Dos Pueblos had it going: a raucous home crowd, a fired-up wrestling team and some impressive match victories.
But it still wasn’t enough to take down four-time defending Channel League champion Ventura on Thursday night. The Cougars rallied from a 16-3 deficit with two pins, and a technical fall and pulled out a decision in the last match of the night to beat the Chargers 34-32 at Sovine Gym
“It was a great match,” DP coach Anthony Califano said. “I was really proud of the effort of my guys. Everybody battled down to the wire. The match was exactly what we thought it would be, and it came down to the last match.”
In that match decider, Ventura’s Patrick Birkimer got the upper hand on DP’s Chad Lampe with a two-point takedown late in the first period of their 112-pound bout. Birkimer, a third-place finisher at the CIF Division Championships last year, built a 9-0 lead with a near fall, fought off a late surge by Lampe in the final period and pulled away for an 11-3 decision.
“I thought it would be a little closer. Chad’s been a little sick and stuff, but Chad always gives 100 percent,” said Califano.
The Chargers got things going early. Nico Sorenson started it off by pinning Johnny Armstrong with 28 seconds left in the second period in their 119-pound bout.
Harrison Solomon followed with a 14-5 decision over Victor Alvarez at 125 pounds to put DP up 10-0.
Austin Saito got three points for the Cougars with a 9-4 decision over Danny Ly at 130 pounds.
But the Chargers (13-5, 2-1) bounced back with an impressive performance by Alejandro Gonzalez at 135 pounds. In a scoreless bout after two periods, Gonzalez used a quick move to put Jake Fouquier on his back and record the pin at the 1:42 mark.
“I wanted to get that win for my coach, I wanted to get that win really bad,” said Gonzalez. “I had (Fouquier) in a tilt and I usually get a near fall and I let him go, but I saw the ref’s hand go (slap) and I was so proud of myself.”
Things were looking OK for the Chargers in the next match as Sam Sarmiento was in an even battle with Michael Ledesma at 140 pounds. But Ledesma pulled off a slick reversal in the second period and muscled his way to a pin to get Ventura back in the match at 16-9.
Richard Stevens of the Chargers and Ventura’s Christian Brown were engaged in a tightly contested match at 145 pounds. Stevens scored a couple of escape points in the second period and held on for a 2-1 victory.
The Cougars (9-3, 3-0) got pins from Ryan Bortness (171) and Ben Kingsley (215) to close the gap to 26-25 with three matches to go.
The Chargers made 32-24 when heavyweight Zach Wagner pinned Josue Isaac.
Ventura’s Brandon Abdullatif and Birkimer won the next two matches by unanimous decisions to overtake the Chargers in the end.
“It was one of the best matches in years, a barnburner,” said Califano. “We came up a little short in the end, but I told my guys this is the end of the season and the beginning of the season. All the fun starts now. We showed where we’re at. Ventura’s ranked second in CIF and I think we gave a good showing and we’re going to get right back to work.”
Ventura 34, Dos Pueblos 32
119—Nico Sorensen, DP, pinned Johnny Armstrong, :28.6, 2nd QTR
125—Harrison Solomon, DP, dec. Victor Alvarez 14-5
130—Austin Saito, V, dec. Danny Ly, 9-4
135—Alejandro Gonzalez, DP, pinned Jake Fouqueir, 1:42, 3rd QTR
140—Michael Ledesma, V, pinned Sam Sarmiento, 2:00, 2nd QTR
145—Richard Stevens, DP, dec. Christian Brown, 2-1
152—Jake Snyder, V, dec Brian Dominguez 11-1
160—Brandon Velasquez, DP, dec. Juan Cortez, 7-4
171—Ryan Bortness, V, pinned Anthony Lomeli, 1:21, 2nd QTR
189—Lucas Rascon, DP, dec. Jake Davilla, 12-2
215—Ben Kingsley, V, pinned Rudy Cortez, :23.7 3rd QTR
HVY—Zach Wagner, DP, pinned Josue Isaac, :20 2nd QTR
103—Brandon Abdullatif, V, tech. fall Armando Villegas
112—Patrick Birkimer, V, dec. Chad Lampe, 11-3.
