Yucca Valley Slips Past Highland

Highland High’s chance to win its tournament for the eighth time slipped away in the final bout on Saturday.

Heavyweight Tony Callahan missed in an attempt for a takedown, allowing Troy Carter of Yucca Valley to score in sudden-death overtime and the Trojans defeated the Bulldogs, 33-31, in the championship match.

Callahan, normally Highland’s 215-pounder, moved up in class because Paul Soto was away on a football recruiting trip to Washington State.

Callahan took a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period and was awarded a point when Carter was penalized for illegally locking his hands, tying the bout, 3-3, in the third period.

But when Callahan failed to grasp Carter’s arm for a throw, he fell and Carter slid behind for two points to clinch a 5-3 victory.

“Tony explodes on people and sometimes he makes a mistake,” Coach Mike Young of Highland said. “I don’t have a problem with Tony. We lost with the pins [they had] earlier. They’re a tough team and we came up a little shy.”

Yucca Valley (18-1), defending Southern Section Division V champion, dominated the middle weights, winning five of six bouts from 125 to 152 pounds.

Wes Alleman, at 135 pounds, gave Highland (29-3-1) its only victory during the stretch, pinning Chris Alday in 1:03.

Highland, ranked No. 2 in the region by The Times, won the first three bouts.

Mike Estrada pinned Raul Lopez in seven seconds at 103 and Joey Wilson pinned Ed Redlin in 16 seconds at 112. Jason Howell defeated Lee Redlin, 7-4, at 119.

But Yucca Valley, which did not lead until Carter’s victory, responded with consecutive pins from Aaron Fregedle at 125 and Alvin Robinson at 130.

The Trojans tied the meet, 21-21, when Joe Varga defeated Brad Wolfenstein, 4-1, at 152.

A decision from Jon King at 160 and a pin by Roland Ortiz at 171 gave the Bulldogs a 31-21 lead but Yucca Valley won the final three bouts.

No. 3 El Camino Real finished third and got individual titles from Edward Lemus at 125 and Andreik De Leon at 171.

Arthur Bryan of Monroe at 215, Jared Briggs of Littlerock at 119 and Sergio Santana of Palmdale at 145 also won individual titles.