German Gets a Grip on Life

Willy German of San Fernando High left his father behind when he and his mother, Yvette, came to the United States from the Dominican Republic.

He doesn’t remember much. He was only 6 years old.

But he does remember a love for contact.

“I like slamming people,” said German, a sophomore.

German started wrestling at the San Fernando Boys and Girls Club, participating in a program run by his stepfather, John Paez, a former San Fernando wrestler and football player.

Paez and San Fernando Coach Mike Castillo, a volunteer at the club, were impressed immediately with German.

“When he was 6 years old, he was tough,” Castillo said. “The Willy I knew then was a lot meaner than this guy. When he was a little kid, he had a lot of fire in him. He’s a little mellower now.”

German, a 160-pounder who won the City Section 145-pound title last season, is 15-3 despite competing in the 171- and 189-pound classes for most of the season. His only losses are to unbeaten Chris Rueckert of Royal and Britt Mooney of Bakersfield East.

Mooney, 25-0 with 20 pins, is the only opponent who has pinned German this season.

“In the last 27 seconds, I shot a double and he caught me,” German said.

It was a rare lapse for German, who likes to counter instead of attack. No matter how much he’s tossed around, he utilizes superb balance to stay on his feet, earning the nickname “The Cat” by his teammates.

Previously undefeated Josh Roepke of Granada Hills, who had pinned 19 consecutive opponents, tried to pin German in the final of the San Fernando tournament last week. German countered with three takedowns before pinning a vulnerable Roepke in 3:08.

“I’m basically defense,” German said. “I don’t have much offense. That’s just the style I wrestle. I’ve never been offensive.”

During football season, German was called up to the varsity late in the season and rushed for 174 yards in 22 carries.

Last season, he started wrestling in unspectacular fashion but avenged a defeat to Moshe Levi of El Camino Real to win the City title.

“He’s probably going to surpass everybody in the past [at San Fernando] as far as potential,” Castillo said. “He’s our best product so far. He has good mat sense. He has the size and speed, and he has the wrestling knowledge.”

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Quartz Hill, ranked No. 5 in the region by The Times, will try to snap No. 2 Highland’s string of seven consecutive Golden League titles tonight when the Rebels (23-1, 3-0 in league meets) host the Bulldogs (30-3-1, 3-0) at 7 p.m.

Highland defeated the Rebels, 50-28, earlier this season in the Quartz Hill tournament.

Highland was clinging to a 20-16 lead entering the 171-pound bout, but Jack Higgins of the Bulldogs survived a near-fall and came back to defeat Mario Oggs.

Quartz Hill never recovered.

“He had [Higgins] stuck real good and the ref would never call it,” assistant Mike Newling of Quartz Hill said. “Oggs had his guy pinned and it was kind of obvious to me. The score doesn’t indicate how close the match was.”

A pivotal matchup tonight will involve Highland’s Tony Callahan and Quartz Hill’s Ben Williams at 215 pounds. Williams put Callahan on his back and was close to a pin at the Quartz Hill tournament, but Callahan rallied to pin Williams.

The Rebels, led by seniors Patrick Wood (140) and Dustin Wyly (145) and junior Christopher Newling (152), are strong in the middle of the lineup. Wood (24-6) qualified for the Southern Section Masters meet last season.

Quartz Hill also has punch at the top and bottom of the order. Steve Jones (112) is 19-8, Sam Anderson (189) is 25-6 and Oggs is 28-6.

Highland is 38-0 in league matches since joining the Golden League in 1993.

Quartz Hill last won the title in 1992, the last of 10 consecutive championships for former coach Del King, now a Highland assistant.

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Coach Mike Young of Highland said Higgins, a senior, will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a concussion while snowboarding during the holiday break.

Higgins was 20-5 with 14 pins.

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Top-ranked Ventura has had plenty of experienced role models during practice this season.

Cristobal Gonzalez, John Smithson, Delfino Ochoa and Trevor Clocherty have dropped in on workouts.

Gonzalez was a state champion for the Cougars in 1998 and Smithson won a state title for Hueneme in 1976. Clocherty was fourth in the state for Ventura last season and Ochoa was a two-time state champion at Moorpark College.

“Some of them just want to get a workout and it’s OK as long as they don’t tear up the kids,” co-Coach Paul Clementi said. “It almost gets to the point where we have to let our kids wrestle before we let these old has-beens on the mat.”

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Coaches have different motives when scheduling. Some seek tough competition and others resign themselves to local tournaments to avoid long trips.

But Coach Dennis Ritterbush of Agoura has a different theory. He wants variety for his athletes.

“I tend not to put my kids in local tournaments,” Ritterbush said. “I had one kid who wrestled the same kid from Thousand Oaks seven times. It gets discouraging losing to the same kid over and over.”

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Hueneme, which has only two seniors, gave No. 5 Rio Mesa a scare last week before falling, 34-31, in a Pacific View South League meet.

The Vikings, a bottom dweller before Coach Juan Flores took over five years ago, could have qualified for the Southern Section Division IV playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

“I’m very happy,” Flores said. “We’re very young and we have a lot of heart. If we keep our grades up, we are going to be very good next year.”

Freshman Jonathan Graves (103), in his first season of wrestling, is 25-17 in varsity and junior varsity competition and junior Ramiro Ruiz (215) is 27-6 and among the region’s best in his class.

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The Top 10

Rankings of region wrestling teams

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

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