Montoya reaches El Cajon Invitational championship match

The El Cajon Invitational high school wrestling tournament retained its name after it was moved from Valhalla High School to San Ysidro High School. The 49th annual El Cajon Invitational tournament, Dec. 13-14, included a second-place result for Fallbrook High School senior Javier Montoya, and three other Warriors placed in the top eight.

Fallbrook placed 10th among the 50 teams which won at least one match at the tournament and sixth among CIF San Diego Section schools. The tournament had 14 weight classes, and Fallbrook only took eight wrestlers to San Ysidro.

“For us to have made it that far speaks volumes for our program,” Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera said.

Five of the eight Fallbrook grapplers reached the quarterfinals, although one lost in the medal round of the double-elimination tournament.

“We didn’t go with very many guys,” Vera said.

Montoya wrestled in the heavyweight division. He received a first-round bye and began the competition by pinning Steven Segovia of Cienega High School from Vail, Arizona, 1:42 into the match. Juan Cobian of San Diego’s Southwest High School was Montoya’s next opponent, and Montoya won that match by fall 1:48 after it began. Sebasia Valdez of Monte Vista High School defaulted his quarterfinal match with Montoya.

The semifinal match between Montoya and Saul Villa of Moses Lake High School in Washington went the full three periods. Montoya won a 5-4 division to meet Frontier High School junior Jake Andrews of Bakersfield in the final.

“It was a tough one, but he pulled through,” Vera said.

Andrews, who was the division’s second seed, pinned the fifth-seeded Montoya 1:02 into the championship match.

Montoya defeated the first and fourth seeds.

“That was impressive to me,” Vera said. “It’s about who shows up and how bad you want to win. Seeding doesn’t matter, and he finally convinced himself of it.”

Vera wrestled for Fallbrook High School and was a freshman during the 2007-2008 season. Montoya became the first Fallbrook High School wrestler to reach the final of the El Cajon Invitational in any weight class since Vera became involved with the program 12 years earlier.

The 195-pound division included senior Carlos Hernandez. After a first-round bye he pinned Brett Laing of San Ysidro High School 13 seconds into the match. Hernandez’s next match lasted 59 seconds and ended when he pinned Zayne Higuera of Mountain Empire High School. In the quarterfinals Hernandez won a 9-3 decision against Michael Miller of Bonita Vista High School.

Nicholas Pira of Guajome Park High School was Hernandez’s semifinal opponent. The second-seeded Pira won by fall 1:06 into the second quarter.

“He struggled after that to come back,” Vera said.

The tournament had a double elimination format, although the consolation semifinals losers competed for fifth and sixth place and the consolation quarterfinals losers had a bout for seventh and eighth place. Hernandez was placed in the consolation semifinals against Lionel Turner of Vista, who won a 9-6 decision. That put Hernandez into the match for fifth and sixth place against Miller, who pinned Hernandez 37 seconds into the match and relegated Hernandez to sixth place.

“He did make it very far in the tournament. He did win his quarterfinal match in a very impressive manner,” Vera said.

Hernandez began wrestling as a junior, so this is his second season in the sport.

“I’m very impressed with how well he was able to do at this event,” Vera said.

Johnny Bermudez won his seventh-place match in the 220-pound division. The junior had a first-round bye and pinned Bryan Avila of Sweetwater 49 seconds into that contest. Bermudez won a 7-4 decision against Marcos Andrade of Imperial High School.

Marcos Nguyen of Rancho Bernardo High School pinned Bermudez 1:24 into the second period of the quarterfinal match.

“It was a tight match, and he made a little mistake,” Vera said.

Bermudez pinned Liam Clark of Santana 1:24 into that match. That placed Bermudez into the losers’ bracket quarterfinals, and Kisione Taufa of San Marcos won a 2-1 decision.

Bermudez faced Owen Firm of Sultana High School of Hesperia in the seventh-place match. A victory by fall 1:26 into the bout gave Bermudez seventh place.

A wrestler may compete in the weight class above what he scales but not in a division below his weight. Vera and senior Kevin Sanchez chose to enter Sanchez in the 138-pound division rather than in the 132-pound bracket.

“We wanted to test the waters at 138 pounds,” Vera said.

At the end of the season a two-pound weight allowance is granted to recognize that wrestlers will grow before the CIF division, all-division masters and state tournaments. That would allow Sanchez to compete in the 132-pound division if he weighed no more than 134 pounds, but Sanchez and Vera expect that by the end of the season Sanchez will be a 138-pound grappler.

“We wanted to see how well he wrestled at his natural weight,” Sanchez said. “We just wanted to test and see what 138 looked like and felt like for Kevin.”

Sanchez had a first-round bye. His match against Caidan Romenesko of Granite Hills ended 1:54 into the bout when Sanchez pinned Romenesko. Enzo Alpinieri of Cathedral Catholic High School was Sanchez’s next opponent but only for 30 seconds before Sanchez was declared the victor by pin.

Sanchez was seeded fifth in the weight bracket. Steele Canyon matman Ezra Cardenas was given the fourth seed. Cardenas sent Sanchez to the losers’ bracket with a 13-6 decision in the quarterfinals. The first consolation match for Sanchez was against Elias Munoz of Rancho Buena Vista High School, and Sanchez pinned Munoz five seconds into the third period. An 8-6 decision loss to Ricardo Castillo put Sanchez into the bout for seventh and eighth place. That match went into overtime before Jacob Ramirez of Rancho Mirage High School scored two points on a takedown and won by a 6-4 decision.

“He fell a little bit short there,” Vera said.

Sanchez still received a medal for eighth place.

“He went up a weight class to challenge himself and still managed to place,” Vera said.

Fallbrook had two wrestlers in the 138-pound division. Ramirez pinned Uriel Juarez in the second round after Juarez received a first-round bye. Juarez then lost a 4-2 decision to Sunniboy Motas of Rancho Buena Vista.

Matthew Kendall competed in the 152-pound bracket. He reached the quarterfinals before losing and then lost in the match whose winner was given a position among the top eight.

“They were both against tough kids,” Vera said. “We have to learn from the mistakes we made. Little mistakes can be easily fixed with practice and repetition.”

Vera, his assistant coaches, and his wrestlers will be working on that throughout the season.

“I think we’ll impress a lot of people in the community,” Vera said.