Warriors host wrestling division tournament, qualify six for masters

Fallbrook High School was the site of the CIF Division II wrestling championship tournament Feb. 9, and the Fallbrook team not only hosted the tournament but also advanced six Warriors to the all-division Masters Tournament.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better tournament,” Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera said.

Even without more than half of Fallbrook’s wrestlers placing high enough to qualify for the Feb. 15-16 Masters Tournament at San Marcos High School, the tournament was considered successful by the host school.

“As a tournament it was phenomenal,” Vera said.

The other coaches and the CIF liked Fallbrook’s organizational efforts, he said.

“We got nothing but positive things,” Vera said.

The CIF provides funding to the host site to help cover expenses, and the wrestling program also raised money through the snack bar sales. The wrestling program netted approximately $2,500 from the tournament.

“I couldn’t have asked for better help from my team parents,” Vera said.

The top seven finishers in each weight class at the Division II tournament qualified for the Masters Tournament while the eighth-place finisher was the alternate in case one of the qualifiers was injured, ill or failed to make weight. Even with the additional 2-pound allowance each class is given at the end of the season, Fallbrook junior Kevin Sanchez was overweight at the Masters Tournament scaling after placing sixth among 128-pound wrestlers as the division tournament. Sanchez had been seeded sixth at the masters, whose top eight wrestlers in each class qualified for the state tournament, so had Sanchez maintained his weight and prevailed over lower-seeded opponents he would have advanced to the state meet in Bakersfield. For Sanchez that is a lesson learned, and for Vera, lessons learned both with regard to weight and in terms of technique translate into improvement for the 2019-2020 season.

Ethan Aguila avoided being the 147-pound alternate when the freshman pinned his Scripps Ranch opponent in the seventh-place match at the Division II meet.

Four of Fallbrook’s wrestlers placed fifth at the division championships: sophomore Matthew Kendall in the 142-pound bracket, junior Carlos Hernandez in the 197-pound class, sophomore Johnny Bermudez in the 222-pound competition and junior Javier Montoya in the heavyweight bracket.

“I think they represented us well,” Vera said.

The six Fallbrook wrestlers who placed were among the 10 Warriors in the division tournament. “I think that our numbers are definitely getting higher,” Vera said.

Five of Fallbrook’s wrestlers placed in the top seven at last year’s Division II tournament, and in 2017 three Warriors were in the top seven.

“Those guys gave me everything they had this season,” Vera said. “Next year I think we’ll come back even better.”

Wrestling tournaments have a double-elimination format although a wrestler who advanced far enough in the consolation bracket to compete for a placing position may have a subsequent match. Aguila and Bermudez both wrestled only two matches at the Masters Tournament and lost both. Kendall and Hernandez each had three wins and two losses Feb. 15, with the second loss depriving them of advancing to the second day of the tournament. Montoya won two matches and lost one, but a concussion forced him to withdraw from masters competition.

“All these guys performed very, very well,” Vera said.

Fallbrook’s only senior did not qualify for the Masters Tournament, so the five matmen who competed are all expected to return to the Warriors’ program next year.

“It’s definitely going to help motivate them,” Vera said of their participation in the masters. “I think all in all it was a successful season. I’m more than satisfied with the way the season ended.”

High resolution images can be viewed at https://villagenews.smugmug.com/2019/2019-February/Aguila-places-second-Beatty-and-Greenwood-take-third