They Are King-Pins of Highland
Move the furniture into the garage and hide the goldfish.
That would be sound advice if brothers Jon and Jeremy King are invited over for dinner.
Jon, Golden League champion at 160 pounds for Highland High, and Jeremy, a wrestling official, will grapple with each other at a moment’s notice.
They’ve broken chairs and tables as their parents, Betty and Del, scramble to get out of the way.
“They start roughhousing and they start rolling around, and things get broken in a hurry,” Del said.
Even their hobbies aren’t passive. Both have an interest in salt-water aquariums. Jeremy has a 300-gallon tank and has owned a shark and other carnivorous marine life.
Since Jon still lives with his parents, his fish have to be a little tamer.
“Betty went and saw one of Jeremy’s fish in action and she wouldn’t go for it,” Del said. “Jonathan’s fish are a little bit more docile and cuter.”
The horseplay and the hobby are examples of how brothers 10 years apart in age can maintain a close relationship.
“You can never tell when they’re together that they’re 10 years apart,” Del said. “They’re much more than best friends.”
Sports, wrestling in particular, have kept the family together.
Del coached Quartz Hill to 10 consecutive Golden League wrestling titles before leaving to become a wrestling and football assistant at Highland in 1993.
Jeremy, 27, graduated in 1990 from Quartz Hill, where he competed in football, basketball and track and field. Four years ago, Del encouraged Jeremy, who has been around wrestling since he was 2, to start officiating.
At a tournament, it’s not unusual to see Jeremy officiating on one mat while Del is coaching Jon on another.
Jon also plays football and baseball at Highland.
However, Jeremy and Jon never seem too busy to tangle despite a considerable size advantage for Jeremy, who is 6 feet 5 and 260 pounds. Jon is 6-2.
“He always wants to get squirrelly with me,” Jeremy said. “But I have a 100 pounds on him, so he knows who’s the boss.”
Said Jon: “When I was little and I couldn’t defend myself, he used to tie me up. Now I can hang in there and I can probably beat him two out of every 10 times. But I know if I get too rowdy he would knock me out.”
Del isn’t left out, but it’s getting more difficult to keep up with Jon, who is the youngest of four siblings.
“We’ll even compete at darts,” Del said. “Jon is almost able to beat me, but I’ll cheat for a while if I have to.”
Since Jon is a senior, life at the King house might slow down soon. Jon plans to go on a two-year Mormon mission.
That might finally free his parents from a busy schedule of wrestling, football and baseball.
“We’ll be able to finally buy some good furniture,” Del said.
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Sophomore Joaquim Real of Ventura had no wrestling experience before high school, but his accomplishments as an age-group rodeo contestant have been useful.
“The first time we saw him wrestle, the aggressiveness was amazing,” said co-Coach Paul Clementi of Ventura. “He picked a kid up, and in mid-air he put a half nelson on him. I said, Joaquim, where did you learn that? And he said, ‘It’s just like wrestling a calf.’ ”
Real is 20-9 this season at 140 pounds and his aggressive style has cost him some matches. However, Clementi is excited about Real’s potential.
“He’s so raw,” Clementi said. “You could never teach him how to stall. He’s nonstop, full-speed ahead. With that, he makes some mistakes because he’s so aggressive, but that’s one thing you would never want to take away from a wrestler.”
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First-year Coach Ken Jackson of Granada Hills is well-traveled.
Jackson, who grew up in Richmond, Va., was a linguist in the military and has wrestled in Japan and Korea. During the Gulf War, he was reactivated and later started a wrestling program at Seaside High.
Now he has settled at Granada Hills as a walk-on coach. He served as a Highlander assistant for three seasons before taking over for former coach Bill Lake.
Jackson is a pastor at Rugged Cross Church in Pacoima.
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Ask Coach Mike Castillo of San Fernando for change and you might get a history lesson as well.
Castillo is an avid coin collector and has a particular interest in coins from the Civil War. An aunt got Castillo interested in the hobby when he was in junior high.
Included in Castillo’s collection are coins minted from copper straps used to hold together gunpowder barrels during the American Revolution.
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San Fernando has never won the City Section dual-meet title, placing second the last three years behind El Camino Real.
But the Tigers’ streak of runner-up finishes might be coming to an end.
Led by sophomores Ramon Perry (135 pounds), Joseph Michel (112) and Willy German (160), San Fernando defeated No. 2-ranked El Camino Real in a dual meet last week and is seeded No. 1 for the one-day City tournament at 4 p.m. Thursday at El Camino Real.
The Tigers lost by a point in the 1997 final and were two points shy in 1998. San Fernando has been equally frustrated in the City individual tournament.
El Camino Real has won three consecutive individual tournament titles and nine of the last 14. In 1997, San Fernando finished 4 1/2 points behind the Conquistadores and was four points short in 1998.
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Tony Callahan, 215-pounder at Highland who is 41-7, is a National Merit Scholarship finalist.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
The Top 10
Rankings of region wrestling teams
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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Highland (Golden) 2 7 San Fernando (City) 3 2 El Camino Real (City) 4 3 Ventura (Pacific View North) 5 4 Camarillo (Pacific View South) 6 6 Quartz Hill (Golden) 7 5 Rio Mesa (Pacific View South) 8 8 Agoura (Marmonte) 9 9 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 10 10 Alemany (Frontier)
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