Luis Urbina took the San Marcos wrestling team to unchartered territory on Saturday at the Chaminade Prep Tournament, winning the heavyweight division to lead a Royals team that saw all seven wrestlers place for the first time ever.
Head coach Tony Becerra brought Urbina, Tyler Mallard, Felipe Roman, Michael Martins, Jason Stevens, Julian Lake and David Billesbach down to the 24-team event.
It was Urbina’s first career tournament title and he did it in style, recording four pins on the day. In the final, Urbina won by fall over Santa Paula’s Michael Gonzalez in 3 minutes, 4 seconds.
“He was not willing to relent,” said Becerra, noting his team’s desire for a good performance after Thursday’s Channel League loss to Dos Pueblos.
Martins (103 lb.), Roman (119 lb.) and Mallard (135 lb.) all went 4-1 on the day to earn third-place finishes in their respective weight classes.
Billesbach (125 lb.) and Stevens (140) also went 4-1 on the day but got knocked into the consolation bracket early, settling for consolation titles and seventh-place finishes.
Lake finished in fifth in the 189-pound class.
The results are a good confidence boost for the Royals heading into next Saturday’s league championships being held at Buena starting at 10 a.m.
