Santa Ana’s Glabb Isn’t Sure He Sees Duals’ Purpose

Two days before the Southern Section Division II dual meet championships, Santa Ana Coach Scott Glabb was torn between taking his varsity or junior varsity team to the Saturday event.

“The duals are tough,” Glabb said. “Wrestlers get beat up. You have four back-to-back matches, with a lot of intensity and emotion. The last thing you need is to have a kid get hurt before the division [individual] finals this weekend.”

But despite Glabb’s concerns, the varsity wrestlers told him they wanted to go.

“They really wanted this,” Glabb said. “They wanted to prove who was best [in Division II].”

For Glabb, Saturday brought conflicting emotions. Yes, Santa Ana won the Division II dual meet title, edging Chino Hills Ayala, 32-27, in the final. But the Saints might have lost 119-pounder Romero Silvar to an injury.

“Silvar has been working all season for the division finals,” Glabb said. “He’ll probably get the top seed. But I don’t know. He got kneed in the top of the hips and he had muscle spasms. Hopefully he’ll be fine.”

Santa Ana’s Wyatt Howard (189), a senior transfer from Irvine, won the decisive match Saturday, pinning Anthony Fernandez in 2 minutes 59 seconds to give the Saints an insurmountable lead and allow them to forfeit the last two matches.

Said Glabb: “No sense letting my 215 and heavyweight get banged up. But we won. And that’s cool. But I think the duals are on their way out. It’s too much wrestling in one day. Maybe they could reduce the teams to eight. I don’t know, but it’s tough to do this a week before division finals.”

TIME FOR A CHANGE?

Glabb is not the only coach who has some concerns about the section duals. While Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo said he welcomes the competition, he suggestedthe format might need some rethinking.

“Maybe offer more incentives for teams to compete,” Azevedo said. “I’m sure [the leagues] can come up with ways to make the meet more attractive. But I can see why a team might not want to compete at this meet. They want to stay healthy for division finals. But hey, you can get hurt during practice.”

Laguna Hills Coach Cliff Jarmie said he likes the duals.

“I don’t buy the argument about kids being beaten up at this meet,” Jarmie said. “It’s a statistical fact that more kids get hurt during practice than at meets.

“Besides, I believe the popularity of our sport rests in the dual-meet format. The tournament is necessary, but as far as the the public, you get more fan support at a good dual meet than a tournament.”

MORE DUALS

In Division III, Los Alamitos made it to the final but was no match for Corona Centennial, which won, 43-15. Nevertheless, the Griffins have a lot to celebrate--the team is made up mostly of sophomores and juniors and will surely be back next year.

Seniors Toyo Kimura (112 pounds) and Andy Martinez (135) each won his four matches for Los Alamitos (21-8). And against second-seeded El Dorado, ranked third in the county, the Griffins won, 50-18.

Marina also did well, reaching the semifinals before losing to Centennial, 60-6.

LOOKING AHEAD

Seeding meetings for division individual finals are today at the host schools: Division I--Murrieta Valley; Division II--Riverside Canyon Springs; Division III--Torrance; Division IV--Santa Margarita; Division V--Azusa.

The final seedings are scheduled to be available on Thursday.

The two-day meets start Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. The championship finals are at 6 p.m.

The top six finishers from Division I and II advance to the Masters, as well as the top five from Division III, the top four from Division IV and the top three from Division V. The Masters. Feb. 23-24 at Fountain Valley High, is the qualifying meet for the state finals.

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If you have an item or idea for the wrestling report, fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail erik.hamilton@latimes.com.

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WRESTLING TOP 10

Orange County Coaches’ Poll

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Pos. School (League) 1. Calvary Chapel (Olympic) 2. Santa Ana (Golden West) 3. Villa Park (Century) 4T. El Modena (Century) 4T. Laguna Hills (Sea View) 6. Los Alamitos (Century) 7. El Dorado (Empire) 8. Dana Hills (South Coast) 9. Irvine (Sea View) 10T. Magnolia (Orange) 10T. Loara (Empire)

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Individual Rankings

103--1. Estrada (Calvary Chapel); 2. Guzman (Santa Ana); 3. Featherstone (Villa Park); 4. Cullimore (San Clemente); 5. Kang (Los Alamitos). 112--1. O. Galvan (Loara); 2. Rodriquez (Calvary Chapel); 3. Chavez (Magnolia); 4. Ramos (Los Amigos); 5. Barajas (Saddleback). 119--1. J. Galvan (Loara); 2. Aguilar (Canyon); 3. Gaitron (Katella); 4. Lim (Newport Harbor); 5. Madjd (El Modean). 125--1. Yadon (Villa Park); 2. Aguado (Valencia); 3. Santellan (Magnolia); 4. Jackson (Calvary Chapel); 5. Tinoco (El Modena). 130--1. Esparza (Calvary Chapel); 2. Perez (Dana Hills); 3. Rubio (Santa Ana); 4. Gabrielson (Los Alamitos); 5. Meyer (Villa Park). 135--1. Gill (Calvary Chapel); 2. Cadawallader (Brethren Christian); 3. Coles (Laguna Hills); 4. Martinez (Los Alamitos); 5. A. Miles (Foothill). 140--1. Keene (Mission Viejo); 2. Barger (Villa Park); 3. Aguilar (Mater Dei); 4. Collins (El Dorado); 5. Sepulveda (El Modena). 145--1. LaMay (Capistrano Valley); 2. Serna (Santa Ana); 3. Garcia (Kennedy); 4. Dubois (El Dorado); 5. Markstrom (Troy). 152--1. Avalos (Santa Ana); 2. Richmond (Kennedy); 3. Kalika (Calvary Chapel); 4. Meza (Buena Park); 5. Diaz (Villa Park). 160--1. J. Williams (Calvary Chapel); 2. Gamboa (University); 3. Contreras (El Modena); 4. Orendain (Santa Ana); 5. Jones (Laguna Hills). 171--1. Parks (Calvary Chapel); 2. Becerra (Santa Ana); 3. Blair (Dana Hills); 4. Gleason (El Modena); 5. Judd (Tustin). 189--1. C. Williams (Calvary Chapel); 2. Howard (Santa Ana); 3. Carroll (Trabuco Hills); 4. Lindenblatt (Laguna Hills); 5. Oskins (Foothill). 215--1. Montano (El Dorado); 2. Thaler (Estancia); 3. Noble (Irvine); 4. Ullrich (Capistrano Valley); 5. Boulais (Calvary Chapel). HEAVYWEIGHT--1. Chanda (Trabuco Hills); 2. Arrevalos (Mater Dei); 3. Arvizo (Santa Ana); 4. Hernandez (Loara); 5. Lukes (El Modena).