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Rodriguez Leaves His Injury Behind

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From Times Staff Reports

A few weeks ago, the only thing Gabe Rodriguez figured to be wrestling during the weekend of the Masters meet was his father for command of the remote control.

The senior from Santa Ana Calvary Chapel had dislocated his left elbow last month during the Orange County All-Stars match, forcing him to sit out two tournaments and three team dual meets.

“My injury was pretty bad,” Rodriguez recalled. “I was scared.”

Said Larry Rodriguez, Gabe’s father and one of his coaches: “We thought it was the end of his season. That would have been hard to swallow.”

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Gabe Rodriguez returned for the Pacific Coast League finals and only seems to be getting stronger, if his performance Saturday during the Masters meet at Fountain Valley High was any indication.

Wearing protective padding over his elbow, a pain-free Rodriguez dominated Chris Armendariz of West Covina, 10-0, in the 103-pound championship. Rodriguez, ranked seventh in the state in his weight class, said he was brimming with confidence heading into the state tournament next weekend in Bakersfield.

“I thought it was flawless,” Larry Rodriguez said of his son’s performance. “He didn’t make any mistakes.”

Neither did Chino Hills Ayala’s Arman Kucukkoseoglu, who needed all of 11 seconds to pin Louie Audelo of Whittier California in the 189-pound final. Kucukkoseoglu, battling a lingering back injury, said he had hoped to end the match as quickly as possible to spare himself additional pain.

“It’s what I was hoping for, and I got it done,” said Kucukkoseoglu, a senior ranked No. 2 in the state.

It was nearly a perfect day for the brothers Kucukkoseoglu as Herman, Arman’s younger brother, upset third-ranked David Dencklau of Yucca Valley, 6-5, in the 171-pound quarterfinal and advanced to the championship. But San Jacinto’s Jimmy Stormo, ranked No. 2 in the state, romped to a 10-4 victory over Herman Kucukkoseoglu in the final.

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Brian Moreno’s bid for a third consecutive state championship remained on track as the Santa Ana Foothill senior eased his way to a 3-0 victory over Ontario’s James Bailey in the final at 112 pounds.

“He’s physical and dominating,” Foothill Coach Russ Caldwell said of the top-ranked Moreno, who improved to 50-0. “He was in control the whole time.”

Moreno, 108-1 during his junior and senior years, said he was focused on joining Santa Monica’s Lawrence Jackson (1984-86) as only the second Southern Section wrestler to win three consecutive state titles since the tournament began in 1973.

Apple Valley Granite Hills’ Gabe Moore, the state’s top-ranked heavyweight, prevailed in a marquee championship match against second-ranked Jordan Blanchard of Temecula Valley, 6-4.

-- Ben Bolch

Bell senior Marvin Lopez defeated Lake Balboa Birmingham’s Zohrab Darmandzhyan, 10-1, in the 189-pound final to give the Eagles enough team points to seal their first City championship since 1996, out-scoring San Fernando, 217.5-203, at Reseda.

“It’s all I thought about,” Lopez said of the team title. “I told myself I would rather have the team title over an individual title any day of my life. It just so happened I needed to win to get both.”

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Bell also had champions in two-time winner Brian Maldonado at 130 and Michael Lopez at 135.

San Fernando put a tournament-high nine wrestlers into the finals, and Bell had seven, but the Tigers also finished with four champions. Senior Raphael Reynolds became the third four-time City champion in school history by pinning all three of his opponents in the 160-pound division in less than 1 minute 30 seconds. Reynolds improved to 43-0 this season and was selected the tournament’s most valuable wrestler.

San Fernando’s Ricky Aguirre became a three-time champion by pinning Raphael Gonzalez of Bell in 1:23 in the 152-pound final.

-- Chuck Schilken

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