Congratulations to our CIF Coastal Division Runner Ups!
Results from this past weekend:
Captains Elijah Palacio, a Junior at 126 lbs. and Sophomore Luciano Arroyo at 120 lbs. were the only returning CIF Placers for the Churchboyz from last year's CIF Championship Team, and they did not disappoint by using their experience and leading by example with outstanding performances. Both Captains dominated and won all five of their matches with four of their wins coming by way of pins. Arroyo also took home the Lower Weights Most Valuable Wrestler, an honor that teammate Palacio won last season at CIF when winning his first CIF Championship.
A third Churchboy was crowned as a CIF Champion at 106 lbs., Junior, Easton Amuro. Amuro went 2-2 at CIF last season at his previous school, but had his eye on winning a CIF Championship from the time he joined the Churchboyz in September. Amuro won 10-7 against the #6 ranked wrestler in the Southern Section.
Junior, Gustavo Mello (145 lbs)and Sophomore, Nathan Zotea (152 lbs) both finished with five wins and one loss to place 3rd. Both wrestlers contributed three pins to help the team with the Runner Up finish. These two individuals have made some leaps in their wrestling game as Mello was on they JV team last year, and Zotea only won one match at CIF last season.
The sixth Master Meet Qualifier was the 132 lber. Richard Gurule. Gurule, a Junior, who finished in 4th place, definitely took the longest and most challenging route to qualify for next week. Gurule came in to the tournament unseeded and was matched up with the #1 ranked wrestler in the Southern Section. After losing his opening match Gurule won 6 matches in a row to get to the 3rd/4th place match. Along the way, Richard beat the #2, #4 and #6 seeded wrestlers (all returning CIF Placers), before dropping his last match.