Fountain Valley wrestling places first at Mann Classic
If the top of the leaderboard held a surprise, it certainly did not come from among the schools duking it out for the team title at the end of the Mann Classic at Marina High.
Behind the strength of four individual champions, the Fountain Valley wrestling team surged in the final round Saturday to claim first in the tournament by a narrow margin of 220.5-217.5 over Servite.
Hunter Jauregui (106 pounds), Hercules Windrath (150), Khale McDonnell (175) and Ryland Whitworth (215) won their weight classes for the Barons.
The Friars, with four finalists, were unable to pick up any team points within those matches, the drama remaining until Villa Park’s Santiago Benitez pinned Servite’s Brandon Bass in the second period of the heavyweight division final to bring the event to a close.
A decision in favor of the Friars would have been enough to assure at least a share of the tournament title for Servite.
“I’m so blessed to be part of this team,” Jauregui said. “I think that this is where I’m meant to be. I feel a special connection with everyone on our team. I think everyone’s such a great wrestler, everyone works really hard, we have good team chemistry. Every day we go to practice, we’re ready to wrestle.
“We all just put in our effort, and we just support our team. We want the best for our team. I think everybody works hard. I don’t think anybody on our team doesn’t give 100%, and I love that about my team.”
Jauregui, Windrath and Whitworth have each gone undefeated through the first two tournaments of their season, also running the table in Westminster’s Cossarek Classic, where Fountain Valley placed third as a team.
Newport Harbor made waves, presenting itself as an upstart contender with its third-place showing in the 42-team tournament. Demian Pryima edged out Huntington Beach’s Gavvin Stephens with a 7-6 decision in the 132-pound final.
Pryima acknowledged the Sailors appear to be on the upswing, but he didn’t attribute the success to a specific aspect of the program.
“I think everything just breeds winning, at this point,” Pryima said. “It’s like more of a result of everything.”
Rikki Villasenor (106) and Ayden Solomon (165) placed second in their respective divisions for the Sailors, as each was defeated by fall in the third period.
Corona del Mar has had the edge over crosstown rival Newport Harbor of late, but the Battle of the Bay is expected to be a tightly-contested affair this time around. The rivals will square off with the Golden Singlet on the line on Jan. 17 at CdM.
The Sea Kings did not insert all of their regulars into the brackets, and CdM went on to place 11th as a team.
Antonio Aramburu, the lone finalist for CdM, managed to finish off Xingyu Chen of Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos as the clock was expiring in the first period of the 157-pound championship match.
“They have a good team,” Aramburu said after seeing Newport Harbor’s performance in the two-day event. “They’re young. I’m confident in our team. I think we can win it. It will definitely be closer than other years, but I want to keep the Golden Singlet for four years.”
Mann Classic
At Marina High
Team Results
1. Fountain Valley 220.5; 2. Servite 217.5; 3. Newport Harbor 182.5; 4. Central 178.5; 5. Mayfair 170.5; 6. Paloma Valley 130; 7. Villa Park 124; 8. Santiago 120; 9. Trabuco Hills 108; 10. Cypress 99; 11. Corona del Mar 96; 21T. Huntington Beach 67; 36. Marina 36
Championship matches
106 — Hunter Jauregui (Fountain Valley) pins Rikki Villasenor (Newport Harbor), 5:24.
113 — Jimmy Romero (Cypress) pins Cade Johnston (Tri City Christian), 1:21.
120 — Anthony Castillo (Central) maj. Zachary Klarcyk (Porterville), 9-1.
126 — Cairo Plascencia (Central) dec. Esteban Armenta (Mayfair), 7-1.
132 — Demian Pryima (Newport Harbor) dec. Gavvin Stephens (Huntington Beach), 7-6.
138 — Caleb Morales (Central) dec. Calen Reyna (Servite), 4-2.
144 — Elijah Robledo (Mayfair) dec. Adam Salas (Los Alamitos), 10-5.
150 — Hercules Windrath (Fountain Valley) maj. Josh Valdez (Servite), 9-1.
157 — Antonio Aramburu (Corona del Mar) pins Xingyu Chen (Los Osos), 2:00.
165 — Peter Xu (Diamond Bar) pins Ayden Solomon (Newport Harbor), 5:30.
175 — Khale McDonnell (Fountain Valley) dec. Javon Major (Paloma Valley), 6-2.
190 — Daniel Mendoza (Hemet) dec. Mitchell Semaan (Servite), 8-6.
215 — Ryland Whitworth (Fountain Valley) pins Joseph Tierney (Irvine), 1:07.
285 — Santiago Benitez (Villa Park) pins Brandon Bass (Servite), 3:40.
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