San Marcos wrestling showed out in a rivalry dual meet against Santa Barbara High, taking down the Dons by a score of 60-22 on Thursday inside the Thunderhut.
“These guys have a lot of matches under their belt even if they are first-year wrestlers, and tonight was a really good showcase of their skill and what we’ve been working on in the room,” Royals coach Eric Flores said.
Of the 14 total weight classes, the Royals won by forfeit three times and secured seven victories with pins. Meanwhile, the Dons won a pair of matches by way of forfeits and picked up a major decision and a pin victory.
“Like any rivalry matchup, it’s definitely exciting to look forward to some of these matchups,” Flores said. “Overall, exciting matches happened and thankfully a lot of them were in favor of us.”
Before the dual meet kicked off, San Marcos honored its two graduating seniors, Angel Estrada Rivera and Charles “Chuck” Wickline.
Following a forfeit by Santa Barbara High, Estrada Rivera stepped up to the mat to take on Austin Dye at 113 pounds.
Estrada Rivera got an early takedown and never looked back, dominating the first period and half of the second before ultimately pinning Dye and giving his team a 12-0 lead.
After another forfeit in favor of San Marcos, Anthony Veal secured the team’s second straight pin after tossing Santa Barbara’s Ray Uribe on his back and holding him down until the referee blew his whistle.
In that victory at 126 pounds, Veal had collected five takedowns before the pin.
Next, San Marcos’ Jacob Brown put on a clinic at 132 pounds against the Dons’ Emanuel Lazcano.
Brown was in control during the entire bout, picking up six takedowns and a trio of near falls before eventually pinning Lazcano halfway through the third period.
“Jacob Brown is one of many first-year wrestlers that battled really well tonight,” Flores said. “We have a young squad but we have a lot of fighters that get to learn the sport and continue wrestling next season.”
At 138 pounds, Dalton Shupe represented the Royals and defeated Sammi Ramirez-Navas in a third-period pin of his own. Despite the loss, Ramirez-Navas picked up a pair of takedowns.
San Marcos 144-pounder Cole Dominguez then made quick work of Yahir Dorado, pinning him just 12 seconds into the second period after a hard-fought first period.
Dominguez is undefeated in dual meet action this season.
“Cole is a first-year wrestler for us and has shown a lot of potential, including tonight,” Flores said.
After another forfeit win and a second-period takedown by San Marcos’ Lucas Sanchez at 157 pounds, the Royals’ lead had ballooned up to 54-0.
At 165 pounds, Santa Barbara’s Tristan King faced off against Christian Morales. King started strong in a close matchup, picking up two takedowns at the end of each of the opening two periods.
King then dominated the third period, collecting two takedowns and two near falls to earn a major decision victory, the Dons’ first of the night.
The Santa Barbara High momentum carried over to the next bout at 175 pounds, where the Dons sent Jon Corona to the mat.
Corona came out strong in the first period, registering two takedowns and a near fall before pinning San Marcos’ Jorge Rocha for the victory. That win was the final non-forfeit win of the night for the Dons.
After a Santa Barbara High win by forfeit at 190 pounds, San Marcos’ Max Silva and Santa Barbara High’s Adrian Perez engaged in a back-and-forth 215-pound battle.
Both wrestlers earned a takedown in the first period to take a 2-2 tie into the second period. In the second, Silva pulled away with a takedown and a near fall. However, Perez picked up five points of his own to limit Silva’s lead to 9-7.
In the third, Silva ended the match early with a pin less than two minutes into the period to round out the winners for the Royals.
“A lot of our wrestlers have the gas tank to push the tempo of each match,” Flores said. “We had to heavily rely on our gas tank and our technical experience given the amount of matches that we’ve had so far this season.”
The dual meet wrapped up with a forfeit by San Marcos at 285 pounds to bring the final score to 60-22 in favor of the Royals.
