Wreslting: Northview wins again; area athletes win 10 titles, with 43 advancing to Masters

By Steve Ramirez Staff Writer
BREA —
Saturday’s CIF-Southern Section Southern Division wresting championships at Brea Olinda High School felt more like the San Gabriel Valley Invitational.
Area athletes were that dominant.
Valley competitors scored eight of the 14 class titles and qualified 29 for next week’s CIF-SS Masters Meet at Temecula Valley High.
The contingent was led by Northview, which won its 12th divisional team title, with West Covina (third), Rosemead (sixth), Walnut (eighth) and Diamond Bar (10th) finishing in the top 10. Arroyo was 11th.
“If you look at the champions and the finalists, I think we did a very good job as a Valley representing our area,” Northview assistant Bobby Bellamy said. “I take my hat off to these other programs. These other programs are well-coached, their kids are disciplined and they have a lot of heart.
“To win this championship, it stands out. It stands out from the previous ones because (we) had some very stiff competition. Our young group had to perform, and they had to build on last week (when Northview, along with West Covina, won dual titles).”


The Vikings, who had seven qualifiers, and Rosemead, which had four, each produced two individual champions. They were Gilbert Nakatani (119 pounds) and Steven Lopez (160) from Northview and Matt Fregoso (125) and Alberto Flores (135) from Rosemead. Fregoso also was lower-weight MVP after scoring three wins by fall. Other champions were Walnut’s Richard Taira (103), Arroyo’s Christian Betancourt (112), West Covina’s Jacob Depraect (130) and Diamond Bar’s Kevin Kim (171).
Other Masters qualifiers were Northview’s Daniel Valles (second at 130), Bryan Salinas (third at 135), Javier Arellano (fourth at 140), Eddie Bernal (fourth at 189 and Chris Auxier (second at 215); West Covina’s Danny Arceo (fifth at 119), Ricky Ortiz (third at 125), Chris Caballero (second at 135), Brad Ojala (second at 152) and Daniel Amaya (third at 171); Rosemead’s Devin Ng (fourth at 103) and Anthony Escarcega (fourth at 160); Walnut’s Victor Munoz (fourth at 119), Michael Sill (third at 130) and Marcus Jimenez (third at 152); Diamond Bar’s Dennis Ruan (fifth at 189) and Brian Ryu (fourth at 285); Arroyo’s Joseph Carranza (fourth at 125); Baldwin Park’s Joaquin Ramos (second at 160); Covina’s Kyle Acevedo (fifth at 130) and Rowland’s Mario Lopez (fourth at 130).
Depraect (130) highlighted West Covina’s effort by winning at 130with a 9-5 victory over Valles.
“Jacob’s win was huge,” West Covina coach Donnie Stephens said. “Overall, the team’s performance was outstanding, just like last week (with the Division 4 dual title). They really believed. We came here with 10 (wrestlers) and are leaving with six placers. We’re pretty excited about the weekend.”
Northern Division
South Hills, paced by Vincent Herrera’s title at 119, took third at San Luis Obispo High.
The Huskies qualified six to the Masters Meet. They include Thomas Morales (130), Trevor Behr (145) and Jeff Vargas (215), who all finished second. Also, heavyweight Pete Nonu was third, with Tim Tran fourth at 125.
Vargas, who was ranked No. 4 in the state, suffered an injury in the semifinals and defaulted in the 215 final against state No. 1 Tank Knowles of Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana.
“I’m pretty pleased,” South Hills coach Robb Froh said. “We had five in the finals. It would have been nice to get a few more champions, but the kids wrestled their butts off.”
Other area qualifiers were Chino Hills’ Christian Martin (third at 103), Clint Stark (second at 119) and Brody Goens (fourth at 171); Ayala’s Andrew Delgado (third at 112) and Arron Martinez (third at 125) and Charter Oak’s Nick Alexander (fourth at 152).
Central Division
Glendora senior Haydn Scharbrough continued his quest for a state title by taking the 145 class at Colony High in Ontario.
Scharbrough, who qualified for the state meet last season, scored three wins by fall before beating San Clemente’s Zach Fishman, 9-0.
The Tartans’ Tyler TenBroeck (189) didn’t advance.

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