Drouin Does It His Way

Chris Drouin of Temecula Chaparral continues to prove that the best wrestlers in the area don’t always attend Temecula Valley. Just most of them.

Drouin, the top returning wrestler in the Southland after finishing runner-up in state last season, defended his 135-pound title Saturday night in the Southern Section Southern Division individual wrestling championships, keeping at least one title out of the hands of Temecula Valley.

“You can get the job done on both sides of town,” said Drouin, whose victory helped the Pumas finish fourth as a team.

Aaron Navarrete (125), Alex Smith (130), Cort Trejo (140), Ted Bristol (145), Ryan Smith (171) and Dwayne Darrisaw (275) won their weight classes at Westminster High to lead the Golden Bears to their fifth consecutive team title and 10th team title in the last 12 years. They broke school records by qualifying nine wrestlers for the final round and scoring 316.5 points. Santa Ana Calvary Chapel won two classes and finished second with 180.5 points and Santa Ana was third with 127.

Drouin, a senior who will attempt to defend his Masters title next week at Fountain Valley High, recorded two pins and a technical fall in the first three rounds, then advanced to the final by injury default. He had little problem in the championship match against Temecula Valley freshman Patrick Martinez, scoring an 18-7 decision.

Dan Arritt

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Top-seeded San Fernando claimed its fourth City Section title in six years and remained unbeaten on the season with a dominating 55-18 victory over third-seeded Woodland Hills El Camino Real (13-3) in the finals of the City Section dual-meet championships at Lake Balboa Birmingham on Saturday.

A pin at 215 by Onyi Chima allowed El Camino Real to take a 9-6 lead. However, a 43-second pin by Santos Delagadillo at 275 combined with Tony Mendez’s pin at 103 gave San Fernando (21-0) the lead for good. Rashad Reynolds (130), Eddie Uribe (145) and Matt Castillo (171) also pinned their opponents for San Fernando, which has finished first or second in the City dual tournament for the last 12 years.

“This team has really achieved a lot this season,” said San Fernando Coach Fernando Gonzalez, who expects at least seven of his wrestlers to reach individual championship finals next Saturday.

Bell, the defending meet champion, did not compete.

Austin Knoblauch

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Girls’ Basketball

Brittany Thomas scored with 14 seconds remaining to give visiting Canyon Country Canyon a 37-36 victory over second-seeded Ventura Buena in a Southern Section Division I-A first-round playoff game.

Thomas finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds to lead Canyon, which held the Bulldogs’ top scorer, Sami Whitcomb, to nine points.