Fleming Successfully Tackles Another Sport

Mission Bay’s Dareke Fleming has had no problem making the transition from football to wrestling.

Fleming, who made The Times’ All-County football team as a defensive lineman, doesn’t really look like a wrestler--standing 6-feet-4 1/2--but at the El Cajon Invitational last week, Fleming pinned four of his five opponents en route to winning the 245-pound final.

Fleming was named the meet’s outstanding heavyweight. (Escondido’s 112-pound Hugo Martinez was outstanding lightweight.)

In the final, Fleming pinned San Dieguito senior Chris Shaffer in one minute 55 seconds.

The 245-pound class, often called the heavyweight class, includes wrestlers weighing more than 191 but not exceeding 245 pounds. Fleming usually weighs between 220 and 225.

“He has a good work ethic,” said his coach, Jerry Surdy, who is also one of Mission Bay’s football coaches. “Wrestling is a different sport to say the least. We kept him in pretty good condition during football.”

Fleming is 9-0 with championships in both the El Cajon and Mira Mesa tournaments. He missed the Carlsbad tournament because of the section football playoffs (Mission Bay lost to Ramona, 20-6, in the 2-A quarterfinals). Fleming had 75 tackles and 11 sacks and, according to football Coach Dennis Pugh, was one of the best linemen Mission Bay has had.

As a junior, Fleming won the section 1-A tournament at heavyweight, but he was battling the flu at the Masters tournament and eliminated in an early round. Surdy said that the three county wrestlers who were better than him have graduated.

Another Mission Bay wrestler, 105-pound Manny Martinez, has been among the best in the county for two seasons. Martinez is 13-0; last year, he was third in the section meet, third at the Masters and won a match at state.

At the El Cajon Tournament, Martinez defeated Mt. Carmel’s Eric Nunez, 9-1, in the final.

Joe Bess, the Ramona girls’ basketball coach, is dealing with something most high school coaches eventually face: a young and inexperienced team. Nine of last year’s players graduated.

The starting lineup includes a freshman, a sophomore, two juniors, both new to the varsity, and one returner, second-year starting senior guard Jeannie Pinnow.

“I have to have a lot of patience,” Bess said. “You can’t make a lot of quick game changes like you can with an experienced team.”

Jennifer Andreacchi is the freshman, Kisha Riggs the sophomore. Amy Moseley, a junior, has one year of junior varsity experience. Junior Nicki Knight, Ramona’s leading scorer, transferred from Utah.

Knight’s brother, Travis, plays on the Ramona boys’ team, and her other brother, Shane, is Mount Carmel’s leading scorer.

Ramona, which was 19-5 and second in the Avocado League last season, is now 4-3. Bess expects a challenging league season.