Final Match Gives Villa Park the Edge

It wasn’t supposed to come down to the last match.

At least that’s what Villa Park’s Jose Benton thought before the Spartans took on El Modena in a Century League wrestling meet Wednesday night.

But what started out as a Villa Park rout, with the Spartans winning the first three matches, ended with heavyweight Benton pinning El Modena’s Jeff Rowe to give second-ranked Villa Park a 33-30 victory at No. 6 El Modena.

“I really didn’t think I would settle this,” said Benton, noting that this was the first time his match has decided a dual meet. “Coach told me to do it for the team.”

Benton, ranked third in the county in just his second year of wrestling, said it was a little intimidating with the large crowd and the noise.

“I was really nervous,” Benton said. “But I knew what I had to do.”

Villa Park, with perhaps the strongest team in its history, broke an 18-year losing streak against the Vanguards.

Villa Park Coach Steve Stewart was counting on the win, but didn’t expect it to come down to the last match.

“[El Modena] Coach Alan Clinton always has his team ready,” Stewart said. “And when you wrestle here, you can never count on anything.”

Villa Park got strong performances from Tommy Peralta (119 pounds), who had a pin, and from Doug Yadon (130) and Willie Parks (160), who both scored technical falls.

For Peralta and Yadon, Villa Park’s win was special.

“I remember when we were on the bus last year, after we lost, and some El Modena wrestlers walked by and said some things to us,” Peralta said. “And I remember saying to myself, ‘Next year.’ ”

Said Yadon: “The coach didn’t really tell us anything before the match. We all knew what we had to do. And everybody was looking forward to wrestling El Modena again.”

In the Sea View League:

Irvine 61, Newport Harbor 3--Chris Clark earned a 12-7 decision over Michael Snyder at 189 pounds to lead Irvine. Mark Greenwood pinned his opponent in 3 minutes 18 seconds for Irvine.