Estancia’s victory

Rick Devereux

There wasn’t a big surprise when the Estancia High wrestling team

defeated visiting crosstown rival Costa Mesa, 54-12, in a Golden West

League match Wednesday.

The Eagles had a 24-6 lead before anyone set foot on the mat due

to forfeits. Estancia took forfeit wins in the 103-, 130-, 145- and

152-pound weight classes while the Mustangs won the 119 class. The

teams double forfeited -- neither squad received points -- in the

112, 135 and 140 classes.

“It’s really a shame for the kids,” Estancia Coach Brian Burgess

said. “We want to have the same sort of rivalry that other sports

have. I know the kids really enjoy going up against Costa Mesa.”

The Mustangs program is rebuilding after Lee Romo resigned as head

coach at the start of the season last year.

“We are a new program,” Coach Paul Serio said. “Of the seven guys

I brought [Wednesday against Estancia] five are first-year

wrestlers.”

Six varsity matches took place along with one junior varsity

match.

Costa Mesa senior Francisco Bahia, wrestling in his first-ever

match, scored a two-point near fall in the final minute of the third

period to win the junior varsity 160-pound match, 4-2.

The Mustangs also won the varsity 160-pound match. Freshman Chris

Rodriguez pinned his opponent in the second period.

“We’re trying to build a little bit and having freshmen like

Rodriguez will help,” Serio said. “The three toughest kids in the

wrestling room are all freshmen. And they are great spokesmen for the

program. They go out and tell their friends to come out and they tell

eighth-graders to come out when they’re freshmen. If we get 10 new

guys next year and 10 guys the year after that, by the time this

group of freshmen are seniors, we should have a pretty solid

program.”

Estancia won the remaining five matches, all by pins.

Danny Alderete (125) pinned his opponent with time winding down in

the second period.

Alex Sotomayer (171) dissected his opponent, taking a 14-3 lead,

before finding an opening and getting a pin in the third period.

“That’s the way Alex wrestles,” Burgess said. “He is methodical.

He tries to get what is available to him. I’m actually very proud of

him because he wrestled up a weight class (he usually wrestles at

160), so he was going up against a bigger guy.”

Efran Alvarez (189) outscored his opponent, 15-5, but wrapped his

opponent in a headlock and got the pin with 15 seconds left in the

third period.

Chris Guzman (215) scored the fastest decision of the day when he

pinned his opponent in 45 seconds of the first period. Guzman wanted

to take down his opponent by grabbing his legs, but the Costa Mesa

wrestler was being defensive and didn’t allow Guzman the opportunity.

With the lower extremities blocked, Guzman pounced up top and brought

down his opponent with a headlock and quickly rolled the Mesa

wrestler onto his back to force to the pin.

Dominic Durastanti (275) fought back from nearly getting pinned in

the first period to pin his opponent in the third. Costa Mesa’s A.J.

Sulli, a first-year wrestler, had a two-point reversal and managed to

get Durastanti, a junior, on his back. The two struggled near the

edge of the wrestling ring when both wrestlers thought the referee

blew his whistle. The two stopped wrestling, stood up and walked to

the center of the mat for a restart.

The referee never blew his whistle, so Sulli earned a three-point

near fall and Durastanti earned a one-point escape.

Durastanti performed a head lock move for the pin in the third

period.