Eagles Overpower Santa Ana
In a near repeat of last year’s meeting between top-ranked Calvary Chapel and No. 2 Santa Ana, the Eagles once again pounded the Saints, 45-15, in nonleague wrestling Thursday night at Santa Ana.
Last year, the score was 46-14.
Santa Ana could manage only three wins in the 14 matches wrestled.
The Eagles won the first seven matches to take a 29-0 lead going into the 147-pound match.
Not until Juan Serna, who’s ranked second in Orange County, pinned Chad Jackson in 1 minute 47 seconds did the Saints score their first points.
Even in matches the Saints were favored to win, the Eagles were in charge.
In the 127-pound match between Santa Ana’s Juan Silva and John Jackson, Silva, ranked second in the county and seventh in the state, spent the majority of the time fending off an aggressive Jackson.
Jackson came back from an 8-6 deficit late in the third period to tie the score, 8-8, and put the match into overtime. He got the victory in sudden death when Silva went out of bounds trying to escape.
“That was a big win for us,” Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo said. “He lost to Silva at Five Counties, so that was a good win for Jackson.”
Steve Esparza was the only Calvary Chapel wrestler to record a pin, beating Harold Rubio in 3:05.
Anthony Rodriquez (114 pounds), still nursing a sore elbow, scored a technical fall for the Eagles and teammates Frank Gill (137), Willie Parks (173), Joe Williams (162) and Justin Boulais (217) won by major decision.
The evening’s most anticipated match was at 191 pounds, when top-ranked Conan Williams took on Santa Ana’s Wyatt Howard, who’s ranked second in the county.
The last time the two met was at Five Counties, when Williams pulled out a 5-3 victory.
Williams again beat Howard, 4-1.
In the Freeway League:
Troy 31, Buena Park 30--Daniel Meyer’s pin clinched the league title for Troy (6-1, 5-0).
Buena Park (4-1 in league) closed to within one point at 25-24, but Meyer’s pin at 215 gave the Warriors an insurmountable seven-point lead.
In the Golden West League:
Saddleback 66, Westminster 15--Reyes Padilla (125) and Brandon Ferguson (heavyweight) pinned their opponents for Saddleback (10-2, 3-1).