Four Warrior matmen medal in Mission Hills Invitational

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Four members of Fallbrook High School’s wrestling team received medals for their weight class positions at the Mission Hills Invitational tournament Jan. 8.

Ethan Aguila placed second in the 147-pound bracket; Alex Brown was third in the 154-pound class; Tank Benitez took fifth place among 222-pound grapplers, and Ethan Ellefsen shared fifth place in the 128-pound division.

“I’d say that was a pretty good tournament for us,” said Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera. “I really love how competitive our guys were.”

The CIF recognizes that teenagers grow during the year so, as of Jan. 1, a two-pound allowance is added to each of the 14 weight classes. Fallbrook’s first meet of calendar year 2022 was also the Warriors’ Palomar League opener, although the Jan. 5 competition at Rancho Bernardo ended as a 72-6 Broncos victory.

In each match, a wrestler is given one point for an escape, two points for a takedown, a reversal, or a near fall lasting two to five seconds, and three points for a near fall of at least five seconds. A win by decision provides three team points, a major decision which means a margin of at least eight points is worth four points, a 15-point margin triggers a technical fall which gives five points, and a pin or forfeit win adds six team points.

Fallbrook’s six points were obtained when Xavier Pacheco pinned his 115-pound opponent. Aguila and 108-pounder Nick Brockson lost but limited the Broncos to decision points.

“It was nice not to get zeroed out,” Vera said.

The North County Conference now places teams in leagues based on competitive balance. Fallbrook won the 2019-20 Valley League championship and was moved into the Palomar League.

“It truly is in my opinion the best league in the North County Conference,” Vera said of the Palomar League.

Vera welcomes the tougher competition, since that level is what Fallbrook’s wrestlers will see at the CIF tournament and in the medal rounds of invitationals. “You’re going to have to compete against these guys. You’re going to have to take your lumps,” Vera said. “You cannot escape these guys. They’re going to be there.”

Losing by decision rather than by pin also meant that Aguila and Brockson gained a full six minutes of experience against the higher-level competition. “At no point in those matches did I ever feel that they were completely out of that match,” Vera said.

Both lost by a single point, and both sought a two-point reversal rather than an escape which would have tied the match and sent it into an overtime period. “We were down by a point and we were trying to find a way to finish the match with a pin or finish the match in a big way,” Vera said.

Aguila lost a 5-4 decision to Jack Harrison. “He was taking the more high-risk, high-reward approach,” Vera said of Aguila.

Brockson lost by a 4-3 score.

Harrison also defeated Aguila in the Mission Hills Invitational championship match. Due to injuries and to coronavirus exposure, Vera was only able to take five wrestlers to that tournament. Filling only five out of 14 weight classes wasn’t going to place the Warriors in the team standings, but with four medalists and Brockson winning twice, the Warriors were accumulating points based on match results and round levels. “Pretty much until the finals we were in contention for having one of the top five teams even only having five guys,” Vera said. “We had a lot of guys who were racking up a lot of points.”

Aguila followed a first-round bye with a pin of West Hills matman Tyler Davis 16 seconds into the second period. Aguila reached the finals with a 5-4 decision over Nick Rodriguez of Cathedral Catholic. “It was a very intense match. It was a very hard-fought match for both boys,” Vera said.

During summer competition Rodriguez defeated Aguila. The Jan. 8 match was the first between those two since that match. “That was a big win for Ethan,” Vera said.

Harrison won a 9-0 major decision against Aguila, although the score was 2-0 with one minute remaining in the third period. “It could have gone either way,” Vera said.

Aguila’s higher-risk strategy near the end allowed Harrison to increase his points lead. “Ethan had to go for a big move,” Vera said. “He wrestled a good match. It was pretty neck and neck up to the final period.”

Avoiding a pin meant that Aguila gained another six minutes of experience against the likes of Harrison. “He’s competing against the best guys in the county, and he’s staying competitive in all the matches,” Vera said.

“Ethan Aguila had a fantastic tournament,” Vera said. “I’m very happy with him.”

Brown began the tournament by pinning Marion Ames of El Capitan 55 seconds into the match. Brown then pinned Coastal Academy’s Giancarl Tolentino 17 seconds into the third period. That gave Brown a semifinal match against Tyler Brown of Mission Hills, whose path to the division championship included pinning Alex Brown with 30 seconds remaining in the second period.

“He had a really, really tough opponent in the Mission Hills kid,” Vera said.

Hoover’s Caleb Sturtevan lost in the other semifinal, so Brown and Sturtevan competed in the match for third place. That match lasted 35 seconds and ended with Brown pinning his opponent. “He came back and he had a fantastic third-place match,” Vera said.

“He had a fantastic tournament,” Vera said. “He finished well above what he was seeded.”

Brown was seeded sixth.

Benitez followed an initial bye with a pin of Christian’s Daniel Marquez 49 seconds into the second period. San Pasqual’s Kevin Velasquez pinned Benitez 1:37 into their match. Benitez began consolation bracket competition against Tait Arnold of Hoover, who pinned Benitez 3:21 into that match. In the fifth-place match Benitez pinned Marquez 34 seconds into the third period.

“Both of his wins were by pin, which is very impressive,” Vera said. “Tank is just a fun guy for me to watch.”

Due to a CIF rule limiting wrestlers to five matches in a day, the fifth-place match between Ellefsen and St. Augustine’s Brandon Steele was not held. Ellefsen pinned Vlad Druia of Rancho Bernardo 29 seconds into the third period but was then pinned by Poway’s Logan Lopez 1:51 into that match. Lopez would win the bracket championship.

In the consolation bracket, Ellefsen pinned Dylan Blackwood of West Hills 48 seconds into the contest and pinned Anthony Beltran of Orange Glen 3:31 after that match began. Cathedral’s Jeffrey Johnson pinned Ellefsen 47 seconds into the third period.

“He in my opinion did phenomenally well but obviously ran into some very good kids,” Vera said. “The 126-pound bracket was very tough.”

Brockson pinned San Pasqual’s Vincent Brodesser 3 minutes into that match, but in the second round Carlsbad’s Hector Cahue pinned Brockson 25 seconds into the second period. Brockson began the consolation bracket competition by pinning Valhalla’s Arseel Eliya 26 seconds into the second period. “He came back and bounced back,” Vera said.

Rancho Bernardo’s Kaiden Clapham ended Brockson’s competition with a pin 3:27 into that match.