Taken Down, Galvan Gets Right to Work

Orlando Galvan couldn’t wait to get back on the mat.

The Loara High senior stepped off the podium after receiving a second-place medal at the Five Counties tournament Saturday, then headed for an auxiliary gymnasium at Fountain Valley High with his brother, Josh Galvan.

They wanted to recreate a takedown move used by Logan Ingram of Clovis Buchanan to defeat Orlando Galvan 12 seconds into the overtime period of the 112-pound final.

“We want to work on it so it won’t happen again,” said Josh, also a senior wrestler for the Saxons but a year younger than Orlando.

The Galvans agreed the winning takedown was just one sequence in a substandard all-around effort against Ingram. Orlando Galvan won a state title at 103 pounds last season and was top-seeded in his weight class at Five Counties, a 63-team tournament considered more competitive than the state finals.

“He’s not wrestling at all to his ability,” said Josh Galvan. “I’m 100% sure that he can beat [Ingram]. I know he can beat everyone here in his weight class.”

Ingram, seeded third, took an 8-4 lead with an escape move early in the third period and Josh Galvan, who lost in the quarterfinals of the 119-pound division earlier in the day, could sense something was wrong.

“He was totally not wrestling like himself,” Josh said. “I didn’t know what the heck was wrong with him. He was wrestling about 50% of how good he really is.”

Orlando managed a takedown with four seconds remaining to tie the score, 10-10, but tried a risky move at the start of overtime and Ingram countered with a takedown of his own.

“When I shot back at him [in overtime], I got too excited and I tried to go an opposite way of what you’re supposed to do,” Orlando said. “I thought maybe I’d get him but I didn’t and he just reversed me and got the takedown.”

Orlando won his state title last season by pinning Sal Gonzalez of Merced in the final. He also won Masters and Southern Section Division I championships for the second year in a row.

He won titles at the Chino Hills Ayala tournament and Mann Holiday tournament at Santa Ana College this season, but hadn’t experienced the caliber of opponents he saw at Five Counties.

“He hasn’t had a lot of competitions like this tournament, where you have good matchups all the way through [to the finals],” Josh said.

Ingram reached the championship match by upsetting second-seeded Tony Franco of Bakersfield, 2-1, in a semifinal. Ingram, who won the Central Section title at 103 pounds as a sophomore last season, had never defeated Orlando Galvan before.

Ingram had a 5-2 lead to start the second period. Galvan cut it to one point later in the period, but Ingram scored a takedown with 30 seconds left to take a 7-4 lead.

“I need to wrestle all periods, not just the last period,” Orlando said. “I just wasn’t wrestling.”

ONE FOR THREE

Of the county’s three top-seeded wrestlers at the tournament, only Calvary Chapel’s Conan Williams, at 189 pounds, won a title.

The other two, Orlando Galvan and Santa Ana’s Ozzie Avalos, lost in championship matches.

Avalos, who was 31-2 with 15 pins coming into his 152-pound final against second-seeded Sean Sheets of Bakersfield Centennial, fell behind, 7-0, before he was pinned with 1:06 remaining in the third period.

Avalos showed his disdain for losing by spiking his second-place medal to the floor as he walked off the podium.

ALMOST PERFECT

Willie Parks, Steve Esparza and Conan Williams each won individual titles for Calvary Chapel, helping the Eagles defend their team title at Five Counties.

Calvary Chapel wrestlers nearly went six for six in the championship round.

Mario Estrada lost a 12-10 decision in the closing seconds of the 103-pound final against Nathan Morgan of Bakersfield; Frank Gill lost, 3-2, to Andrew Spradlin of Bakersfield in the 135-pound final, and 160-pounder Joe Williams lost, 5-3, in overtime to Kenneth Cook of Sacramento American River.

“We were underdogs in all the finals but one,” Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo said. “The guys went after them.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Defending champion El Dorado will host Loara at 7 p.m. Thursday in a battle for the Empire League title. The Golden Hawks are led by Chuck Rust (130 pounds) and P.J. Montano (215); the Saxons by the Galvan brothers.

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If you have an item or idea for the wrestling report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at: 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. El Dorado (Empire) 4. Villa Park (Century) 5. Laguna Hills (Sea View) 6. El Modena (Century) 7. Loara (Empire) 8. Irvine (Sea View) 9. Saddleback (Golden West) 10. San Clemente (South Coast)

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Individual Rankings

103--1. Estrada (Calvary Chapel); 2. Guzman (Santa Ana); 3. Featherstone (Villa Park). 112--1. O. Galvan (Loara); 2. Alexksanayan (Calvary Chapel); 3. Anguto (Villa Park). 119--1. J. Galvan (Loara); 2. Aguilar (Canyon); 3. Caltempa (Buena Park). 125--1. Yadon (Villa Park); 2. Tinoco (El Modena); 3. Silava (Villa Park). 130--1. Esparza (Calvary Chapel); 2. Rubio (Santa Ana); 3. Wimmer (Marina). 135--1. Gill (Calvary Chapel); 2. Cadawallader (Brethren Christian); 3. Coles (Laguna Hills). 140--1. Keene (Mission Viejo); 2. Barger (Villa Park); 3. Aguilar (Mater Dei). 145--1. LaMay (Capistrano Valley); 2. Serna (Santa Ana); 3. Buenrostro (Santa Ana Valley). 152--1. Avalos (Santa Ana); 2. Richmond (Kennedy); 3. Meza (Buena Park). 160--1. J. Williams (Calvary Chapel); 2. Gamboa (University); 3. Hacker (Corona del Mar). 171--1. Parks (Villa Park); 2. Becerra (Santa Ana); 3. Blair (Dana Hills). 189--1. J. Williams (Calvary Chapel); 2. Howard (Santa Ana); 3. Carroll (Trabuco Hills). 215--1. Boulais (Calvary Chapel); 2. Ulerich (Capistrano Valley); 3. Montano (El Dorado). HEAVYWEIGHT--1. Chanda (Trabuco Hills); 2. Arrevalos (Mater Dei); 3. Arvizo (Santa Ana).