Virginia Tournament Serves Dual Purpose for Calvary Chapel

The way Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo sees it, if you want to wrestle the best, you have to be willing to travel.

Which is what the Eagles have done. They begin competing today in the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.

“It’s fun for the kids to go on these traveling trips,” Azevedo said. “But more importantly, it gives us the chance to compete against the top schools in the nation.”

Calvary Chapel enters the tournament as the top-seeded team in the national division, a 16-team bracket made up of some of the best wrestling teams in the country.

“It’s by far the toughest dual-meet tournament in the nation,” said Frank Lipoli, media director of the Virginia Duals. “In the national division, we have 56 nationally ranked wrestlers competing, so this is the place you want to test your mettle.”

Three weeks ago the Eagles wrestled in the Reno Invitational, which many coaches consider one of the nation’s top team tournaments.

Calvary Chapel took third in Reno.

“We’re excited to have Calvary Chapel here,” Lipoli said. “They have a lot of talent and respect from the other schools that are here.”

There are two other divisions: The American (16 teams) and the Black and Blue (12 teams).

“The American division would be considered a tough bracket, so you can imagine how tough the national division is,” Lipoli said. “Parkland (Pa.) High is the defending champion, they were ranked sixth in the nation last year, and they’re seeded eighth.”

The Virginia Duals started in 1981 with four high schools in the field. Today, 44 are entered.

Calvary Chapel is ranked No. 1 in California and ninth in the nation. The Eagles face North Stafford (Va.) today in the first round. Great Bridge (Va.) is seeded second and is ranked 10th in the nation.

“We have a good team this year,” Azevedo said. “Tournaments like this are great for getting us ready for the big matches in California.”

AND BABY MAKES TWO?

Before the start of the El Modena-Villa Park match Wednesday night, El Modena Coach Alan Clinton said he was hoping for a second good thing to happen to him.

Clinton’s first good thing? His wife, Leslie, gave birth to their daughter Wednesday afternoon.

“Her name is Anna,” said Clinton, who hoped that the birth might be a good sign going into the dual meet with Villa Park.

However, Villa Park defeated the Vanguards by three points.

Clinton was still upbeat after the loss.

“I’m spending the night at the hospital,” he said. “Then I’m off to Arizona for the Peoria tournament.”

CENTURY LEAGUE TITLE

Although Villa Park vs. El Modena was the teams’ league opener, Clinton and Villa Park Coach Steve Stewart agreed that the winner would essentially be the Century League champion.

“This is the match that settles the title,” Villa Park assistant coach Rich Zele said before the match. “It’s always a tough match because there’s so much on the line.”

SIMPSON RANKED

According to the National High School Coaches Assn. poll for Dec. 12, 1999, the only Orange County wrestler ranked nationally is senior Michael Simpson of Brethren Christian.

The poll, which includes only the top eight in each weight class, is released every month.

Simpson, who’s ranked seventh, wrestles at 125 pounds and is the defending state champion.

Besides Simpson, only four other California wrestlers are ranked in the national poll: Jake Barwis (103) of Shingle Springs Ponderosa, Jason Moreno (112) of Firebaugh, Chris Pendleton (140) of Lemoore and Brody Barrios (152) of Poway.

Simpson is ranked first in the state.

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