Laguna Hills Hangs Tough to Win

Laguna Hills Coach Cliff Jarmie didn’t seem too worried before the start of his Sea View League meet Thursday night against Irvine.

Never mind that this meet would pit the fifth-ranked Hawks against No. 8 Irvine before a packed gymnasium at Irvine. And never mind that it would determine the league’s dual-meet champion.

“I’m pretty confident in this team. I’m calm, and the team is calm,” Jarmie said before the meet.

And despite a slow start in the lower weights, Jarmie’s confidence was justified as Laguna Hills went on to defeat Irvine, 38-20.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Jarmie said. “We didn’t give up one pin, and we did what we knew we could do.”

After an opening-match victory by Laguna Hills’ Steve Jarmie at 105 pounds, Irvine followed with three match victories to build a 10-3 lead.

But Ken Wales got Laguna Hills back on track when he scored an escape and reversal against Matt Langer to win, 3-0, in the 132-pound class. David Coles put Laguna Hills ahead, 11-10, when he scored a technical fall against Irvine’s Jason Stones to win the 137-pound match.

Richard Mayfield, who was trailing Irvine’s Clayton Smith, 4-0, in the third period, came back to tie the score with a near fall, then pinned Smith in 5:04 to give the Hawks a 17-10 lead.

“We’ve been looking forward to this meet all season long,” Coles said. “We knew Irvine would be tough, but we thought the team with the most heart would win.”

The Hawks got falls from Mike Brown (154) and heavyweight Jarod Simpson, who had the meet’s quickest pin in 34 seconds.

“They’re a very good team,” Irvine Coach John Phillips said.

Laguna Hills (18-0, 4-0), which moved from the Pacific Coast League to the Sea View League last year, won its second consecutive league dual-meet crown.

Irvine is 10-4, 2-1.