CIF Coastal Division Championships beckon for Hoover wrestling

Sometime on Friday or later in the weekend, the Hoover High wrestling team may very well be embracing a new star.

For the past two seasons, the CIF Southern Section Individual Wrestling Championships have served as a springboard for unexpected breakout efforts.

When the two-day-long Coastal Division Championships get underway at 11 a.m. at Corona Santiago High, the question will asked: Who will rise for Hoover?

“I don’t know for sure who that person will be, but I think I have a couple of kids who can make it to Masters,” Hoover Coach Dave Beard said.

Two years ago, an unranked Arthur Ghukasyan turned in his school’s best-ever effort in the divisional round. The unranked 160-pounder finished 3-1 in the tournament and runner-up after being pinned by Victor Valley’s Michael Lopez in the championship bout.

Ghukasyan eventually advanced to the Masters Meet and then to state, becoming his school’s first qualifier to either event.

Last season, senior Edmen Shahbazyan had been limited to only 12 bouts before the Coastal Division finals.

Despite being pinned in his first match, Shahbazyan rallied for five straight victories and took third before also eventually advancing to the Masters Meet and state.

The Tornadoes will take a contingent of nine wrestlers, their second-biggest group in school history (10 was the largest in 2014) to Santiago High. All are looking for a top-five finish that will earn a berth to the Masters Meet at Ontario’s Citizen Bank Arena, starting Feb. 26.

While Hoover’s program is only in its fifth year of existence, the Tornadoes are hardly green.

Five of the nine wrestlers have participated in at least one previous divisional championship and all of those grapplers have at least one victory.

“It always helps to have experience, to know what to expect,” Beard said. “If you haven’t been there, it’s just a different feel.”

While the seedings won’t be released until Thursday evening, Hoover has a few serious contenders in senior Murad Muradyan and brothers Jessie and Geraldy Martinez.

Muradyan finished 1-2 at last year’s division championships, but is hoping to carry momentum from this year’s postseason run.

Muradyan was his school’s lone Rio Hondo League champion at 170 pounds after he pinned San Marino’s Adrian Licon in 4:33 on Wednesday.

“I just want to keep going all the way to state, that’s my dream,” said Muradyan, who is 3-0 this postseason with three pins. “I’m working hard to get there.”

While Muradyan is propelled by victories, 132-pounder Jessie Martinez is using a setback as fuel.

The senior two-sport star who also plays football, battled both his opposition and a case of the flu at Wednesday’s league finals.

In the league championship semifinals, Jessie Martinez succumbed to both illness and La Cañada’s Andrew Aghadjanians.

The senior rebounded for a third-place victory and is aware that there is little room for error.

“I want to say there won’t be any extra pressure, but there will be since this is my senior year,” said Jessie Martinez, who was 2-2 at last year’s division championships. “Either I make it this year or I never do. There’s no more time for excuses.”

Geraldy Martinez finished second in league at 145 pounds, which isn’t bad given he was beaten by state top-ranked Zander Wick of San Marino.

With tough, but certainly more reasonable competition, Geraldy Martinez is hoping to improve upon a 2-2 run last season.

“It would be nice to get to Masters – that’s the goal,” Geraldy Martinez said. “I’m just going to go out and do my best.”

Hoover will also hope for positive results from sophomores Karlan Hakobyan (126 pounds), Allen Melikyan (182) and Azad Markosian (heavyweight), junior Chris White (220) and seniors Narek Zamanyan (138) and Diego Escalante (195).