A total of 12 East County wrestlers earned place-finishes at last weekend’s 46th annual El Cajon Invitational tournament. The event took place Dec. 16-17 at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista.
Steele Canyon Gerardo Jaime finished 4-1 to place second in his 220-pound weight class while Cougar teammate David Lipscomb finished 5-1 to place third in his 160-pound weight class.
A total of 12 East County wrestlers earned place-finishes at last weekend’s 46th annual El Cajon Invitational tournament. The event took place Dec. 16-17 at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista.
Steele Canyon Gerardo Jaime finished 4-1 to place second in his 220-pound weight class while Cougar teammate David Lipscomb finished 5-1 to place third in his 160-pound weight class.
Grossmont’s Nick Ghosn finished 5-1 to place third at 195 pounds. He defeated Vahalla’s Isaiah Hawkins by a score of 7-3 in the medal rounds. Hawkins finished fourth in the weight class with a 3-2 record.
Helix’s Andrew Poumele finished 3-2 to place fourth in his 285-pound division while Gage Bulette finished 7-2 to place fifth at 152 pounds.
Helix’s Marcus Tucker finished 3-2 to place sixth in his 106-pound weight class while Granite Hills’ Alex Love finished 4-3 to place sixth at 160 pounds.
West Hills’ Nick Rivinius finished 4-2 to place seventh in his 170-pound weight class while Steele Canyon’s Ivan Miramontes (126), Christian’s David Moreno (160) and Granite Hills’ Conner Askins (195) all finished in eighth place in their respective weight divisions.
Jaime lost by a pin in 1:21 to Sultana’s Sam Aguilar in the championship round.
Bulette won six consecutive matches in the consolation wrestle-backs. He defeated Otay Ranch’s Sithara Diunugala by default to end his marathon two-day wrestling odyssey with a medal.
Ten East County schools participated in this year’s tournament. Steele Canyon led the eastern contingent in 14th place with 85,5 points, followed by Grossmont (13th place, 63 points), Valhalla (20th place, 53 points), Helix (21st place, 50 points), Granite Hills (22nd place, 41 points), Monte Vista (26th place, 33.5 points), West Hills (28th place, 31 points), Santana (39th place, 16 points), Christian (41st place, 15 points) and El Capitan (42nd place, 14 points).
Sultana won the team title with 294 points, followed by Rancho Bernardo (the highest San Diego Section finisher) with 258 points in second place.
Northview finished third with 235 points while Yuma KOFA finished fourth with 185 points.
Rancho Buena Vista was the second highest team from San Diego to score in the tournament with 151.5 points in fifth place.
Among section teams, Vista was seventh with 126 points while Eastlake was ninth with 98.5 points and Mater Dei Catholic was 13th with 87.5 points.
The event attracted seven teams from the Southern Section, one team from the Central Section, three teams from Arizona and one team each from Washington and Oregon.
San Diego champions at this year’s ECI tournament included RB’s Jaden Le (120), Jaden Abas (132), Chaz Franchina (145), Erick Salcedo (152) and Chasen Blair (195); RBV’s Bernie Truax (138); and Mater Dei Catholic’s Aaron Olmos (160).
Section runners-up included RBV’s Oscar Nellis (113), Eastlake’s Ben Martinez (126), Vista’s Johnny Miller (152), Mater Dei Catholic’s Uriel Beristain (182) and Steele Canyon’s Jaime.
