Mar Vista Wrestling News

Mar Vista High School Wrestling News

This year’s Mar Vista wrestling team is full of many young and inexperienced wrestlers. However, there are five athletes on the Varsity roster who are making a splash by improving weekly, winning their dual meet matches and placing at tournaments.

Last weekend these five wrestlers attended the Monte Vista Invitational and all five came away with medals. As a result, Mar Vista placed 9th out of 21 teams. Mar Vista along with 5 other Metro Conference teams had a total of seven wrestlers in the finals. Of these seven, four came out victorious to take their place at the top of medal stand.

Taking 3rd for Mar Vista at 132 lbs. was senior Joshua Walters. Josh was seeded fifth but upset the number four seed in the quarter finals. In the semis Josh faced Miguel Flores from San Ysidro. Miguel is the number one ranked wrestler in the county. Josh lost on points, which is not bad considering that Miguel pins about 90% of his opponents. Freshman Christian Winnie took 5th at 106 pounds and is continuing to improve weekly.

Also taking 5th for Mar Vista was Raymond Medrano at 170 lbs.. Medrano beat the number 2 seed in the quarterfinals with an exciting last minute come from behind move. In the semis Raymond came from behind again to tie the score at 5-5 but lost in sudden death overtime.  Jacob Bingham, a promising sophomore for the Mariners went 4-1 for the day and took home a 4th place medal at 152 lbs.

Aaron Olmos, a Mar Vista Freshman made it to the finals in the 145 lb. wt. class where he faced a junior from San Ysidro, Robert Alatorre.  Olmos and Alatorre had faced each other one week before. Olmos won the first match 7-1 in a dual meet at San Ysidro. Alatorre came back and beat Olmos in the finals of the San Ysidro Varsity tournament the following Saturday. One week later, they faced each other again. This time Olmos came out on top with an exciting performance where he scored three takedowns and gave up only one escape for a final score of 7-2.

Alatorre was ranked number 4 in the county and is looking to win a CIF championship. For his efforts, Olmos was voted the outstanding middle weight of the tournament and took home an extra award to add to the trophy case.

San Ysidro had two finalists who came away victorious. Miguel Flores took first in the 132 lb. category. Alan Garcia won the 152 lb. wt. class with a 4-2 decision against Morse’s Oscar Torres.

Montgomery had two athletes in the finals. Andrew Jaffee (160) and Miguel Ballesteros (220). Both took 2nd place.

Castle Park’s Carlos O’Connor pinned all three of his opponents en route to the championship at 182 lbs. Eric Robles took 5th for Castle Park.

Sweetwater had two kids place. Ross Lopez (6th, 152) and Justin Cerillo (6th, 220)

The Mar Vista Mat Men continue to work hard and prepare for the upcoming CIF championships.  This week they have a bye on their dual meet schedule but on Friday they will depart to compete in the tough two day, Holtville Invitational.

The Holtville tournament will feature over 30 teams and will be a good test of Mar Vista’s ability to continue to place at tournaments. History has shown that those that end up in the finals of the Holtville tournament usually end up in the finals at CIF and thus have a good chance to go to Masters.  Those that place in the top three at Masters get a chance to travel to the State Tournament and represent San Diego. San Ysidro has never had a wrestler make it to state. Mar Vista has had several, including Levi Harbin, Juan Juarez, Hugo Medrano and Seville Hayes.

Who knows, they may soon add another name to that list.