Newport Harbor wrestling tops CdM, turns the tide in Battle of the Bay
Newport Harbor has its hands back on the Golden Singlet for the first time in five meetings, an early surge and a late triumph doing the honors.
The feat had not been accomplished since the coronavirus pandemic, one not achieved by any of the current Sailors, including their head coach.
“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t swallow, I thought I was going to faint,” Newport Harbor coach Rigo Pinon said of the sensations he felt when the victory was clinched. “I wanted this. I wanted this for the team, for the program, for everything we’ve done. … Sometimes, you put in so much work, and if you don’t get anything in return, it’s hard.
“We needed this. Our program needed this. We needed this so the kids understand that we need to level up.”
Everett Heninger, a true heavyweight, pinned Reid Butler in the second period of the final match, setting off the Sailors’ celebration following their 45-33 road victory.
“I like to say my conditioning is pretty good,” Heninger said. “His is probably better than me because I’m like 60 pounds more than him, but I just had to use my strength. I had to use my heavy hands, just wear him down, get him tired, and then take top, finish in the end.”
A pin the other way would have brought the fate of the teams down to tiebreaker criteria.
Newport Harbor (10-4, 1-2 in the Surf League) looked to be in command, a run through the lower weights sending the Sailors to a 39-6 advantage. Christopher Lopez (113), Matthew Pinon (138), Seth Parry (144) and Anthony Manno (150) had kills through the first eight matches.
Dual meets often see walkovers occur, as teams attempt to gain favorable matchups. It led to Rikki Villasenor going unchallenged to begin the proceedings, leaving the onus on Lopez, a freshman, to seize the momentum, which he did with a third-period pin.
“The only thing that was going through my head was, “I need to pin them. I need a win for our team,” Lopez said. “This is my first year, and I wanted to do something big for the seniors.”
Corona del Mar (4-6, 1-2) stormed back in claiming the points in five consecutive matches. It included walkovers for Antonio Aramburu and Porter Sharp, as well as pins for Eugenio Franco and Tony Leon.
In between, Zion Hernandez secured a hard-earned 3-2 decision over Ayden Solomon at 165 pounds, a result that proved just enough to keep the Sailors in the running at the end.
Luke Miller also recorded a first-period victory by fall at 120 pounds, a necessary six points to keep the Sea Kings in the contest into the latter stages.
“We saw each other in four tournaments before the end of the year, so we see them a lot,” CdM coach Mark Alex said. “We knew all their wrestlers. They knew all our wrestlers. …
“There’s not very many surprises in high school wrestling now. It just comes down to who’s going to perform, and they had a couple of kids that performed a little better than our kids. That’s what makes the difference.”
Surf League
Newport Harbor 45, Corona del Mar 33
106 - Rikki Villasenor (NH) wins by forfeit.
113 - Christopher Lopez (NH) pins Carter Day (CdM), 4:32.
120 - Luke Miller (CdM) pins Cole Andersen (NH), 0:49.
126 - Micah Van Grol (NH) maj. Graham Desantis (CdM), 13-3.
132 - Demian Pryima (NH) tech. fall Kyros Kelaidis (CdM), 15-0.
138 - Matthew Pinon (NH) pins Aleksander Mendoza (CdM), 0:41.
144 - Seth Parry (NH) pins Fares Nofal (CdM), 5:26.
150 - Anthony Manno (NH) pins James Kurcz (CdM), 4:33.
157 - Antonio Aramburu (CdM) wins by forfeit.
165 - Zion Hernandez (CdM) dec. Ayden Solomon (NH), 3-2.
175 - Porter Sharp (CdM) wins by forfeit.
190 - Eugenio Franco (CdM) pins Christopher Cuchillo (NH), 2:00
215 - Tony Leon (CdM) pins Asa Goff (NH), 3:12.
285 - Everett Heninger (NH) pins Reid Butler (CdM), 2:57.
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