Sports
Wrestling: La Cañada, South Pasadena Lead the Way in RHL Finals
Spartans and Tigers each win five individual titles, while Monrovia and San Marino both claim two.
If there was one thing that everyone would agree on at the Rio Hondo League Individual Wrestling Finals, it was that every school came home a winner.
La Cañada and South Pasadena each won five individual league titles among the 14 weight classes. San Marino and host Monrovia each took home a pair of titles.
South Pasadena’s Chris Nunez, who won at 127 pounds, was named the most valuable player for the lower weight classes. La Cañada’s Chris Bache, the 154-pound champion, was the most valuable player for the upper weight divisions.
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“I thought it would be our heavyweight Austin (Devine) who performed excellent throughout the season,” Bache said. “I feel really honored that coaches from my team and the other teams chose me.”
The finals were conducted in Monrovia’s new gymnasium, which opened last month.
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The Wildcats’ Jonathan Atherton began the meet by winning in the 105-pound division, recording a technical fall over South Pasadena’s James Yun.
La Cañada’s Daniel Wyatt took the 114-pound title by defeating South Pasadena’s Anthony Landeros 13-0.
South Pasadena’s Sean Erhlich won at 121 pounds, defeating La Cañada’s Josh Dong 5-0.
The Tigers won again at 127 and 132 pounds. In the 127-pound division Nunez pinned La Cañada’s Adam Skaggs at the 1:07 mark of the third period.
Sebastian Shipley took the 132-pound title by defeating Monrovia’s Khalil Simaan with a pin at 1:49 in the third period.
“We did pretty much what I expected. I was happy to get back some of the losses that we had at the dual meets,” South Pasadena coach Al Shuton said. “Overall, I’m very happy with what we did. We qualified five for CIF in first place, four second places and a bunch of alternates.”
The winners and runner-ups in the league advance to the CIF-Southern Section individual championships.
Alex Ho won San Marino’s first league title with a win in the 137-pound division. Ho won an 8-7 decision over La Cañada’s Brian Streeter.
Monrovia won its second title in the 142-pound division as Jonathan Mondujano defeated South Pasadena’s Nick Benzoni 9-7 in overtime.
La Cañada’s Kevin Stoner won the 147-pound title, winning 9-7 over Monrovia’s James Magana, who is legally blind.
“James is a good wrestler,” Monrovia coach John Atherton said. “For having very little sight he does everything by feel and he does really well.”
Bache pinned South Pasadena’s Zach Gershman at the 1:18 mark of the second period in the 154-pound division.
San Marino’s Andrew Barth earned a 6-5 decision over La Cañada’s Chris Soo Hoo to win the 162-pound division.
“They were both down early in the match and they had to battle back and overcome some adversity,” San Marino coach Joe Gallardo said of his two league champions. “They did a great job to win.”
South Pasadena’s Ned Estrada took the 173-pound title with a 5-4 win over La Cañada’s Patrick Kim.
La Cañada’s Luke Sanborn took the 191-pound title with a 5-2 win over Monrovia’s Jimmy Bacus.
The Tigers’ Alex Larrimore took the 217-pound title with a 4-0 victory over Monrovia’s Dean Bisterfield.
Devine won his second consecutive heavyweight league title for the Spartans.
“In a league like ours there is some good tough wrestling, but I want my kids to plan on going to CIF and wrestling for those two extra weeks,” La Cañada coach Gavin Williams said.
