JV Holiday Duals successful financially and competitively

Fallbrook High School’s wrestling team hosted the JV Holiday Duals meet Dec. 21 at the Fallbrook High School gymnasium, and the tournament met the team’s financial goals as well as the objective of providing experience for younger wrestlers.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way that it went,” Fallbrook head coach Cristian Vera said. “The tournament definitely did its purpose,” Vera said. “It definitely met my expectations both financially and competitively.”

Vera founded the tournament in 2018.

“It’s going to be an annual tournament,” he said.

The tournament had two purposes. The first serves as a fundraiser for Fallbrook’s wrestling program.

“That’s the No. 1 reason why we do a tournament and why we host one,” Vera said.

The second reason is to develop wrestlers at the junior varsity level.

“I really like to do JV events for our younger guys,” Vera said. “I’m a big fan of JV wrestling. It’s really fun to watch the guys develop.”

The tournament raised more than $2,000. Vera also traded entry fees with four other schools, allowing those schools to enter the JV Holiday Duals at no charge in exchange for those schools waiving Fallbrook’s entry fee for their tournaments.

Del Rey Avocado donated several boxes of avocados to be sold at the snack bar.

“We sold out of avocados. It was a big hit for us,” Vera said.

Instinct Fitness Apparel, a Fallbrook company owned by former Fallbrook High School wrestler Daniel Vilchis, provided gear to the team members.

Vera also noted the support of the parents.

“I;m really humbled by how much effort they put into this,” he said.

Vera said that other donations are still welcome.

“Our tournament expenses are paid, but we’re still looking to raise money for new mats in the future and new equipment in the future,” he said.

Ten schools entered the tournament and were split into two pools of five squads each. Each team wrestled each of the other teams in its pool. The teams which finished first in their pools then wrestled for first and second place, the second-place pool teams had a competition for third and fourth place, and the other teams with the same pool standings finishes faced each other for the remaining positions.

Fallbrook had a 2-2 pool record to place third. The Warriors defeated Mission Hills and Canyon Crest high school while losing to Mount Carmel and Murrieta Valley high schools. The score of the Warriors’ match against Murrieta Valley was 36-35 in the Nighthawks’ favor.

The Warriors had 10 wrestlers and forfeited the 170-pound, 182-pound, 195-pound and 220-pound weight classes.

Patrick Henry High School took first place by defeating Mount Carmel in the championship match. Murrieta Valley placed third after defeating La Costa Canyon High School in the placing match which gave the Mavericks fourth place.

Fallbrook faced Great Oak High School in the fifth-place match and defeated the Wolfpack to give Fallbrook fifth place in the tournament.

“I’m definitely really proud of our team and I'm proud of the effort they put together,” Vera said. “We were competitive in every dual.”

Although sophomore Ethan Aguila normally wrestles at the varsity level, he was ill during his freshman year and did not compete in the 2018 JV Holiday Duals. Vera honored Aguila’s request to compete in the 2019 JV tournament.

“He wanted a chance to do it, and I had him bump up a weight class,” Vera said. “It was a good test for him."”

Aguila was bumped up two weight classes from his normal 145-pound competition. A wrestler is allowed to compete in the division above his weight level but not in a class below his weight. Aguila scaled above the maximum allowable weight to be in the 145-pound class Dec. 21, so the 160-pound competition was one weight class above the 152-pound division which matched his weight range on the day of the tournament.

Competition against 160-pound junior varsity wrestlers was not an obstacle for Aguila. He won all five of his matches and all of those were on the mat rather than by forfeit.

Fallbrook’s other varsity wrestlers assisted with the tables to help raise money for the program.

Two of Fallbrook’s grapplers won four matches and lost one: Alex Calvillo in the 138-pound division and Nik Allen in the 145-pound class. The losses for both Calvillo and Allen were by decision rather than by pin, and all of their victories were on the mat.

“They definitely impressed,” Vera said.

The feedback from other schools was also positive.

“We got nothing but praise from the other coaches about how well we ran the tournament,” Vera said. “I just want to thank the community of Fallbrook. I’m at a loss for words how much this community cares for us.”