Temecula Valley Rolls, but Coach Isn’t Happy

Temecula Valley ripped through the Southern Section Division I dual meet championships Saturday at Santa Ana College, dominating its four matches for a 240-33 combined score.

Then Coach Arnold Alpert ripped into opposing coaches who sent junior varsity teams in order to save varsity wrestlers for individual championships.

Temecula Valley, which defeated Santa Ana, 40-16, in the championship match for its first section title since 1999, wrestled two junior varsity teams in the tournament, winning, 73-0, over Anaheim Katella in the first round and 76-0 over Covina Northview in the second round.

It made a mockery of the first two rounds, Alpert said, and deprived his team a chance at quality competition.

“It shows a lack of integrity by some coaches sending their JV teams to a [Southern Section] championship meet,” Alpert said. “We came here ready to win. A team like Northview, they were ready to lose, that’s why they didn’t come. They didn’t think they could win.”

Alpert was upset because a Division I dual meet championship was supposed to carry more weight this year after section realignment placed the strongest teams in Division I.

Even though Temecula Valley, ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times, didn’t square off with the varsity from No. 2 Northview, the Golden Bears made a statement against full-strength teams from Santa Ana Calvary Chapel and Santa Ana in the semifinals and finals.

Jeremy Mendoza provided the spark in the semifinals against two-time defending state champion Calvary Chapel, winning the first bout of the match, 13-7, over Mario Estrada, ranked No. 7 in the state at 119 pounds.

Temecula Valley’s Morgan Atkinson followed with a 5-2 win over Patrick Aleksanyan at 125 pounds and the Golden Bears rolled to a 55-17 victory.

“For me, it was important to set the tone,” said Mendoza, who had not previously wrestled against Estrada. “It’s important to get the momentum early, especially against a team like that.”

In the final, Temecula Valley won the first six matches and took a 22-0 lead before Fernando Jaimes got Santa Ana on the board with a 7-5 overtime win. Temecula Valley clinched the title after taking a 31-6 lead with four weight classes remaining.

Alpert said winning the title wasn’t easy.

“You’ve got to practice and prepare day in and day out for these kind of results,” said Alpert. “We happened to get on a roll here, but it wasn’t easy.”