Sanchez wins Robert Jenkins Memorial tournament

Fallbrook High School junior Kevin Sanchez won the 126-pound class at the Robert Jenkins Memorial wrestling tournament, Jan. 26, at Mount Miguel High School.

Seven Fallbrook wrestlers competed in the tournament, and six of those placed in the Top seven.

“We did pretty well there,” Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera said. “I couldn’t be happier with my group of guys.”

Although the Warriors only filled seven of the 14 weight classes, Fallbrook still placed eighth as a team.

“They wrestled great. They wrestled phenomenal,” Vera said. “I’m very happy with it.”

Sanchez received a first-round bye. He pinned his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents to set up a championship match against Grossmont High School junior Sebastian Coates. Sanchez defeated Coates in an 8-7 decision.

“It was a fantastic final. They were back and forth. Kevin found a way to win at the end,” Vera said.

The match was the last for Sanchez before the CIF Division II tournament.

“There’s no better way to go to CIF than at the top of the podium,” Vera said.

Javier Montoya placed third in the heavyweight division. The junior lost in the semifinals but won his third-place match.

“He did really well,” Vera said. “He’s on the right track to become one of the top scorers in the heavyweight division.”

Although the tournament had a double-elimination format, the CIF has a limit of five matches in one day, so any wrestler who lost in the first round had to advance in the consolation bracket and could finish no higher than fifth. If the field was large enough the consolation bracket wrestlers were limited to four matches.

Three Fallbrook wrestlers lost in the semifinals and lost a consolation bracket match to receive an unspecified fifth-place or sixth-place finish: sophomore Uriel Juarez in the 132-pound bracket, junior Marco Alejandre in the 120-pound division and freshman Ethan Ellefsen in the 106-pound class.

“They all wrestled fantastic. They all wrestled phenomenal matches,” Vera said.

Because the positions were unspecified the fifth-place or sixth-place wrestlers did not receive medals.

“It was just unfortunate that they didn’t get a chance to wrestle for a medal,” Vera said.

Carlos Hernandez lost to his seeded 195-pound opponent in the opening match, but the junior took a seventh-place finish.

“He wrestled back,” Vera said.

Seventh place earned a wrestler a medal, and Hernandez won his ensuing three matches to take home one of those.

“He pinned all three of his opponents and was on a mission to get a medal,” Vera said.