Santa Ana Wrestlers Win

Santa Ana Coach Scott Glabb made the right moves this time around, and the Saints defeated Orange El Modena, 38-22, Saturday night to win the Southern Section Division I dual-meet wrestling championship at Temecula Valley High.

Glabb forfeited the 160-pound class to El Modena’s Daniel Contreras, one of the top wrestlers in the state in his weight division.

The coach then moved Contreras’ would-be opponent, Ray Mueller, up to 171 pounds, where he posted a 20-4 technical fall over Nick Chung to give the Saints a 13-point lead with four matches left.

Three matches later, Santa Ana heavyweight Luis de La Rosa secured the victory with a 10-2 decision over Mark Shannon, giving the Saints a 32-22 lead.

Hugo Guzman, who is top ranked in the state at 103 pounds, pinned his opponent midway through the second period of the night’s last match for the final margin of victory.

Glabb’s move came after he fell victim to similar strategy in a nonleague match against Santa Ana Calvary Chapel on Jan. 28.

With Calvary Chapel ahead, 33-22, Glabb sent de La Rosa, the second-ranked 215-pound wrestler in Orange County, to check in.

Calvary Chapel responded by forfeiting the 215 match and bumping Joe Williams, its 215-pounder, to heavyweight. There, Williams defeated Santa Ana’s Luis Gonzales, 6-3, to secure the 36-28 victory.

In the semifinals on Saturday, El Modena defeated top-seeded Calvary Chapel, 33-27, and Santa Ana defeated Temecula Valley, 58-12.

Dan Arritt

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North Torrance’s Matt Bautista scored a major decision over Rosemead’s Scott Prentice in the 107-pound weight class, and the Saxons went on to win, 37-31, and clinch their first Southern Section dual-meet wrestling title in the Division II championship at North Torrance.

Bautista built a commanding 5-0 lead in the first two periods en route to an 11-3 victory.

Defending-champion Rosemead (13-1) trailed, 33-19, with three matches left. But Daniel Diaz pinned Ted Shin of North Torrance in 2 minutes 43 seconds in the 219-pound weight class and Chris Gutierrez pinned North Torrance’s Cody Sorenson at 279 pounds in 4:52 to pull the second-seeded Panthers to within two points at 33-31.

After winning a 12-7 decision over Jesus Ramirez at 164 pounds, the Saxons’ Matt Ryan pointed to the sky. His grandfather, Robert Hayes, suffered a heart attack at the Bay League championships on Wednesday and has been in a coma since. The North Torrance wrestlers dedicated Saturday’s meet to him.

Rosemead’s Sean Prentice, the No. 1 wrestler in the state at 112 pounds, pinned Brett Gurrola in 1:38 and Manuel Rivera pinned Kento Fukashima at 134 pounds as the Panthers built a 16-6 lead..

Brent Wada scored an overtime decision at 139 pounds, Daniel Acosta won by a fall at 144, and Brendan McCarthy won by decision at 149 to give North Torrance (22-3) its first lead at 18-16.

Kei Takemoto of North Torrance dislocated his left elbow and suffered tendon damage during the 219-pound semifinals. Though he was taken to Torrance Memorial Hospital, he returned to the gym in time for the awards ceremony.

Steve Galluzzo

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Woodland Hills El Camino Real was named the top-seeded team for the upcoming City Section girls’ soccer playoffs during a coaches’ seeding meeting.

The Conquistadores (18-1-3, 9-0-1), who are No. 8 in The Times’ rankings, begin a quest for their third consecutive title with a first-round game against Banning (12-6-0, 6-3-0) on Thursday at El Camino Real.

“That’s what we’re shooting for,” El Camino Real Coach Scott Holloway said. “We’ve had our sights on it all year long. The girls know it’s not a given, but we’ve played a lot of the top teams, and we know we’re right up there.”

The Conquistadores were winners of the West Valley League title and also won the Hart tournament this season.

West Valley League runner-up Granada Hills (17-5-1, 8-2-0) is seeded No. 2 and will play Eagle Rock (7-5-1, 5-4-1) at Granada Hills in the first round.

Marine League champion San Pedro (12-0-0, 9-0-0), which lost to El Camino Real, 2-1, in last season’s title game, is seeded No. 3. Hamilton (15-1-1, 10-1-1), the Western League champion, is No. 4.

Under a revamped playoff format being introduced this season, the winners of the first-round games will make up the Championship bracket, while the first-round losers will fill the Invitational draw.

Lauren Peterson

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Palmdale’s Teiosha George and Lancaster Antelope Valley’s Marilyn Elder were ejected from their Golden League game Friday for fighting.

Both will miss their team’s next game, which will be in the first round of the Southern Section playoffs.

The absence of George, a 6-foot-3 center who had been in and out of the lineup because of flu before the third-quarter altercation, could be especially important.

Palmdale is ranked No. 16 by The Times and considered one of the top teams in the Southern Section Division I-AA.

Palmdale won, 69-47, to win the league title and end Antelope Valley’s three-year reign as league champion. George scored 13 points and Elder had four.

Martin Henderson

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Steve Hagerty has been hired as football coach at Riverside Poly, eight days after he was fired from another Ivy League school, Riverside North.

Hagerty replaces Dan Castanon, who was released last month after five seasons.

Hagerty guided North to the league title last season and a second consecutive appearance in the Division V championship game, where it lost to Corona Centennial, 57-55, in triple overtime.

Dan Arritt

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In other coaching news:

* Keith Locklear has resigned as football coach after going 1-9 in one season at Baldwin Park Sierra Vista, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. He will continue to teach at the school.

* Larry Miller has resigned after 10 years as football coach at Hueneme to concentrate on his duties as athletic director.