Injuries, Ineligibility Throw Hueneme for a Quick Fall

Hueneme High won its second Pacific View League wrestling title in three years Saturday, but it hasn’t been an easy season for Coach Juan Flores.

Injuries hampered the Vikings in a dual-meet loss to league rival Rio Mesa and a campus shooting in January forced Flores to withdraw the team from the Highland tournament.

Now ineligibility and more injuries have decimated Hueneme. Flores doesn’t expect to have more than eight wrestlers for the Southern Section Division IV dual-meet tournament Saturday at Workman High in City of Industry.

Three wrestlers, including league runner-up Rufino Giles (103 pounds), are academically ineligible. Epi Gonzalez (189) is out because of a separated shoulder and league champions Juan Albarran (135) and Ramiro Ruiz (215) are questionable because of injuries.

Albarran has a knee injury. Ruiz broke a tooth against Mike Dominguez of Rio Mesa at the league championships Saturday.

“[Ruiz] hasn’t practiced all week,” Flores said. “He’s gone straight home.”

Ruiz, a senior, was 26-3 and a strong favorite to place high in the Southern Section Division IV individual tournament next week.

He placed fifth in Division IV last season, one spot short of qualifying for the Masters meet. Ruiz missed the Pacific View League finals last season because of a death in the family but received an at-large bid into the Division IV tournament.

“The longer you coach, you become accustomed to the setbacks,” Flores said. “There are lot more setbacks than there are positive outcomes.

“Every kid that quits on you, you can’t take it personally. You have to remember these are kids.”

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The Pacific View League finals were scored to break a three-way tie for first between Hueneme, Camarillo and Rio Mesa. Each team finished with 3-1 dual-meet records.

But Pacific View rules fail to clarify whether the meet can decide second place, creating confusion regarding which team would receive an at-large berth in Saturday’s section dual-meet tournament.

Camarillo beat Rio Mesa head-to-head, but the Spartans finished second in the tournament. Camarillo was third.

With 12 league champions guaranteed entry in the dual-meet tournament, only four at-large berths were available.

“Our league constitution reads that the league finals are just to break the tie [for first],” Rio Mesa Coach Todd Stoke said. “The [Southern Section] is free to make their decision any way they want to.”

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Ramon Perry of San Fernando (145) hasn’t practiced this season because he is also playing basketball for the Tigers.

It hasn’t hurt him. Perry, the City Section runner-up last season at 125 pounds, is 12-2.

He has become a prolific scorer in basketball, making 64 of 152 three-point shots and averaging 26.3 points.

Perry, a junior, was the Tigers’ leading receiver in football with 51 catches for 878 yards.

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Danny Mancilla, third in the City Section at 135 pounds last season, became academically eligible this week to bolster an El Camino Real squad seeking its fifth consecutive section title.

The Conquistadores also have Matt Roman (125) back at full strength. Roman had the flu in January, forcing him to miss the second day of the North Torrance tournament and El Camino Real’s dual-meet loss at Ventura, the region’s top-ranked team.

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John Tran of Thousand Oaks put together one the season’s best finishes Saturday in the Marmonte League finals.

Tran trailed Shawn Miller of Simi Valley, 4-1, with 10 seconds left, recorded a takedown, then scored on a near fall at the buzzer for a 5-4 victory to capture the 112-pound title.

Ryan Matheson (215) of Simi Valley avenged a loss to Royal’s Andy Puetz, who had defeated Matheson, 10-5, in a dual meet earlier in the week.

In the rematch, Matheson scored on an escape and held on for a 1-0 victory.

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Miguel Navarette provided Stoke, the Rio Mesa coach, with a pleasant surprise last week by placing second at 152 pounds in the Pacific View League finals.

Navarette lost three of four matches to league opponents entering the tournament.

“All the kids knew how important [Saturday] was,” Stoke said. “I think [Navarette] brought it up a level and he really wanted to contribute to the team effort.”

Lance Neal (135) competed on the junior varsity for most of the season, but Stoke followed a hunch with Neal, who placed second.

Neal is 7-10 against varsity competition, but his performance last week qualified him for the Division IV individual tournament.

“Some kids seem to perform better in pressure situations,” Stoke said. “That seems to be Lance. Even though he had lost some challenge matches [at practice], we just felt that he was a better pressure wrestler.”

Caleb Bautista (125) appears back in top form for the Spartans. He dominated his weight class and was selected the league’s most outstanding wrestler in the lower weights.

Bautista, second in Division IV last season, is 27-9 this season.

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Seven teams from the region will be at four sites for team dual-meet championships Saturday. First-round matches begin at 11 a.m. There are 16 teams in each division.

Ventura will travel to Temecula Valley High for a first-round Division I match against Fontana A.B. Miller.

Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley will be at Corona Centennial High in Division III. The Lancers take on Santa Fe and the Pioneers face North Torrance.

Highland and Hueneme will be at Workman High in City of Industry in Division IV action.

The Bulldogs drew Pomona Diamond Ranch and the Vikings take on Chino Don Lugo.

In the Division V competition at Yucca Valley High, Alemany meets Barstow and Calabasas faces Downey Warren.