Castaneda Getting a Hold on Dominance

Stop James Castaneda? No way.

Once again, Castaneda, a two-time Southern Section Division IV champion wrestler for Alemany High, manhandled rival Brandon Roth of Harvard-Westlake, recording a pin in 3 minutes 48 seconds in the 121-pound bout of Thursday night’s Mission League dual meet at Harvard-Westlake.

Harvard-Westlake (10-2, 4-0) rallied for a 40-27 victory to complete a two-match season sweep of the Indians (14-6, 4-2). But Castaneda, who has a 30-0 record that includes 22 pins, showed why he is among the state’s best wrestlers.

The victory was Castaneda’s seventh over Roth (22-5) in as many meetings in their four-year varsity careers. Six have come by pins.

Castaneda, section champion at 103 and 112 pounds, placed fourth in the state finals last season and is a favorite to advance at least as far this year. Castaneda’s career record is 126-11.

“He’s probably pretty frustrated,” Castaneda said of Roth. “I’d be frustrated too, losing each time.”

Roth, second to Castaneda in league the past two seasons, paced with intensity before the bout and stepped onto the mat with a look of determination. But 16 seconds into the match, Castaneda recorded a takedown and Roth never recovered. Castaneda led, 9-1, at the time of the pin.

“Once he got on top and rode me for a while, that was it,” Roth said. “I’m really annoyed. I’d really like to beat him, but he’s tough. He’ll probably take (the state championship) this year.”

In the heavyweight bout, Alemany’s Anthony Vitale and Hersh Davis-Nitzberg also renewed acquaintances, squaring off for the fourth time in two years.

Davis-Nitzberg (12-1) evened the series at two victories each by recording a two-point reversal maneuver with four seconds remaining to claim a 6-4 victory.

Vitale defeated Davis-Nitzberg, 6-4, two weeks ago. Last season, Vitale pinned Davis-Nitzberg in a dual meet, only to be routed by his is rival, 15-0, in the league final.

“I was lucky enough to get my leg over him,” Davis-Nitzberg said. “He’s a great wrestler, the best I’ve wrestled all year. It always ends up being a real war. And he’s one hell of a warrior.”

Alemany jumped to a 21-0 lead, winning the first four matches (one by forfeit). Harvard rallied with seven consecutive victories, including pins by John Kang (132), James Michino (137), Matt Howard (147) Rand Waldron (162) and Josh Eisenberg (173).

Michino flattened Joe Gualtieri in 16 seconds to improve his record to 28-4 with 18 pins.

“I’ve pinned a guy in 12 seconds before,” Michino said.

Alemany’s David Hernandez (105) and Manuel Rubio (191) recorded pins.

In other matches: Alemany’s Cole Wheeland (127) defeated Pat Anderson, 3-0; Harvard’s David Choi (142) defeated Juan Herrera, 7-5; and Harvard’s Ron Linares (154) defeated Ed Acevedo, 12-4.