Hernandez sixth at Masters tournament

Fallbrook High School senior Carlos Hernandez closed out his high school wrestling career with sixth place at the CIF San Diego Section Masters wrestling tournament, Feb. 21-22, at Southwest High School in El Centro.

Hernandez competed in the 197-pound bracket of the all-division tournament and ended his high school career with a loss in the fifth-place match against Michael Miller of Bonita Vista High School.

“I’m thrilled that he was able to finish where he finished,” Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera said. “When he needed to win the most, he was able to pull it off.”

The tournament had a double-elimination format although the consolation semifinals losers competed for fifth and sixth place following their second loss of the tournament.

Hernandez had a first-round bye. He faced Miller and won a 10-7 decision. In addition to wrestling each other twice in the Masters tournament Hernandez and Miller had also faced each other twice in pre-league tournaments. The two had split their pre-league matches.

The win over Miller put Hernandez into the quarterfinals against Laith Gilmore of Poway High School, who had defeated Hernandez in the final of the Division II tournament and who would finish second in the Masters. Gilmore pinned Hernandez 42 seconds into the match.

“Carlos never lost that motivation to try to make it to state,” Vera said.

The wrestlers in the top four in each weight class qualified for the state tournament, Feb. 28-29, at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. Hernandez needed to win three matches after his loss to Gilmore and won two. He began his consolation bracket competition with a 9-0 major decision win against Jeffrey Dotson of Patrick Henry High School.

That victory pitted Hernandez against Guajome Park High School senior Nick Pira, who had defeated Hernandez four times in tournaments including twice in championship matches.

Hernandez won the bout in the Masters tournament.

“That was pretty cool,” Vera said.

The win was by decision, and the score was 5-3.

“It was definitely a hard-fought battle,” Vera said.

Hernandez thus not only advanced to the top six but also defeated Pira for the first time in five matches during the season.

“On any given day you can beat anybody,” Vera said.

Guajome Park is coached by Greg Wagaman, who was Fallbrook’s head coach from 2008 to 2014. Vera is a 2011 Fallbrook High School graduate and wrestled for Wagaman in Vera’s sophomore, junior and senior years.

“I definitely want to congratulate Coach Wagaman and Nick Pira,” Vera said.

The winner of the consolation semifinal between Hernandez and Kurtis Modlin of Mira Mesa High School would qualify for the state tournament. Modlin pinned Hernandez with 27 seconds left in regulation and defeated Nicholas Blanchard of Rancho Bernardo High School in the match for third place.

Blanchard won a 3-2 decision over Miller in the other consolation semifinal so Miller, who had won four matches between his losses to Hernandez and Blanchard, faced Hernandez in the bout for fifth place. Miller obtained that higher position with a 14-0 major decision win against Hernandez.

Hernandez began wrestling as a junior, so he achieved sixth place in the masters in his second season in the sport.

“He’s accomplished so much,” Vera said.

The top seven wrestlers in each weight class at the divisional tournament Feb. 15, at Steele Canyon High School qualified for the Masters tournament, while the eighth-place wrestler at the divisional tournament became the alternate for the Masters meet. The alternate competes in the Masters if one of the top seven wrestlers cannot compete due to injury or illness or scales overweight at the Masters’ weigh-in. Seven of Fallbrook’s wrestlers placed among the top seven at the divisional tournament, sophomore Brian Greenwood was eighth in the 162-pound bracket but competed in the Masters, and two other Fallbrook matmen were alternates but would have participated in the Masters had they been healthy enough to do so.

Hernandez was one of three Fallbrook seniors to qualify for the Masters. The other two, Kevin Sanchez and Javier Montoya, both finished in the top 12 after losing their matches to advance to the top eight.

“I don’t think it takes anything away from them,” Vera said of Sanchez and Montoya being one win away from the top eight.

Sanchez was in the 134-pound class. Andres Hollenbeck of La Costa Canyon High School pinned Sanchez in the second period of the match for the top eight. Sanchez qualified for the masters meet three times during his high school career.

Montoya wrestled in the heavyweight class. He closed out his high school career with a 4-3 decision loss to Rancho Bernardo’s Antonio Mejia Perez in the bout whose winner would be in the top eight. The participation at the Masters tournament was the second for Montoya.

“As a coach I definitely couldn’t have asked for two better examples of wrestlers and two great leaders,” Vera said.

Johnny Bermudez placed in the top eight but not in the top six. The junior was in the 222-pound division.

“He had himself an exceptional tournament,” Vera said.

Bermudez began the Masters tournament by pinning Christian Venegas of Montgomery High School 27 seconds into the second period.

David Flores of Vista High School won the 222-pound championship at the Division II tournament. Bermudez defeated Flores by a 6-2 decision in the second round of the masters.

“It was a pretty solid win,” Vera said.

Second-seeded Fernie Reyes of San Pasqual High School pinned Bermudez in the quarterfinals, but in his first consolation match Bermudez pinned Aiden Haimovitch of Mira Mesa High School 30 seconds into the second period. The consolation quarterfinal between Bermudez and Javier Reyes of Orange Glen High School was settled when Reyes pinned Bermudez 1:10 into the match.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled with Johnny Bermudez,” Vera said.

Ethan Aguila concluded his sophomore season with a 2-2 record in the 154-pound division.

“He held his own against some of the best guys in the county,” Vera said.

Carlos Beltran is also a sophomore. He won his first 122-pound bout before two losses ended his time on the mat. Greenwood lost both of his matches in the Masters, as did sophomore Ethan Ellefsen in the 115-pound class.

Uriel Juarez was the 140-pound alternate, but the junior aggravated a back injury between the divisional tournament and the Masters so he could not take advantage of the withdrawal of other 140-pound wrestlers. Matthew Kendall was Fallbrook’s 147-pound wrestler but was placed under concussion protocol during the divisional tournament, causing the junior to lose the seventh-place match by medical forfeit and be held out of the masters.

Fallbrook placed third as a team in the Division II tournament despite only filling 12 of the 14 weight classes. The Warriors were undefeated in their six dual meets during the season, including the five Valley League dual meets which gave Fallbrook a wrestling league championship for the first time in school history.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled with what these guys have accomplished so far,” Vera said.

Including the two alternates who were medically unable to compete in the masters, the 10 Fallbrook wrestlers include seven who are expected to return to the team for the 2020-2021 season. Five of the eight Warriors who competed in the Masters are likely to be on next season’s team.

“I think the program is going in the right direction,” Vera said. “We have a lot of work to do, and I think these guys are motivated to do it.”