There was a moment when San Marcos freshman wrestler Alexander Lepere lifted his Dos Pueblos opponent and threw him to the mat.
The majority of the big moments, however, belonged to the Chargers in Thursday’s Channel League dual meet. They recorded six pins in 11 contested bouts and rolled to a 66-3 victory at Sovine Gym.
While it looked impressive when Lepere hoisted DP junior Alex Garcia and rode him to the mat in their 162-pound match, it was Garcia who came away victorious. He got a burst of strength, turned his Royal opponent and pinned him. It was the Chargers’ third straight pin to start the match.
Jason Hu got things going with pin of Alex Pena at 147 pounds. Eden Martinez followed with a third-period pin of Jason Diep after building a 13-3 lead.
After taking the next three weight classes by forfeit, the Chargers recorded their fourth straight pin when Damien Pennington quickly put Caanan Cates on his back,
The Royals posted their only match win in a dramatic heavyweight battle. Adrian Sanchez recorded an escape point late in the third period to tie the score against Ivan Govea at 2-2 and then scored a two-point takedown in overtime to win 4-2.
Junior Perez of Dos Pueblos pulled off some impressive moves to negate an aggressive Aloha Rodriguez at 122 pounds. Rodriguez came out aggressive, but Perez stayed patient and took the lead with a two-point takedown. He later fought off a grab at his leg and turned the tables on Rodriguez by scoring another two-point takedown. The DP wrestler went on to win 5-1.
“Aloha Rodriguez is one of their more experienced varsity guys and our guy is just a really hard worker. He’s recently turned the corner,” said DP coach Anthony Califano of Perez.
Underclassmen dominated the match. San Marcos had only one senior in its lineup and three freshmen. Dos Pueblos had just two seniors take the mat..
108—Noah Stevens (DP) pinned Adan Alvaro
115—Justin Moua (DP) dec. Sean Carroll 4-0
122 —Junior Perez (DP) dec. Aloha Rodriguez 5-1
128—Josh Murphy (DP) dec. Adam Manchester 7-`1
134—Cameron Cox (DP) pinned Joe Alvaro
140—Jeffy Uyesaka dec. Charles Giroux 3-2
147—Jason Hu (DP) pinned Alex Pena
154—Eden Martinez (DP) pinned Jason Diep
162—Alex Garcia (DP) pinned Alexander Lepere
172—DP wins by forfeit
184—DP wins by forfeit
197—DP wins by forfeit
222—Damien Pennington (DP) pinned Caanan Cates
HVT—Adrian Sanchez (SM) dec. Ivan Govea, 4-2 OT
