Davis, Perillo win at Vista Frosh-Soph Invitational

Fallbrook High School’s freshman and sophomore wrestlers opened their 2012-13 season with the Vista Frosh-Soph Dual tournament Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at Vista High School, and the results included Shane Davis and Nick Perillo winning their weight classes.

Three other Fallbrook wrestlers took second place in their weight divisions. “We did really well at that tournament,” said Cristian Vera, who coaches Fallbrook’s freshman and junior varsity teams. “Every single guy that went won at least one match, which is phenomenal in my opinion.”

Vera took nine wrestlers to the tournament who combined for a 44-22 record in their matches. Vera had planned to take 16 matmen, as a school can enter more than one grappler in a weight class, but the only official grades to determine academic eligibility are the six-week progress reports.

Six of Vera’s wrestlers did not have sufficient grades to be eligible when the progress reports were issued a week before the tournament even though their personal progress reports two days before the tournament noted that all of them had at least a 2.5 grade point average. A seventh wrestler failed the hydration test and was not allowed to compete at Vista.

“Numbers are kind of tough for us,” Vera said.

Davis wrestled in the 126-pound class. The freshman had eight matches during the tournament, losing one by two points while pinning his other seven opponents. “That was pretty impressive,” Vera said.

Perillo, who won the 152-pound class as a freshman in 2011, won all eight of his matches while pinning seven opponents to take first place in the 160-pound class at the 2012 tournament. “He had a very impressive tournament,” Vera said.

In 2011, Perillo also won all eight of his matches and pinned seven of his opponents, so the 2012 results gave him wins in all 16 of his career Vista Frosh-Soph Dual matches with 14 pins. Perillo ended the 2011-12 season by winning the 152-pound class in the San Diego Freshman County Championships tournament; he had a 24-10 record as a freshman including a 1-3 record in varsity matches.

Last year Tony Perez wrestled in the 145-pound bracket during the county championships; at the 2012 Vista Frosh-Soph Dual he was in the 182-pound division. He took second in the Vista tournament with a 6-1 record, pinning his opponents in all six victories. “He did phenomenal,” Vera said.

Perez joined the wrestling team late in the 2011-12 season and did not participate in the 2011 Vista Frosh-Soph Dual.

Mario Beltran, a sophomore in his first year of wrestling, made his tournament debut in the 145-pound class. Beltran took second place in the Vista Frosh-Soph Dual with a 6-2 record, winning five of his matches by pin and the other by major decision. “He did exceptionally well,” Vera said.

Freshman Adam Reyes placed second in the 152-pound class. He had a 6-1 showing in the tournament with all six of his victories being by pin. “He had some really, really tough matches,” Vera said. “He had an exceptionally good tournament.”