By Steve Breazeale
The loss of senior talent in high school sports can be a difficult obstacle to overcome. The way that San Clemente wrestling head coach Mark Calentino and his staff attempt to get a head start on maturing what were once underclassmen to fill those senior voids is through their annual 4-way competition.
Every year, at the end of spring and the beginning of summer, Calentino surveys his roster, puts all the freshman, sophomores and juniors together and divides them into four separate teams. Each team has one wrestler who represents one of 10 different weight classes.
It’s easy to guess what happens from there.
Whichever team emerges with the most match victories is crowned the winner and this year it was Rasor’s Rough Riders. Marshall’s Macho’s finished second, with Ames’ Aggressors and Meisinger’s Militia coming in third and fourth, respectively.
Awards were given out to the top individual in each weight class. The weight class winners were: Adi Patel (108 pounds), Danny Garcia (122), Connor Moreno (128), Eron Rasor (131), Baily Mulder (140), Tyler Meisinger (145), Ryan Waltman (156), Mike Marshall (172), Zack Adcock (177) and Lalo Serrano (200).
Mulder was selected as the lower-weight outstanding wrestler of the event and Serrano was named the upper-weight outstanding wrestler.
“I started the tournament about a dozen years ago to get the kids excited again about competing. It has morphed into a much anticipated part of the spring class for the kids,” Calentino said. “For us coaches we get the chance to see next year’s team in a competition setting.”
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