If you’ve been involved in area high school wrestling the last few years, there’s a good chance you know me and you know I like covering wrestling.
I find it compelling for a sport to pit two competitors of equal weight against each other. There’s a place for the little guy and for the big (but not too big) guy in the sport.
Individual matches can be thrilling, but there’s not much more exciting than when a team title comes down to a final match.
That’s not completely rare in dual matches, but is a little more rare in tournaments. But, as I wrote in my prep notebook on Thursday, Ayala pulled out the Los Osos Tournament championship last Saturday with a pin in the heavyweight championship, the last match of the day. A loss and Ayala would’ve been second.
The most significant instance of the final individual match determining the team title, was in 1999, I believe when Poway won the state title with a win in the heavyweight championship match. Pretty exciting.