Home Is Where Success Is for Rosemead

It wasn’t the Reno Tournament of Champions, the state meet or Five Counties, but Rosemead’s victory Saturday in their tournament still was impressive.

In a field of 50 teams, including five ranked in The Times’ Southland Top 10, the Panthers showed they are no pussycats. They scored 220 points for a 15-point victory over Laguna Hills. Villa Park and Alhambra tied for third, 42 points behind Rosemead.

Manuel Riveda (112 pounds) and Steve Davis (135) won their weight classes and were among the seven Rosemead wrestlers that placed in the tournament. It was the first time since 1987 that Rosemead has won its tournament.

“As tough as the tournament was this year, this is a good win for the team,” Rosemead Coach Louie Madrigal said. “But I think our capabilities are even better than this. We’re not going to be satisfied with just this.”

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Playing in pain: Nick Diaz of Villa Park, a state qualifier last season, finished seventh last week at the El Dorado tournament, but redeemed himself by winning the 152-pound division at Rosemead.

What’s more impressive is that Diaz, who pinned Jake Rohrbacher of Ayala in the Rosemead final, is wrestling with a severed anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus in his left knee. Diaz had surgery on the leg in August, but re-injured it just before the season. He chose to risk wrestling on it instead of a second surgery because he didn’t want to miss his senior year.

“I can’t injure it any more than it already is,” Diaz said. “I thought it would bother me, but it really doesn’t. It feels like a normal leg. When my opponents attack it, it doesn’t bother me.”

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Outstanding: Andrew Gonzales of Ventura Buena made a name for himself in the heavyweight division of the Rosemead tournament. Gonzales was seeded fifth, but had five pins en route to winning the tournament title.

Two of those pins came in less than a minute, he pinned top-seeded David Hazell of West Torrance in 3:50 in the semifinals and won the final by pinning Jerrod Simpson of Laguna Hills in 2:33. Gonzales was named outstanding wrestler for the upper weights.

Angel Wong of Santa Fe, the 103-pound champion, was outstanding wrestler for lower weights. Wong won twice by fall and twice by technical fall.

Buck Barger of Villa Park also was impressive at 145 pounds. Barger, wrestling up a weight class, pinned three opponents, including one in 10 seconds, and won the final with a 17-0 technical fall.

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Looking ahead: The Reno Tournament of Champions, the top high school tournament in the nation, takes place Friday and Saturday at the Livestock Center in Reno.

Calvary Chapel, the defending team champion, will join Temecula Valley, Villa Park and Arroyo Grande as Southern California representatives in the national 75-team tournament.