Warriors sixth as team at Jim Londos Memorial

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Despite not filling most of the weight classes at the Jim Londos Memorial wrestling tournament Jan. 15 at Orange Glen High School, Fallbrook High School finished sixth in the team standings.

Team points are based on how far a school’s wrestler advances in each bracket along with the type of victory obtained. “I’m very excited about how we did,” said Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera. “The vast majority of our wins were by pin, so that kept us in the loop.”

Brawley accumulated 145 points for the team championship. Torrey Pines had the fifth-place total of 88 points. Fallbrook obtained 86 points. Scripps Ranch had the seventh-place figure of 81 1/2 points.

For Fallbrook, the Jim Londos Memorial was preceded by a Jan. 13 dual meet at home against San Marcos. The Warriors had to forfeit nine weight classes, including two which were a double forfeit since San Marcos did not have a grappler in that division.

San Marcos also forfeited the heavyweight class, giving Francisco Andraca the victory and giving Fallbrook six team points. San Marcos won six matches by forfeit, one by pin, and one by decision. Fallbrook’s victories were pins by 128-pounder Ethan Ellefsen, 140-pounder Marco Arias, and 154-pounder Ethan Aguila.

“We weren’t able to match up,” Vera said.

The forfeits contributed to a 45-24 San Marcos victory, although Fallbrook won three of the five contested matches. Including the junior varsity bouts, 12 matches were contested that day, and the Warriors won eight. “I think that bodes well for our future,” Vera said.

Nine Warriors traveled to Orange Glen for the Jim Londos Memorial. “We were able to bring some extra bodies with us to get them some mat time,” Vera said.

Aguila competed in the 147-pound division Jan. 15 and took second in the class. He began competition with a pin of Brawley’s Andrew Ramirez 50 seconds into the second period. A pin of Mount Carmel’s Thomas Speer with nine seconds remaining in the first period advanced Aguila to the semifinal, where he took a 10-1 major decision against Zachary Hudlow of Mission Hills.

Jonathan Saenz of Canyon Crest defeated Aguila in the final. “It was a very competitive match,” Vera said.

Saenz had a 9-7 lead after the second period and won an 11-8 decision. Although he lost in a tournament finals for the second week in a row, Aguila reached the championship match Jan. 15 as well as at the Mission Hills Invitational tournament Jan. 8.

“It’s really important to be able to get into those later rounds,” Vera said.

Vera explained that wrestling that caliber of competition will prepare Aguila for the CIF tournament. “I have no doubt that Ethan’s going to do the work to get to where he needs to be,” Vera said.

The CIF Division II tournament will take place Feb. 12, and those who place high enough will compete in the all-division masters tournament the following weekend.

Fallbrook had three 122-pound wrestlers at the Jim Londos Memorial including Ellefsen, who placed third. Ellefsen’s first match ended as a pin of Joshua DeCremer of Valley Center with 58 seconds left in the third period. Ellefsen then pinned Gavyn Love of Oceanside 14 seconds into the second period.

Badr Hage Hassan of Del Norte won a 22-7 technical fall against Ellefsen in the semifinals. “It was definitely a dogfight,” Vera said.

Ellefsen’s first consolation bracket match was a 5-3 decision over Quentin Viramontes of Scripps Ranch. That put Ellefsen into the third-place match against Aydan Wohlford of Otay Ranch. Ellefsen pinned Wohlford 41 seconds into the second period.

“He didn’t let the loss get into his head,” Vera said. “I’m very, very happy with his performance.”

Daniel Wilson lost both of his 122-pound matches by pin but lasted into the third period in his consolation match. Fisher Phillips was pinned in his first match, pinned his Castle Park opponent in his first consolation match, and then lost by pin.

A wrestler is limited to five matches in a day, which cost Arias the opportunity to wrestle for third place in the 140-pound division. Arias began the tournament with a pin of Mission Hills’ Eliel Santiago 54 seconds into the second period but was then pinned by Rahman Ferguson of San Ysidro with 12 seconds remaining in the first period. In his first consolation match, Arias pinned Lucas Davis of Valley Center 56 seconds after the start of the contest. Arias then pinned Jay Totanes of Vista 47 seconds into the second period and pinned Garrett Elliott of Scripps Ranch at the end of the first period.

The results gave Arias a 4-1 record for the day. “I’m very happy with his performance,” Vera said.

Xavier Pacheco placed fifth in the 115-pound bracket. He pinned Derrick Nguyen of Patrick Henry 54 seconds into the second period before being pinned by Riley Budd of Mission Hills at the end of the second period.

Fallbrook’s other 115-pound wrestler, Benji Moreno, lost a 12-7 decision in the consolation bracket to Cristoforo Martinez of Del Norte, which advanced Martinez to a consolation bracket match against Pacheco. Pacheco pinned Martinez 40 seconds into the second period and then pinned Colin Scott of Torrey Pines 42 seconds into the second period.

The fifth match of the day for Pacheco was a 9-4 decision loss against Alex Adler of Patrick Henry. Although Pacheco could not compete in the fifth-place match Budd had been disqualified in his semifinal bout and had to forfeit his subsequent matches including the fifth-place competition, so Pacheco was awarded fifth place. “He had earned the right to get there,” Vera said.

Osprey Espinoza was in the 134-pound bracket. He was pinned by Mount Carmel’s Alex Valladares 37 seconds into his first match, began the consolation bracket with a medical forfeit win over Bryce Fullerton of Rancho Buena Vista, defeated Eriksson Kylstad of Patrick Henry in a 13-4 major decision, and was pinned by Escondido’s Ruben Rivera with 35 seconds left in the second period.

In the 222-pound competition, Izaak Reyes of Oceanside pinned Fallbrook’s Tank Benitez 1:00 into their match. Benitez was then pinned by Joel Maya of Montgomery 1:20 into that match.

“It was another fantastic weekend of wrestling for us,” Vera said.