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Wagaman qualifies for state tournament

Jacob Wagaman placed fourth at the CIF Masters wrestling championships February 23-24 at San Ysidro High School, qualifying the Fallbrook High School senior for a berth in the state tournament this weekend in Bakersfield.

Wagaman won three of his five matches during the double-elimination tournament, and one of those losses was for the third-place position after he had already qualified in the 215-pound class.

Wagaman had been seeded sixth among the 24 wrestlers in the weight division. “It’s a really good honor and a big thing,” said Fallbrook head coach Roye Oliver. “I think it is one of the strongest 215 classes out of San Diego County in a while.”

The Masters tournament encompasses all four school enrollment divisions and takes 24 wrestlers from each weight class: eight from Division I schools, six apiece from Division II and Division III, and four from Division IV. The selections are based on results in the CIF tournament for each division, and Wagaman finished fourth in the CIF Division I tournament.

Wagaman began the tournament against Allen Burns of Westview High School, who was seeded twelfth and finished second in the Division II tournament. Wagaman pinned Burns 90 seconds into the first round.

Wagaman then faced Angel Romero of Central High School, who was seeded fourth and who won the Division III tournament. With 53 seconds remaining in the third round, Wagaman pinned Romero.

Wagaman’s first loss came to second-seeded Matt Lewellen of Poway High School, who had placed second in the Division I tournament. Lewellen came away with a 16-3 victory to send Wagaman into the losers’ bracket.

In the match to qualify for the state tournament, Wagaman wrestled 20th-seeded Tim Pugsley of Monte Vista, who had placed fourth in Division III. A 12-5 win over Pugsley gained Wagaman the state berth.

The loss to Wagaman was the final defeat in the Masters tournament for Romero, and the third-place match was a rematch between the two. Romero pinned Wagaman in the contest whose biggest stake was the seeding in the state tournament.

Oliver noted that the loss also provided Wagaman with guidance to prepare for the state tournament. “He’s just got to be ready to go,” Oliver said.

Wagaman’s father, Greg, is Oliver’s assistant coach. “I’m really happy for my head assistant,” Oliver said.

All five Fallbrook wrestlers in the Masters won at least one of their matches. Sophomore Brett Jones, who wrestled in the 105-pound division, won six of eight matches and finished fifth, one spot away from a state berth. “He should be one of the guys going to state,” Oliver said. “Brett just got the short end on the seeding meeting.”

Because of a rule limiting wrestlers to five matches in a day, Jones had to default to Vista’s Jesse Cativiela at the CIF Division I tournament rather than face Cativiela in the third-place match. Jones was seeded 14th in the Masters while Cativiela was seeded sixth. “We’re going to live with it,” Oliver said of the seeding of Jones.

Jones’ seeding gave him two bouts against Poway’s Matt Welsh, who was seeded third and had finished second in the Division I championship. “You’ve just got to be dominant in the weight class,” Oliver said.

Oliver isn’t the only coach who believes that the seeding system should be reviewed for refinement. In the 191-pound division Mountain Empire’s Robin Peak was seeded last among the 24 wrestlers despite winning the Division IV championship. Peak won the Masters and pinned top-seeded Sean Hill of Poway in the process.

Jones began the Masters with a third-round pin of Westview’s Andrew Dibble before losing 6-2 on points to Welsh. Jones then took a 5-0 points win over Holtville’s Benji Angulo and a 6-0 points victory against Ramona’s Waldo Saldivar.

In his next match Jones faced Daniel Romero, who had finished seventh in the CIF Division I championship but who was seeded fourth. Jones earned a 5-2 victory against Romero to stave off elimination.

In addition to Romero, Zach McClanahan of Granite Hills was also seeded ahead of Jones despite a lower finish in the Division I tournament. McClanahan was fifth in the Division I championship but seeded fifth in the Masters. During the season Jones had defeated both Cativiela and McClanahan.

At the CIF Division IV championships, Priscilla Caldera of Imperial High School had become the first female wrestler to win a CIF division title in the San Diego Section. A week later, Jones became the first wrestler in the San Diego Section to eliminate a female champion when he followed his win over Romero with a 6-5 decision over the tenth-seeded Caldera.

In the match for a state berth Jones was pinned by Welsh in the second round, thus contributing to another piece of history as Poway became the first team ever to qualify for the state tournament in all 14 weight divisions. Jones and J.R. Mathys of El Camino were given a final match for fifth place, and Jones earned the higher position with a 6-2 victory.

In the 114-pound class, Fallbrook sophomore David Lopez won two matches before losing his second match. Fallbrook senior Shannon Cone, who competed in the 147-pound division, also won two matches before his second loss. Sophomore Haden Lundy won one of his 137-pound matches before he was eliminated.

“It was a good outcome for Fallbrook,” Oliver said.

 

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