Keligian has season ended

Andrew Keligian, Corona del Mar High’s 215-pound wrestler, finished

2-2 in the CIF Southern Section Masters meet after winning once and

losing once Saturday at Fountain Valley High.

Keligian, who finished third in the Southern Division, needed to

win three matches Saturday in order to place in the top eight and

advance to the state tournament March 4-5 in Bakersfield.

Keligian defeated Ivan Castro from San Marcos, 6-2, in the first

match of the morning, but was pinned in the second period by Geoff

Hewitt from Santiago of Corona.

Hewitt was the No. 1 seed but was in the consolation field after

losing to Emmanuel Hernandez of Villa Park in the third round, 12-7.

“Hewitt is a legitimate wrestler,” Coach Gary Almquist said.

“Andrew wrestled well. I still think Andrew was one of the top eight

wrestlers, but he unfortunately had to go through this guy to place.”

Brian Feeley, CdM’s 130-pounder, qualified for the Masters but did

not participate due an injury. Feeley, a senior, finished third in

the division by beating Murrieta Valley’s Jaime Arroyo. But Feeley

tore the meniscus in his left knee during that match -- which he won

5-2 -- and was forced to withdraw from the Masters.

“His injury is unfortunate,” Almquist said. “If he was healthy, I

think he could have qualified for state.”

Feeley is not the only CdM wrestler that suffered through

injuries. Jon Dean was hampered by a hyper-extended elbow. Taylor

Alston was slowed by mononucleosis. Almquist said all had legitimate

chances of advancing to the state tournament if at full strength.

“It’s a tough sport,” Almquist said.

Almquist said that while Feeley and Keligian improved from last

year -- both came up one win shy of qualifying for the Masters as

juniors -- he believes the program’s future is bright.

“As a program, we have to say that we don’t just place in CIF, we

have to say we want to beat [the top wrestlers in] CIF,” Almquist

said. “The freshmen will hear that on Monday. I know I should

probably give myself a weekend off, but ... “

Several underclassmen were in attendance at the Masters meet and

Almquist said he plans on going to the state tournament to expose the

athletes to the highest caliber of wrestling.

“We’re going to go to state to watch, reflect and set goals,”

Almquist said.

-- Rick Devereux