Dos Pueblos, San Marcos and Santa Barbara High wrestlers turned in a strong showing at the Channel League Individual Tournament on Saturday inside J.R. Richards Gym.
All three teams will now send wrestlers to the CIF-SS Championships next weekend at Canyon Springs High and Roosevelt High for the boys and girls, respectively.
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers led the local trio of teams with 15 wrestlers advancing to the CIF-SS playoffs, along with three alternates.
“It was an exciting day of wrestling for both the girls and boys teams,” Dos Pueblos head coach Matt Bernard said. “From the first whistle of the tournament to the last, they gave it their all and the results followed.
“The coaching staff and I are very proud of their performance today; they wrestled with character, grit, and the will to leave it all on the mat.”
Dos Pueblos 215-pounder Ethan Ono turned in the best performance of any local wrestler on Saturday, winning his division and being named the Upper Weight Outstanding Wrestler of the day.
Brandon Velasquez and Seamus Fergus also won Channel League championships in their weight classes as well, competing at 157 and 150 pounds, respectively.
The boys success continued for the Chargers as Andrew Gilligan (132 lbs.), David Estrada (165 lbs.), Max Mazin (190 lbs.) and Hector Medina-Lule (285 lbs.) all came in second place.
The Charger CIF qualifiers were rounded out by Thiago Hidalgo (126 lbs., 3rd), Anthony Garcia (175 lbs., 3rd), Arjun Ramachandran (106 lbs., 4th) and Sidarth Ramachandran (144 lbs., 4th). Patrick Sullivan came in fifth at 138 pounds and will be an alternate.
As for the girls, Dos Pueblos’ Lesly De La Rosa-Reyes captured a league title in the 140-pound weight class, while Ariana Valladares turned in a second-place showing at 100 pounds.
Elizabeth Vargas (105 lbs.) and Jennifer Salcedo (145 lbs.) will compete in the playoffs after placing third, while Sabrina Borgia (120 lbs.) and Estephany Rodriguez (130 lbs.) will serve as alternates.
San Marcos
The Royals will send six boys and three girls into the CIF-SS playoffs after their performances on Saturday.
San Marcos was led by second-place finishes from Alex Visueta (108 lbs.) and Anthony Leal (140 lbs.) in the boys championship.
Meanwhile, Liam Fewell (115 lbs.) came in third for the boys and Ingrid Vargas (102 lbs.) and Angelique Silva (172 lbs.) will represent the Royal girls in the playoffs after taking third place as well.
Leon Fox and Sophia Garnica each finished in fourth place in the 167-pound boys weight class and the 157-pound girls weight class, respectively.
The boys duo of Parker Weed (134 lbs.) and Isaac Trujillo (287 lbs.) each finished in fifth to earn alternate spots.
Santa Barbara High
The Dons will send three wrestlers to the CIF-SS playoffs this postseason.
“We were fortunate enough to host league finals this year and really get to experience how much our program has grown,” Dons head coach Chris Hamman said. “We had tremendous support from SBHS admin, our wrestling families, and our athletes who worked the event.
“The wrestlers who competed today really showcased their development over the season and the coaching staff couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to keep working with our community.”
The trio of Sammy Ramirez-Navas, Yahir Dorado and Lucas Blessing will represent the Dons in the postseason.
Dorado and Blessing earned second-place finishes in the 175-pound and 215-pound weight classes, respectively, while Ramirez-Navas took home third place at 138 pounds.
Santa Barbara High’s Marcus Fore, Jon Gomez-Miranda, Emanuel Lazcano and Daniel Plancarte will all be alternates after placing fifth in their weight classes.