Villa Park Still Winning Despite Big Loss

Doug Yadon figured he would end his senior year at Villa Park High with teammate Willie Parks, who, like Yadon, started wrestling his freshman year for Spartan Coach Steve Stewart.

Both had excelled under Stewart’s tutelage. Parks just missed placing at the state meet last year, won a Century League championship and finished fourth at Masters and second at the Southern Section Division I finals.

Yadon, who competed at 119 pounds, also won a league title, finished fifth at Masters and qualified for the state finals.

But Yadon’s senior plans came to an abrupt end last summer when Parks announced his transfer to Calvary Chapel, where he’s now a starter at 171 pounds.

“Sure it hurt us when he left, but I guess we all kind of knew it was going to happen,” said Yadon, who is ranked first in the county at 125 pounds. “He was hanging out with the Calvary Chapel guys, was talking to them about going there, and he had talked about it to us. But I don’t want to dwell on it. He’s gone, and we’ve moved on as a team.”

In fact, Villa Park seems to be doing just fine. Ranked fourth in the county, the Spartans had impressive showings at the Andrew Pena Memorial tournament last weekend, when they finished second to Corona Centennial, and against Century League rival El Modena last week, a meet they won, 34-26.

“We seem more focused as a team,” Yadon said. “Everybody is pulling together and working hard in the gym, and they all want to do their best.”

Said Stewart: “Doug has really stepped up as a leader. He’s not one of those kids who came from a club background. He learned this sport as a freshman, and he’s worked for everything he’s achieved. He’s one of the best wrestlers I’ve ever coached.”

Besides attending a wrestling camp last summer in Bakersfield, Yadon competed for two weeks in Germany, where he won the Deutsche International Open at 125 pounds.

“That was a great learning experience for me,” he said. “I was wrestling guys who were 20 years old. There were guys from all over the world. That was the first time I was ever out of the country.”

And although Parks’ departure left a void in the team, Georgia transfer Travis Featherstone has been able to fill it.

Featherstone, who wrestles at 103 pounds, took fourth in the Georgia state finals last year as a freshman. Ranked third in the county, he contributed to the victory over El Modena with a pin of Joel Tardie. At the Andrew Pena tournament, he won the 103-pound title.

WEEKEND UPDATE

Technically, Calvary Chapel’s 34-27 defeat at Bakersfield on Friday resulted from losing the last match of the meet. But after losing the first four matches, the Eagles were behind 16-0.

While Steve Esparza gained some ground with a pin in the 125-pound match, Bakersfield countered with four more wins. Victories by Willie Parks (171), Conan Williams (189) and Justin Boulais (215) was almost enough to give the Eagles the edge, but Bakersfield heavyweight Lorenzo Valdovinos proved too much for sophomore Mike Crete, who was pinned in 1 minute 47 seconds.

Bakersfield, which was ranked second in the state, is now No. 1; the Eagles drop to No. 2.

LOOKING AHEAD

The 43-team Holiday Classic at Santa Ana College will feature all but two of the county’s top 10 teams. The tournament starts at 10 a.m. Friday and the championship finals begin at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Top-ranked Calvary Chapel and No. 4 Villa Park will be at the Reno tournament Friday and Saturday.

If you have an item or idea for the high school wrestling report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at erik.hamilton@latimes.com

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WRESTLING TOP 10

Orange County Coaches’ Poll

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Pos. School (League) 1. Calvary Chapel (Olympic) 2. Santa Ana (Golden West) 3. El Dorado (Empire) 4. Villa Park (Century) 5. El Modena (Century) 6. Dana Hills (South Coast) 7. Loara (Empire) 8. Laguna Hills (Sea View) 9. San Clemente (South Coast) 10. Irvine (Sea View)

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Individual Rankings

103--1. Estrada (Calvary Chapel); 2. Guzman (Santa Ana); 3. Featherstone (Villa Park). 112--1. O. Galvan (Loara); 2. Rodriguez (Calvary Chapel); 3. Chavez (Magnolia). 119--1. J. Galvan (Loara); 2. Silvar (Santa Ana); 3. Angulo (Villa Park). 125--1. Yadon (Villa Park); 2. Jackson (Calvary Chapel); 3. Santellan (Magnolia). 130--1. Esparza (Calvary Chapel); 2. Wimmer (Marina); 3. Perez (Dana Hills). 135--1. Gill (Calvary Chapel); 2. Cadawallader (Brethren Christian); 3. Keene (Mission Viejo). 140--1. Barger (Villa Park); 2. Aguilar (Mater Dei); 3. Jaimes (Santa Ana). 145--1. LaMay (Capistrano Valley); 2. Dubois (El Dorado); 3. Becerra (Santa Ana). 152--1. Richmond (Kennedy); 2. Serna (Santa Ana); 3. Finch (Loara). 160--1. Avalos (Santa Ana); 2. J. Williams (Calvary Chapel); 3. Hacker (Corona del Mar). 171--Gamboa (University); 2. Becerra (Santa Ana); 3. Blair (Dana Hills); 189--1. W. Parks (Villa Park); 2. Howard (Santa Ana); 3. Oskins (Foothill). 215--1. Boulais (Calvary Chapel); 2. Ulerich (Capistrano Valley); 3. Montano (El Dorado). HEAVYWEIGHT--1. Arvizo (Santa Ana); 2. Curtis (El Dorado); 3. Suen (Kennedy).