Strong showing

Mike Sciacca

The Edison High School contingent made a strong statement Saturday at

the CIF-Southern Section Costal Division Wrestling Championships.

And the Chargers did ittheir own gymnasium.

Although Temecula Valley wrestled the division championship away

from them, Coach Dan Rawlins’ Chargers finished second in the team

scoring and qualified five wrestlers for Friday’s CIF Masters Meet at

Fountain Valley High.

Three Edison athletes reached the championship final in their

respective divisions, and two of them, junior Dylan Jensen and senior

captain Mike McNeely, captured individual titles.

“This was a huge tournament for us,” said Rawlins, adding that the

second-place finish was the highest ever recorded by an Edison team.

The previous top CIF finish by an Edison team was fourth, he said.

“It was a big, big showing for the boys who have just worked so

hard all season,” Rawlins said. “To have five guys qualify for the

Masters Meet is really outstanding. The fruits of their labor is

paying off.”

In addition to title runs by Jensen and McNeely, Edison qualified

junior Brandon Drucker (125) and seniors Matt Fabre (135) and Jeff

Mendoza (140) for Friday’s Masters Meet.

The top five wrestlers in each division advance to the Masters

Meet.

Fabre finished third in his weight class and Mendoza was fourth in

his class.

A sixth Edison wrestler, sophomore Romney Fuga, medaled but just

missed qualifying for the Masters Meet with a sixth-place in the

heavyweight division.

Jensen defeated all comers -- several whom were higher ranked than

the junior -- in the 130-pound class.

Seeded eighth, he won over the division’s first, second and fourth

seeds.

His outstanding performance earned him the lower weight division

MVP honor.

“I was ready to go in there and make some upsets, show them what

I’ve got,” Jensen said. “I got my groove on in those first two

matches and once I won that quarterfinal match, I knew I could win it

all.”

Jensen’s individual CIF title came during a season in which he had

been hampered by a pulled hamstring and groin injury.

McNeely, meanwhile, was overpowering throughout the meet, despite

his No. 2 seed at 152.

He capped his domination by defeating No. 1 seed Eric Coppock of

Santa Margarita, 15-1, in the division final.

McNeely made up for a slow start by recording a takedown midway

through the first period and nearly pinned Coppock near the end of

the second period.

“After getting that takedown, I got a burst of energy and I felt

so confident,” McNeely said. “I started slowly but once I took a big

breath, I was ready to go.

“I felt pretty confident the entire meet. I had a strict mind-set

through it all and stuck to it. All of our training really paid off.”

Friday’s Masters Meet at Fountain Valley High begins at noon.

It concludes with Saturday’s competition, beginning at 11 a.m.