Sanchez placed on Valley League first team

Six of Fallbrook High School’s wrestlers were given all-league recognition by the Valley League coaches including junior Kevin Sanchez, who was placed on the league’s first team.

The second team included sophomore Uriel Juarez, sophomore Matthew Kendall, freshman Ethan Aguila, junior Carlos Hernandez and junior Javier Montoya.

“They were all neck and neck with every single team this year,” Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera said of his all-league wrestlers.

Escondido and Ramona shared the 2018-2019 Valley League wrestling championship with one loss apiece. Valley Center had two losses, including one to Fallbrook by two points. The Warriors lost to Orange Glen and San Pasqual high schools as well as to Escondido and Ramona high schools, but Fallbrook forfeited at least one weight class in all meets and two weight classes against Orange Glen and San Pasqual.

“This year the league competition was pretty intense,” Vera said.

Sanchez, who received first-team honors for the 126-pound weight bracket, had a 5-0 record in league meets.

“Kevin has done everything that a coach could ask for. He’s wrestled at a high caliber all year,” Vera said. “He represented us very well.”

Kendall was selected for the 140-pound weight class and had a 4-1 record in league dual meets. Aguila also had a 4-1 league record and was named the second-team wrestler for the 145-pound bracket which included Ramona senior Jeff Ramsthaler, who placed second in the CIF San Diego Section’s all-division masters tournament to qualify for the state meet and seventh at the state meet to qualify for the national tournament. Hernandez was given second-team designation for the 195-pound division and was also 4-1 in league matches.

Juarez was named to the second team as a 132-pound wrestler, but he also competed in 138-pound bouts during the league season. He was 3-2 against league opponents, losing once at the 132-pound level and once to a 138-pound opponent.