Mighty Poway wrestling moved back up to Division I and you could see an immediate impact — they lost four matches!
After a decade down at Division II, the Titans returned to the largest school division, amassing 379 team points and 10 champions to outdistance the field to claim their 42nd total and 41st straight sectional title Saturday at Rancho Bernardo High School.
The host Broncos finished a distant second with 213 points. Two South Bay teams came in third and fourth, Otay Ranch finished with 134 and Eastlake right behind with 127.
“We had a few guys lose, but every one was in the fight all the way to the end,” said Poway head coach John Meyers, who saw his team’s only losses be in the finals by a total of 11 combined points. “Of course we have to get better in some positions, but I’m really excited to see how those guys who lost can turn the tables around.”
One of those losses came at 120 pounds, where Rancho Bernardo’s four-time CIF champion Jacob Jones got a first-period takedown and a second-period reversal and held on for a 4-2 decision over Poway’s Billy Townson.
“I always really enjoy wrestling Poway guys, they’re always tough,” said Jones, currently ranked No. 5 in the state. “I can’t let up, I’m a senior and every match could be my last in high school.”
The Titans came out quickly in the finals, getting a pair of pins from Devin Bobzien at 106 and Edwin Sierra at 113, both in the exact same time of 1:43.
Elias Navida righted the ship after the Jones victory for Poway, decisioning Rancho Bernardo’s RJ Villegas 2-0 at 126.
The finals during this portion seemed to be a rematch of the team’s dual meet.
One major difference came at 132, where RB’s Brandon Eusebio avenged his dual meet loss to Poway’s Jalen Concepcion by downing him 7-3 in the final.
“He beat me earlier, 5-4,” said Eusebio. “That was the first time I cut to 134. But it proves all the hard work I’ve been putting in is working.”
That set off a string of six straight impressive victories by the state’s No. 2 ranked Titans.
Four of the six came by pin.
The quickest of the falls came at 184, where Callen O’Mahoney pinned Otay Ranch’s Diego Camacho in just 26 seconds.
Angelo Posada also had a first-period pin at 160, downing Mission Hills’ Thomas Cho in 1:13.
Paul Kelly’s pin in 2:29 at 140 and Luke Condon’s fall at 4:24 at 172 rounded out that streak of pins until Adam Farha pinned San Marcos’ Tevita Taufa in 1:22 at 285. Laird Root added a 13-3 major decision over Marcus Caro of RB at 145 and Aliaksandr Kidiniou added a solid 10-3 decision over Mission Hills’ Tyler Brown at 152
The other two non-Poway champions were by Eastlake’s Alejandro Martinez at 195 and Patrick Henry’s Elijah Vinoray at 220.
“We made some big adjustments after the Doc Buchanan and it’s helped,” summed up Condon, the No. 1 170-pounder in the state. “We’re not practicing just to practice anymore. We’re coming after Buchanan, and they’re scared.”
Division III
Host Brawley claimed its 24th sectional team title by sending nine wrestlers to the final, with six champions at the Division III Championship.
The Wildcats finished with 303.5 points, well ahead of second-place finisher La Costa Canyon, which had 250.
Leading the way for Brawley was Robert Platt, who pinned his way through the tournament at 195 pounds. In the final he needed just 2:19 (his longest time on the mat all day) to down Esteban Gonzalez of Montgomery.
Anthony Tamay won by a 9-0 major decision over Santana’s Michael Gans at 113.
Also adding championships for the hosts were Karim Allal at 126, Mathew Guiterrez at 172 and David Martinez at 220.
San Diego Section Championships
DIVISION I
At Rancho Bernardo High
Team: Poway 379, Rancho Bernardo 213, Otay Ranch 134, Eastlake 127, San Marcos 122, Torrey Pines 117.5, Mission Hills 116, Helix 108.5, Patrick Henry 103, Del Norte 62.5.
Top Seven advance to Masters
Finals: 106 – Bobzien (Pow) pin Cava (TP) 1:43; 113 – Sierra (Pow) pin Vinoray (PH) 1:43 ; 120 – Jones (RB) dec. Townson (RB) 4-2; 126 – Navida (Pow) dec. Villegas (RB) 2-0; 132 – Eusebio (RB) dec. Concepcion 7-3; 138 – Kelly (Pow) pin Harrison (RB) 2:29; 145 – Root (Pow) maj. dec. Caro (RB) 13-3; 152 – Kikiniou (Pow) dec. Brown (MH) 10-3; 160 – Posada (Pow) pin Cho (MH) 1:13; 170 – Condon (Pow) pin Mitrovich (EL) 4:24; 182– O’Mahoney (Pow) pin Camacho (OR) :26; 195 – Martinez (EL) dec.Taylor (Pow) 10-6; 220 – Vinoray (PH) dec. Am. Farha (Pow) 6-5; 285 – Ad. Farha pin Taufa (SM) 1:22.
Third Place: 106 – Hernandez (BV) dec. Jeon (RB) 4-3; 113 – Bolt (TP) dec. Ladao (RB) 6-2; 120 – Wardrobe (OR) dec. Scott (TP) 7-0; 126 – Torga-Eide (OR) dec. Scott (TP) 5-1; 132 – Moedano (MH) dec. Lorello (SM) 5-3; 138 – Hoevker (Hx) tech fall Jimenez (OR) 16-1; 145 – Enciso (MH) dec. Peter (EL) 6-1; 152 – Ochoa (SD) pin Preske (TP) 5:00; 160 –Zingano (EL) dec. Irmen (RB) 9-2 ; 170 – Schwalger (Hx) pin Gillespie (RB) :46; 182– Carter (Hx) pin Limon (DN) :32; 195 – Savaiki (ECam) pin Hernandez (DN) 2:21; 220 – Ballard (EL) pin Ware (SM) 2:24; 285 – Tolentino (OR) dec. Jamison (PH) 2-0.
Fifth Place: 106 – Martinez (OR) dec. Cortes (SM) 4-3; 113 – Dobrowlski (WV) dec. Brown (MH) 8-1; 120 – Martinez (DN) def Krause (PH) inj. default; 126 – Adler (PH) dec. Morales-Haleman (MH) 8-1;132 – Bell (BV) tech fall Umali (TP) 16-1; 138 – Maldonado (SM) def. Falucho (EL) inj. default; 145 – Valdivia (BV) dec. Canchola-Salaices (Cx) 4-3; 152 – Pe (RB) dec. McMahan (ECam) 12-10; 160 – Aguirre (Cx) def. Phung (WV) inj. default; 170 – Ramirez (SM) maj. dec. Moock (ECam) 10-2; 182 – Gomez (SM) dec. Sanchez (Cx) 7-6; 195 – Davis (Hx) def. Mitchell (RB) inj. default; 220 – Del Campo (OR) pin Naeem (Hx) 1:38; 285 – Perez (TP)_ pin Ponce (SD) 2:10.
Seventh Place: 106 – Alshami (PH) maj. dec. Basto (DN) 16-6; 113 – Banaszek (BV) maj. dec. Arballo (EL) 13-1; 120 – Flores (BV) pin Nascinment (Hx) 3:17; 126 – Lee (DN) dec. Salmasi (SM) 6-4; 132 – Perez (Hx) pin Valentin (ECam) 1:56; 138 – Santiago (MH) pin Talbot (PH) 2:16; 145 – Bergren (WV) pin Lee (OR) 2:41; 152 – Pedregal (EL) pin Velasquez (SM) 1:57; 160 – Garcia (SD) pin Nguyen (Hx) 2:06; 170 – Perez (MH) pin Sidiropoulos (WV) :18; 182 – Okazani (TP) dec. Kothe (MH) 7-2; 195 – Kaesberg (SM) pin Dzodzo (TP) 1:37; 220 – Kalfas (DN) dec. Nunez (Cx) 4-0; 285 – Astronomo (RB) pin Dennis (Hx) 4:26.
DIVISION III
At Brawley High
Team: Brawley 303.5, La Costa Canyon 250, Mt. Carmel 155.5, West Hills 142, St. Augustine 123, University City 122.5, Santana 108, Ramona 77, El Capitan 76.5, Southwest (El Centro) 71.
Top Six advance to Masters
Finals: 106 – Vargas (Ram) dec. Martinez (Br) 6-2; 113 – Tamay (Br) maj. dec. Gans (Sant) 9-0; 120 – Velez (Br) dec Ito (LCC) 8-6; 126 – Allal (Br) tech fall Steele (StA) 19-3; 132 – Janetzke (MtC) pin Arias (Br) 2:15; 138 – Holland (MtC) pin Ramirez (Br) 1:27; 145 – Davis (WH) dec. Lin (UC) 11-7; 152 – Mair (LCC) pin Aspericueta (Mont) 5:58; 160 – Perez (LCC) pin Lloyd (Sant) 1:01; 170 – Guiterrez (Br) dec. Sepulveda (LCC) 4-3; 182– Dearborn (WH) def Bojcic (LCC) forfeit;195 – Platt (Br) pin Gonzalez (Mont) 2:19; 220 – Martinez (Br) dec. Blazevich (LCC) 3-2; 285 – Briseno (WH) def. Molina (SWEC) inj. default.
Third Place: 106 – Robinson (MoV) pin Stoops (LCC) 3:41; 113 – Portales (UC) pin Barerra (Ram) :44; 120 – Jones (ECap) dec. Love (Os) 5-2; 126 – Perry (PtL) pin Wittman (CC) 3:56; 132 – Weinberg (LCC) maj dec Smith (CC) 10-2; 138 – Sepulveda (LCC) maj.dec. Sommer (Sant) 8-0; 145 – Cheeseman (MtC) pin Ramirez (Br) 4:00; 152 – Cantor (UC) pin Calvo (MtC) 2:22; 160 – Torres (Br) no contest Mesina (WH); 170 – Aguilar (WH) dec. Magtoto (CC) 7-4; 182 – Castro (Br) pin Soto (SWEC) 1:42; 195 – Conner (LCC) pin Hubbard (Ram) 1:52; 220 – Grohman (StA) pin Parks (ECV) 1:22; 285 – Hernandez (ECV) dec. Pike (LCC) 8-6 OT.
Fifth Place: 106 – Zamora (UC) dec. Montes (Mont) 11-6; 113 – Castillo (SWEC) pin Dew (ECV) 1:24; 120 – Legler (UC) maj. dec. Mahomed (MtC) 10-1; 126 – Patel (MtC) pin Rosales (Os) :35; 132 – Montijo (UC) def. Ackerman (StA) inj default; 138 – Cunningham (StA) dec. Millan (UC) 8-1; 145 – Ayala (SWEC) def Lopez (Os) inj default; 152 – Malott (Sant) dec. Couvrette (WH) 10-5; 160 – Ulloa (MoV) no contest Altamirano (ECap); 170 – Quinto (StA) dec. Clark (Sant) 9-3; 182 – Hussain (ECV) def Moreno (SWEC) inj. default;195 – Perez (StA) maj. dec. Carrera (ECV) 10-1; 220 – Gomes (MtC) pin Leon (Ram) :26; 285 – Nguyen (StA) pin Navarro () 2:06.
Farmer is a freelance writer.
