Adam Krzywicki left his mark as a wrestler at Monte Vista High School, where he later served as an assistant coach for 10 years.
He’s begun to create a new legacy as a first-year head coach at Helix High School.
Things definitely appear to be looking up for the Highlanders. When team scores were announced midway through last Saturday’s South Bay Invitational tournament at Otay Ranch High School, Krzywicki’s troops — drum roll — were at the top of the list.
Adam Krzywicki left his mark as a wrestler at Monte Vista High School, where he later served as an assistant coach for 10 years.
He’s begun to create a new legacy as a first-year head coach at Helix High School.
Things definitely appear to be looking up for the Highlanders. When team scores were announced midway through last Saturday’s South Bay Invitational tournament at Otay Ranch High School, Krzywicki’s troops — drum roll — were at the top of the list.
“We’re mainly freshmen and sophomores with a core group of seniors who have been wrestling for four years,” the new Helix coach said. “My main goal was just getting the kids to buy into what I was trying to show them — the basic fundamental style of wrestling, good technique and to eliminate mistakes.”
Post-season competition is right around the corner, with the San Diego Section divisional championships scheduled Feb. 16 and the San Diego Masters state-qualifying tournament set Feb. 22-23 at Eastlake High School.
The Highlanders appear to be getting the most out of what they have this season.
Krzywicki’s team advanced five wrestlers to the semifinal round of last weekend’s 25-team tournament and all five grapplers came home with medals.
Sophomore Gabriel Perroud earned his first varsity medal by finishing second in his 132-pound weight class while teammates Trence Gillem (113), Nicholas Lupian (145) and Zach Parks (285) all finished third. Walter Todd (152) was sixth.
Perroud, seeded seventh, pinned second-seeded Wyatt Brenner of Hilltop in 2:41 in the quarterfinals and out-pointed sixth-seeded Irvin Peneloza of Valhalla, 14-9, in the semifinals.
“We finished well,” Krzywicki said. “We brought seven guys and five medaled — there were a lot of positives to take away from this tournament.”
Six East County teams competed at last weekend’s South Bay Invitational, which saw the top eight teams separated by just 21 points. Steele Canyon finished fourth with 101 points followed by Helix with 94 points in sixth place. Valhalla was ninth with 86.5 points while El Capitan was 11th with 79 points in a very competitive field.
Steele Canyon had two finalists: Robert Matthews (second, 170) and Trevor Lincoln (second, 195). The Cougars’ other medal-winners included Christian Perez (third, 106), Brett Maynard (fourth, 120) and Ryan Maynard (fifth, 126).
Valhalla had five medalists and one finalist. They included Walt Bailey (second, 145), Trevor Burningham (fourth, 152), Irvin Peneloza (fifth, 132), Noah Houston (fifth, 160) and Kevin Graf (fifth, 182).
El Capitan’s six medalists included Robert Kennedy (fourth, 195), Emilio Rouse (fifth, 106), Mickey Baum (fifth, 152), John Lachappa (sixth, 145), John Rust (sixth, 170) and Kevin Hoyt (sixth, 220).
Mountain Empire’s Troy Clark, who racked up four pins on the day, finished fourth at 220 pounds.
Mat attack
The Robert Jenkins Memorial tournament at Mt. Miguel also took place last Saturday. Monte Vista was the highest East County team finisher in fourth place, followed by Mt. Miguel (seventh) and West Hills (11th) in the list of 21 teams.
East County weight class champions included West Hills’ John Lancaster (126), Monte Vista’s Jose Serrano (170) and Mt. Miguel’s Miracle Tausaga (220) and Josh Tausaga (285).
Taking runner-up finishes were Mt.Miguel’s Nathan Ontiveros (132), Monte Vista’s Juan Velarde (138), Mt. Miguel’s Edward Marin (152) and West Hills’ Angel Sandoval (195).
