Hawks Fight Off Irvine for Title

Woodbridge, Aliso Niguel and Newport Harbor were in attendance at the Sea View League wrestling tournament Saturday at Woodbridge High, but sometimes it was tough to tell.

Most of the championship finals were between wrestlers from defending league champion Irvine and Laguna Hills. And unlike last week, when the Hawks easily defeated the Vaqueros in a dual meet, it was decided in the last match--although Laguna Hills won again.

Irvine needed a pin by heavyweight Josh Worthington to win the league title. Worthington charged Laguna Hills’ Brandon Hobbs, but could not get him to his back. Worthington won, 5-2, but Laguna Hills won the tournament, 205 points to Irvine’s 204.

Woodbridge was third with 110, Aliso Niguel was fourth (52) and Newport Harbor fifth (28).

Laguna Hills, which joined the Sea View League this school year, stopped the Vaqueros’ seven-year run of league titles.

It was a tough defeat for Irvine, which trailed by 40 points after the semifinals.

“Give Irvine a lot of credit,” Hawk Coach Cliff Jarmie said. “They came back and they almost got us.”

Laguna Hills had 13 finalists in the 14 weight classes. The Hawks’ Keith Romero (103), Bryan Weber (130), Ian Harris (135) and Dustin Ashe-Everett (152) won league titles.

Irvine had seven champions out of 10 finalists. The Vaquero champions were: Ali Martin (112), Robert Antenore (125), Mark Greenwood (140), Joe Cobo (145), Wyatt Howard (160), Chris Clark (171) and Worthington.