Postseason mat events aligning for East County’s best

Photo by Phillip Brents Steele Canyon’s Isaac Constancio, left, and Granite Hills’ Carson Boehm face off in their 182-pound match during the teams’ Jan. 5 dual meet.

Postseason competition for the 2021-22 high school wrestling season appears exceptionally busy as a more traditional format returns.

The girls wrestling divisionals will once again consist of two tournaments, followed by a state-qualifying Masters event.

The boys wrestling divisionals will feature four tournaments, followed by the state-qualifying Masters tournament.

Both boys and girls wrestlers will compete alongside each other as the state championship tournament returns to the schedule.

Girl power

The girls section tournaments are scheduled to take place Saturday, Feb. 5. The Division I tournament is slated to take place at San Pasqual High School while Brawley High School will host the Division II finals.

Each tournament will include 16-person draws, with the top four place-finishers in each tournament receiving medals. Competition is slated to start at 9 a.m. Finals are projected to start at 5 p.m. or later.

Awards will be presented to the team champion and runner-up in each division.

Grossmont Conference teams eligible to compete at the Division I tournament include Helix Charter, Granite Hills, Grossmont, Steele Canyon and Valhalla high schools. East County teams eligible to compete at the Division II tournament include West Hills, Santana, Monte Vista, El Cajon Valley, Mount Miguel and Mountain Empire.

The girls Masters meet is scheduled Feb. 11 at Alliant International University. The top four place-finishers from both the Division I and Division II tournaments qualify. Competition is slated to start at 1 p.m. with finals and consolation rounds following at 5 and 6 p.m.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class will receive medals while the top three place-finishers in each weight class will advance to the state tournament.

The state tournament is a three-day event from Feb. 24-26 in Bakersfield.

CIF finals

Divisional boys tournaments are scheduled to take place Feb. 12 at four sites. Rancho Bernardo High School will host the Division I tournament while Poway High School will host the Division II tournament. Ramona will host the Division III tournament while Valley Center will host the Division IV tournament.

Each tournament will include 16-man brackets.

The top seven place-finishers at the Division I and Division II tournaments will receive medals while the top six wrestlers at the Division III tournament will receive medals. The top four place-winners at the Division IV tournament will receive medals.

Division I eligible teams include Helix Charter and Patrick Henry high schools. Division II eligible teams include Granite Hills, Grossmont, Steele Canyon and Valhalla high schools. Division III eligible teams include El Cajon Valley, El Capitan, Monte Vista, Santana and West Hills high schools. Division IV eligible teams include Christian, Mountain Empire and Mount Miguel high schools.

Divisional tournaments are projected to start at 9 a.m. with finals starting at 5 p.m. or earlier.

The Masters state-qualifying tournament is set Feb. 18-19 at Christian High School in El Cajon.

The tournament is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on both days. Finals are scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. or earlier on the second day.

Awards will be presented to the top four individual place-finishers as well as awards to the champion and runner-up teams.

Wrestling calendar

•Robert Jenkins Memorial Invitational: Feb. 5 at Mount Miguel High School.

•El Cajon Valley JV Invitational: Feb. 5 at El Cajon Valley High School.

•San Diego County Freshman Invitational: Feb. 5 at Mt. Carmel High School.