A pair of upperweight pins powered Santa Barbara High wrestling to a 42-35 victory over Pacifica in a Channel League dual meet on Wednesday inside J.R. Richards Gym.
The Tritons got out to a strong start, leading 29-12 after the majority of the lightweight battles.
Nick Egan began a momentum swing for the Dons with a win at 157 pounds, and Pacifica followed with a forfeit at 165 pounds.
After a Santa Barbara High forfeit, Luis Orta Torres brought the Dons into striking distance with a second-period pin to cut the deficit down to 35-30.
The Dons then got back-to-back second-period pins from Lucas Blessing and Gabe Hoyos to catapult ahead and clinch the league win.
“We spent the week working on getting tougher in our positions and our lighter weights showed this off,” Santa Barbara High head coach Chris Hamman said. “They worked hard to keep the score close enough for our big guys to go out and earn our team a victory. I’m excited to see how the team keeps improving.”
San Marcos @ Oxnard
The Royals’ boys wrestling team earned a 39-34 win over the Yellow Jackets, while the girls squad fell by a score of 42-30.
The boys were headlined by a first-period fall victory from Anthony Leal, a first-period fall from Alejandro Pulet and a comeback victory by Daniel Olivo.
As for the girls, San Marcos’ Ingrid Vargas secured a pin in the first period and Angelique Silva picked up a win by fall in the second period.
Ventura @ Dos Pueblos
The Charger boys dropped their matchup by a score of 43-28, while the girls team managed one win for three team points.
Thiago Hidalgo, Andrew Gilligan and Leland Riordan all secured victories by way of pins at 126, 132 and 215 pounds, respectively.
Meanwhile, Ethan Ono won with a technical fall in the heavyweight bout and Andrew Velasquez rounded out the team’s points with a forfeit victory.
The lone win for the Dos Pueblos girls came courtesy of Lesly de la Rosa, who won her matchup at 145 pounds by decision.
“Ventura always has a tough dual meet team, and this was a battle from start to finish,” Dos Pueblos head coach Matt Bernard said. “The fight and effort from both girls and boys teams tonight was impressive. Every match was contested, it was really exciting, and I couldn’t be prouder of their effort.”
The Chargers will compete in the Reno Tournament of Champions this weekend.