Wrestling program joins coach in being ahead of schedule

Christian Vera didn't think that the 2017-18 season would be when he would return to coach Fallbrook High School's wrestling team, but the need for a coach led to arrangements between Vera and Fallbrook athletic director Patrick Walker for Vera to return earlier than planned. The Warriors, who won one dual meet during 2016-17, have already doubled their win total.

"It's really awesome to start that way," Vera said.

Vera graduated from Fallbrook High School in 2011 and then assisted Fallbrook head coach Greg Wagaman with the wrestlers. Vera replaced Wagaman as Fallbrook's head coach in 2014 and was in charge of the Warriors' program for two years before returning to school.

"The ideal plan was I was going to wait to come back until I finished school," Vera said.

Under that scenario Vera would have obtained his teaching credential and returned to Fallbrook High School as a teacher and on-campus coach. Lawrence Jones started the 2016-17 season as Fallbrook's coach but stepped down in January, and Curt Permito took over the program.

Permito remains as an assistant coach but did not desire to be the head coach on a long-term basis. "They asked me to come back sooner," Vera said. "We ended up working out some stuff."

That included a position as an instructional aid in Fallbrook's special education program. "It's almost like student teaching," Vera said.

The position allows Vera to teach sixth-period wrestling before and after the conclusion of the CIF season while also providing him experience for a future teaching position and a supplement to his coaching stipend. "All the pieces kind of fell together," he said.

"My schedule made sense to do it," Vera said. "It was the right time to come back."

Although Walker and Vera negotiated the agreement within a week of the initial invitation in early summer, the formality of the hire was not finalized until just before the first day of school. Vera's return was early enough to stave off the participation problems which plagued Fallbrook last season; a total of 35 wrestlers tried out and currently approximately 25 are fully eligible to compete. "A good amount of kids came out," Vera said. "There was still a lot of interest in the sport."

Three of those wrestlers are girls, who will compete against other girls in various girls tournaments throughout the season and who may wrestle against boys at the varsity or junior varsity level in dual meets.

The Warriors began their 2017-18 season with the Dec. 1-2 Carter Classic tournament at Carter High School in Rialto. Two of Fallbrook's grapplers advanced to the second day of the tournament. Fallbrook senior John Eastom, who competed in the 220-pound class, was among the top 12 and lost in the match whose winner advanced to the medal rounds. Fallbrook had one medalist; senior Lance McNatt took third place in the 152-pound bracket.

The Lilac fire altered plans for a scheduled Dec. 7 home match against Carlsbad, so the Warriors' first home match of the season will be contested Jan. 4 against Orange Glen. The Fallbrook Union High School District cancelled classes for Dec. 8, and the Warriors also withdrew from the Jimmy Hamada Classic tournament Dec. 8-9 at La Costa Canyon High School. "That was three days we weren't able to compete," Vera said.

Army-Navy Academy hosted a tri-meet competition Dec. 14 involving wrestlers from Army-Navy, Oceanside, and Fallbrook. Each wrestler had a bout against his weight class counterparts from each of the other two schools and the team results were based on the points from the matches between those two teams. Fallbrook secured a 69-9 victory over Oceanside and a 54-24 triumph against Army-Navy. "Across the board everyone did excellent," Vera said.

Each of the Beckmann brothers pinned both of their opponents; Caleb Beckmann was in the 220-pound class and Gavin Beckmann was Fallbrook's 285-pound representative. Pins against both Oceanside and Army-Navy were also obtained by 170-pound grappler Enrique Volquardsen and by 182-pound competitor Eli Moreno. Fallbrook's 113-pound wrestler, Raul Hernandez, pinned his Army-Navy opponent in the first period while winning by default against Oceanside.

Eric Beckmann and Curt Permito are Vera's varsity assistant coaches. Luke Leninberger and Christian Romero are coaching Fallbrook's junior varsity this season.

"I'm happy to be back," Vera said.