Odman Puts Crespi Back on the Mat

Coach Michael Odman is thrilled about the commitment Crespi High has made to wrestling.

The Encino school is competing in the sport for the first time since 1992 and has provided Odman with a practice room, mats, uniforms and the cooperation of other coaches on campus.

“The level of support at Crespi has been second to none,” Odman said. “Most schools are dropping their programs. It’s very rare for a school to add wrestling.”

Odman returned the favor with tireless effort, scraping together a full schedule since being hired in September.

He attained freelance status for his program with the Southern Section. Crespi wrestlers who win at least half of their matches can petition for at-large berths in postseason competition.

He arranged dual meets with City Section schools that had holes in their schedules after Garfield dropped its program. Novice Crespi wrestlers are gaining valuable experience and the team is 2-5.

“With Garfield dropping its program, it left the City with an odd number [of matches],” Odman said. “I was able to pick up five or six duals.”

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Defending City Section champion El Camino Real lost the bulk of its scoring punch to graduation. What did coach Terry Fischer do to rebuild?

He drilled his players for a week in November, then gave them two weeks off so he could take a group of choral singers to Prague, Czech Republic and Nuremberg, Germany.

“I was thinking I have to do this again,” Fischer said. “In music they don’t keep score and you don’t have to worry about anyone making weight.”

The time off hasn’t affected the Conquistadores.

Several members of last year’s junior varsity have filled the lineup. They have helped El Camino Real finish second at the Camarillo 10-way, win the Camarillo individual tournament, place 11th at the 56-team North Torrance tournament and take second at last week’s Highland dual tournament.

The Conquistadores also achieved a milestone for the program, knocking off regional power Highland for the first time, 35-32, on Saturday.

“Our kids were in tears,” Fischer said. “They had worked real hard for that. They’ve been trying to climb that mountain for years.”

Jeff Ford, a senior transfer from Granada Hills, has filled a void at 140 pounds created by the ineligibility of Danny Mancilla.

Sophomore Andrew Tan (130 pounds) has matured quickly, providing a key pin in Saturday’s victory over Highland, and Andrew Kauffman battled Highland’s highly regarded Mike Estrada before losing, 7-4.

The performance of the newcomers has supplanted the efforts of Fischer’s few seniors, Chris Sloan (189), Phil Daniels-Hernandez (215) and Andreik De Leon (171).

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The Pacific View League title should be determined when Rio Mesa and Camarillo meet on Jan. 30.

Camarillo is the defending champion but has been hurt by the ineligibility of 103-pounder Hank Robles and the loss of several other returning wrestlers.

Rio Mesa Coach Todd Stoke still expects a competitive match.

“I think we’re both close to each other in terms of ability,” Stoke said. “It’s going to come down to who’s ready to roll that particular evening.”

Stoke hopes his team has recovered from a flu bug that hit several wrestlers.

Mike Dominguez (215) was forced to miss the second day of the Rio Mesa Rotational on Dec. 23.

Chris Davis has been impressive at 189 pounds. He is 25-4, losing one match in overtime and two others by a point.

Returning Masters meet qualifier Caleb Bautista (125) was second at the grueling Reno tournament on Dec. 28 but is smarting from a seventh-place finish at the Orange Glen tournament.

Bautista reached the quarterfinals last week before falling into the losers’ bracket.

“I never say this, but there was some questionable officiating,” Stoke said. “I usually don’t say my kid got robbed, but Caleb got robbed and emotionally coming back, that was hard.”

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Simi Valley’s hold on first place in the Marmonte League can be attributed to an impressive one-two punch in the upper weights. Heavyweight Dan Kunkes is 21-2 and Ryan Matheson (215) is 21-5.

“We’re hoping we can stay up there,” Coach Guy Greene said. “But when you look at some of these duals, it’s so close. I don’t want to be hanging up any banners yet.”

Sophomore Derek Saenz (152) has also provided a boost. Saenz finished second at the Newbury Park tournament and has held his own against experienced wrestlers.

“I never see him make the same mistake,” Greene said. “He’s right in the middle of the lineup and you have a sophomore that’s going to give you everything and the other guys have to be saying, ‘Why isn’t this guy scared?’ ”

The Pioneers (4-0) are the only unbeaten Marmonte team but must get past defending co-champion Agoura next week and cross-town rival Royal the following week.

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City Section coaches voted to hold the section’s dual tournament after the individual championships on Feb. 17.

Traditionally, dual tournaments are held before individual championships that determine qualifiers for the state meet in Stockton.

The change will allow individual City champions an extra week to prepare for the state meet.

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San Fernando will host a tournament on Saturday.

Highland, Camarillo, Peninsula, Mira Costa and Lemoore are among teams expected to compete.

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The Top 10

Rankings of wrestling teams in the region

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Ventura (Channel) 2 2 San Fernando (City) 3 3 Rio Mesa (Pacific View) 4 8 Camarillo (Pacific View) 5 6 El Camino Real (City) 6 5 Simi Valley (Marmonte) 7 10 Agoura (Marmonte) 8 7 Hueneme (Pacific View) 9 9 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 10 NR Royal (Marmonte)

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