gave Calvary Chapel its last lead, 25-24. But Berg gave the Bears the final edge before the teams exchanged default victories in the 215-pound and heavyweight divisions.

“This will give us all the momentum for the individual championships next week,” Alpert said. “When you win a [section] title it makes practice so much easier.”