MORRO BAY – The Servite High wrestling team is having a season to remember. First, they defeat league rivals St. John Bosco (41-32) to win the Trinity League title. And now, over the weekend, they win the 75th Annual CIT Morrow Bay tournament in a loaded field that included teams from the Sac-Joaquin, North Coast, Central, Central Coast, and the Southern Section.
The Friars who are ranked No. 16 in the latest state rankings by Michael Cho, gallop their way to their first CIT title. Head Coach Alan Clinton’s team crowned two champions and used a balanced team effort to move away from both Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana and Righetti on day two.
Servite High won the title with 284 points while Calvary Chapel was second with 156.5 and Righetti third at 155. The Friars used a balanced team effort, with 9 of their 13 competitors placing at the event.
Day two began at 9 a.m. with the quarterfinals and fourth round of consolations. The Friars went 6-5 in the quarterfinals. Senior Andrew Silva ranked No. 10 at 113, opened up Servite’s run of 11 quarterfinalists with a 15-0 technical fall over Aiden Hansen of Royal. Freshman Marcus Medina ranked No. 19 at 120, posted a pin as he earned the fall in 58 seconds over Peyton Kilber of Paso Robles to move into the semifinal round.
At 132, the Friars has two grapplers wrestling in the quarterfinal round. Junior Josh Medina ranked No. 8 defeated No. 24, Luke Gayer of Calvary Chapel 8-5, to advance to the semifinal round. Teammate Marcos Magana, No. 21 dropped a 9-5 decision to No. 11 Chaz Hallmark of Scripps Ranch in his quarterfinal bout. Senior Teddy Okada, ranked No. 12 at 138, posted a fall in the first round over Max Haban of Caruthers to move on to the semifinal round while workout partner Daniel Magana (145) won 9-2 over David Lopez of Stockdale.
Junior Valor Buck, ranked No. 12 at 152, suffered a tough 5-4 upset loss to No. 34 Hunter Avila of Monache and shifted into consolation action. Another tough lost occurred at 160 as Tyler Okada was defeated 10-3 by No. 36 Michael Valdez of Calvary Chapel. Senior Neil Carter (170) lost a tied 8-7 match to Lance Couchman of Turlock while junior Chris Flores (182) was pinned in the first period by No. 13 Cody Golding of Oakdale. Junior Tristan Wilson, ranked No. 10 at 195, earned a 19-4 technical fall victory over Michael Morgan of Eastlake to become the six Friar to advance to the semifinal round.
Servite’s six semifinalists began action at 1:30 pm and Medina led things off as Servite got off to a fast start with a dominant fall in the third period over state qualifier Mokbel Obeid of Patterson. The second finalist for Servite was Okada as he got the 2-1 win over No. 28, Dominic Leon, to join Medina in the finals. The third and last Friar to advance to the finals was Magana as blanked Nevada state place winner Alex Casarez of Reed, 5-0.
In the finals, M. Medina took on No. 30 Lorenzo Arreola of Dinuba, a two-time state qualifier. The friar junior fell behind early but mounted a furious rally to pick up the fall in 4:48 and win the first CIT title of his young career. Medina finished 5-0 on the day while racking five falls.
At 138, Okada entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and the underdog at his weight as he took on No. 6 ranked Luciano Arroyo of Calvary Chapel. Okada never stopped pressuring Arroyo as he stepped it up in the second period to earn the fall over the three-time state place winner. Due to his excellent wrestling in the tournament, Okada was awarded the most outstanding wrestler in the lower weights.
Magana faced a familiar opponent in the finals as he took on No. 16 Matthew Rodriguez of Righetti. A tough freshman whom Magana is 1-1 on the season. The match was close throughout the three periods until Rodriguez obtained the only takedown of the match to claim his first CIT title.
Senior Silva rebounded back from his semifinal loss early on the day to reel off two straight wins to place third in the tournament at 113. Also placing third for the Friars included J. Medina (132) and Carter (170). Placing fourth was Valor (152), Chris Flores was fifth at 182, and M. Magana was seven at 132.
Servite returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 26, when the Friars travel to Orange County to compete at the CIF-SS Duals at Canyon High.