Guillotine Nothing to Lose One’s Head Over

Pain is an accepted part of high school wrestling. But spectators, who are often unfamiliar with the moves and maneuvers, can be disturbed by what they see on the mat.

That could explain why a teenage boy rushed from the stands Saturday during the Frontier League finals and punched Alemany wrestler Marcos Herrera.

Herrera, who was competing in a 152-pound preliminary bout, had his opponent, Evan Goldsen of Calabasas, in a legal hold called the guillotine when he was attacked by the boy, who apparently feared that Goldsen, a relative, had been injured.

The teenager was taken into custody by police and later released to his parents. After a 30-minute delay, the match continued and Herrera, who went on to win the league title, won a 17-2 decision over Goldsen.

“With football and baseball, the public has a little more of an understanding,” said Todd Stoke, wrestling coach at Rio Mesa. “In wrestling, you get parents who don’t understand what’s going on and they overreact. A lot of times that comes from a lack of understanding of what’s going on out there.”

Many coaches in the region agree the guillotine hold can be painful. However, many maneuvers can be “potentially dangerous” and a match can be halted by the official if a wrestler appears in jeopardy.

A wrestler using the guillotine hold wraps one leg around an opponent’s leg from the top position and then grabs the arm on the opposite side.

Twisting is involved and the top wrestler attempts to score points by driving the shoulder blades of his opponent to the mat.

Rarely is a pin recorded from the guillotine and Herrera had scored on a near fall with the maneuver when he was struck by the spectator. An official will not award near-fall points until a wrestler is let off his back or until the end of a period.

“The only danger is if you take the arm backward,” Highland Coach Mike Young said. “The referee will usually break [the action] as potentially dangerous and the match will restart from the neutral position.”

“I’ve never seen a wrestler badly hurt in that hold,” Stoke said. “It’s painful, but I can’t remember anyone being carried off the mat or being helped off the mat. I don’t think it’s the most dangerous hold there is. It’s a good move to score points with.”

Wrestlers occasionally are too rough with opponents. Sometimes there is a disqualification when an injured wrestler is unable to continue. Only an injury from an illegal hold will result in a disqualification.

Most coaches agree that the officiating at high school matches is thorough and the safety of the athletes is a priority.

“Modern wrestling is so protective,” El Camino Real Coach Terry Fischer said. “It’s designed to protect the kids. I’ve been in wrestling my entire life and I’ve seen more serious injuries in cheerleading.”

Some coaches, however, are concerned that some moves shouldn’t be taught to novice wrestlers.

“You have to execute [the guillotine] slowly,” said first-year Coach Ken Jackson of Granada Hills. “You can’t rush it or you can pop the shoulder out. The referee has to know that you know how to use it.”

Herrera, a junior, is an experienced wrestler. His three older brothers also wrestled at Alemany and he has spent most of his life around wrestling mats.

He also knows how to use the guillotine.

“I know Marcos likes that move,” Alemany Coach Lou Carmona said. “It hurts if you resist it, but you can’t really get pinned by it. You can tell if someone is hurting and no one wants to lose the near-fall points. I told him to let [Goldsen] back up and score the points.

“The referee was all over it and he was the most experienced referee in the gym.”

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Granada Hills forfeited a dual meet with El Camino Real last week because of a scheduling mistake.

According to Fischer, Granada Hills exceeded the limit of dual meets and opted to forfeit its nonleague match against El Camino Real rather than a City League match against University this Thursday.

Fischer wasn’t complaining. El Camino Real, which competes in the Valley League, had semester finals last week and Fischer was able to attend a Marmonte League dual meet between Royal and host Simi Valley, his alma mater. The teams battled to a 34-34 tie.

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While San Fernando and El Camino Real continue to maintain strong programs, the improvement of Birmingham and Granada Hills and the success of Arthur Bryan, a 215-pounder for Monroe, have contributed to the improving reputation of City Section wrestling.

“When I coached in the San Joaquin Section, if we drew a City Section kid in the State meet we celebrated,” Jackson said. “Now the City Section can compete. You’re going to see more and more City Section kids make it to the second day of the State tournament.”

Under Jackson, several Granada Hills wrestlers have prospered. Josh Roepke (160 pounds) is 20-2 and sophomore Rhett Whittaker (135) is 17-4. Michelle Pallan (103) is 13-13 while competing mostly against boys.

Birmingham, under first-year Coach Amir Sarbaz, is in contention for a dual-meet playoff berth.

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Granada Hills will honor former coach Bill Lake prior to its home dual meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against University. Lake, an assistant for the Highlander football team, stepped down as wrestling coach after last season.

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Luis Reyes of Channel Islands was selected most valuable wrestler in the lower weights in the Pacific South League finals at Hueneme last weekend.

Reyes, a sophomore, won the 112-pound title.

Stoke had his nerves tested in a pair of bouts involving Rio Mesa wrestlers.

In the heavyweight bout, Josh Ferrell took Camarillo’s Mike Kohr into two overtimes before losing a 3-2 decision, and Scott Speakman used an escape with two seconds left to defeat Isaac Medina of Camarillo, 6-5, in the 140-pound match.

“My heart isn’t what it used to be,” Stoke said.

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The Top 10

Rankings of region wrestling teams

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Highland (Golden) 2 2 El Camino Real (City) 3 3 Ventura (Pacific View North) 4 4 Camarillo (Pacific View South) 5 5 Rio Mesa (Pacific View South) 6 6 Quartz Hill (Pacific View South) 7 7 San Fernando (City) 8 8 Agoura (Marmonte) 9 9 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 10 10 Alemany (Frontier)

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