Santa Ana Continues Postseason Domination

It almost seemed too easy Saturday as Santa Ana wrestled its way to a Southern Section Division II championship and placed 11 wrestlers in Friday’s Masters meet.

The Saints, who qualified their entire squad of 14 two weeks ago at the Golden West League finals, ended the two-day meet at Canyon Springs High in Moreno Valley with 242.5 points and three division champions.

“It’s been a team effort all year long,” Santa Ana Coach Scott Glabb said. “This is the tightest group of kids I’ve ever coached. There’s a lot of camaraderie on this team. They hang out together and they honestly care about each other. You’re not alone when you’re out there on the mat.”

Covina Northview (125 points) was second and Chino Hills Ayala (113.5) was third.

Jose Najera won gold first for Santa Ana when he pinned Berhane Woldai of Moreno Valley in the last second of the 112-pound final. It was the second division title for Najera, a senior who is one of the team captains.

“I looked at the score just before the clock ran out and I said to myself I need to pin this guy,” Najera said with a grin. He was leading by 12 points. “Now it’s on to Masters, and I have my eyes on winning my weight class.”

Jose Leon, a senior who was named the most valuable wrestler in the lower weights, followed Najera with a 26-11 technical fall over Rick Guzman of Covina Northview at 119 pounds. It too was Leon’s second division title.

Alex Becerra, whose takedown in the last seconds to beat Joe Crilly of Temescal Canyon, 7-6, at 189 pounds, was the other Santa Ana champion.

Santa Ana’s 215-pounder Ed Astudillo finished second, losing to Diamond Bar’s Blake Lobel, 8-7.

Tol Sonetra of Trabuco Hills defeated Santa Ana’s Gilbert Melendez, 11-9, in the 125-pound final.

Other county wrestlers to win championships were Jeremy Pricer of Mater Dei, who beat Steve Robles of Canyon Springs, 5-2, at 135 pounds and Grant Entsminger of Dana Hills, who beat Ethan Kass of Lake Elsinore by fall in 6:00 at 171.

Andrew Donaldson (130) of Capistrano Valley, Art Rea of Saddleback (152), Joshua Jarrett of El Toro (160) and Irvine heavyweight Josh Worthington finished second.

In addition to the championship finalists, 26 wrestlers from the county advanced to the Masters meet, Friday at Fountain Valley High.