The Heritage High School wrestling program has qualified 19 wrestlers for next weekend’s CIF individual championships – a record for the school.
At the Inland Valley League finals on Saturday, the boys team qualified 11 boys for the Inland Division CIF individuals Feb. 13-14 at Great Oak High School.
Winning league titles in their weight classes for the Patriots boys team were sophomore Isaac Castro-Pineda (120), senior Gabriel Valladares (126), and senior Jacob Dalton (144). Second-place qualifiers were Kyle Christopher (134), Evan Contrano (140), Edward Gutierrez (152), Felix Gutierrez (159), and Alexandro Rodriguez (287). Third-place qualifiers include Julian Bermudez (108), and Joshua Velasquez (115). Antonio Lara Lopez (192) placed fourth in his weight class to qualify. In addition, Ian Layosa (177) will attend the CIF meet as an alternate.
“Eddie Gutierrez had a great performance against his opponent from Valley View, who is known for his defensive tactics,” said coach Oscar Nunez. “We changed how we wrestled him and lost 0-1 due to an escape point in the second period.
“I tell my wrestlers to be the offensive wrestler and to just wrestle. However, after facing this same opponent several times this season and losing because he waits to counter, we matched his tactics and the result is a win for us because it is all about strategy and adapting. We hope to wrestle him at CIF.”
Coach Preciosa Moreno was equally impressed with the performance of the girls team, which qualified eight wrestlers for the Central Division CIF individuals at San Dimas High School.
“I’m super proud of how our whole team performed overall,” Moreno said. “They all wrestled with their hearts and it really showed. Seeing everyone improve a little more every single day has been such a blessing!”
League champions for the girls included Arianna Gutierrez (115) and Alexis Brown (120). Jayla Velasquez (110) and Emily Dominguez (190) placed second. Rheagan Reich (140) and Monik Arreola (145) placed third. Mollin Medlin (130) and Anais Larios-Fregozo (135) placed fourth.
“The girls did amazing; this season they’ve constantly been pushing through stronger every match,” Moreno added. “Alexis Brown and Arianna Gutierrez had standout finals matches, claiming their first league champion titles. Chelsea Briones had a tough battle to win her last match and claim her fifth-place CIF alternate spot. Qualifying eight of our nine girls with one alternate is truly amazing and shows how much work these ladies have put in this season.”
