Southern Section Wrestling Championships : Canyon Tries to Regain Health and Make Some History in the Process

Canyon High School will attempt to go where no wrestling team has gone when it seeks its third consecutive Southern Section 4-A championship, today and Saturday at Edison High.

Standing in the way are strong teams from El Dorado, Westlake, Esperanza and San Clemente, and a recent wave of illness to hit the Canyon team.

“We’ve been able to dodge it (illness) all year, but it finally caught up with us,” said Gary Bowden, Canyon coach. “I have a bad feeling about this. We’ve been going into every tournament healthy, until now.”

Bowden said sickness will not deter any of his wrestlers from competing, but that he has noticed that kids in “good shape are having a hard time breathing.”

Bowden is so worried that he cancelled his traditional plans of having other schools’ wrestlers come over to Canyon to work out.

“We don’t need to catch anything else,” Bowden said.

Canyon, ranked No. 1 in 4-A, won its ninth consecutive Century League championship last week and qualified wrestlers for the Southern Section championships in all 13 weight classes. Canyon, El Dorado and San Clemente have eight seeded wrestlers each.

“This is the toughest competition in some time,” Bowden said.

And some of the toughest competitors include Canyon’s Zack Cooper, at 191 pounds, a state finalist and a favorite to become state champion this season. San Clemente’s Dru Anderson, 175 pounds, won a Southern Section championship as a sophomore. Anderson slumped a bit last year as a junior, but recently a South Coast League champion, he seems back.

The 3-A championships also takes place today and Saturday at West Torrance High. Savanna, champions of the Orange League, figures to do well. Savanna had six wrestlers win individual championships at the league meet.

The 2-A championship, at Nogales High in La Puente, will feature Woodbridge’s Heath Sims, 138 pounds, a defending state champion. Sims was a surprise most of last season after coming off an unimpressive sophomore season. Though Sims is a marked wrestler this season, he has been exceptional. He won the Pacific Coast League individual championship by a technical fall when he built up a 20-5 lead over his opponent in the final.

But Laguna Hills figures to have the overall strength in this division. After winning the Pacific Coast League championship, the Hawks won the league meet title with seven wrestlers earning individual championships.

The top six qualifiers in each weight division from each of the four Southern Section divisions--the 1-A will be at Sierra Vista High in Baldwin Park--will earn a berth in the Masters Meet next week at Fountain Valley High. Top six finishers there will go to the state meet in Stockton.