Jones Crowned King at Canyon Springs

Pali High Wrestlers Place 11th out of 64 Teams in Raul Huerta Memorial Tournament

Before he took the mat for his final match Saturday at the Canyon Springs Tournament in Moreno Valley, Palisades High senior wrestler Kenny Jones knew next to nothing about his opponent. Nor did he care.

Instead, Jones concentrated on what he had to do to win and several minutes later he had his arm raised in victory after pinning top-seeded David Eubanks of Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon late in the second period to take first place in the heavyweight division.

“It was like that the whole weekend – I didn’t study the draw, I didn’t talk to anyone,” Jones admitted. “In the finals I was trying an ankle pick but it didn’t work. I got him in a half nelson and did a pretty good job keeping him down. I found out later he was [ranked] 13th in the state. I’ve improved my technique a lot since last season.”

The upset capped an impressive run for Jones, last year’s City Section runner-up. He won all of his matches by fall and led the Dolphins to 11th place out of 64 schools at the two-day meet.

Brad Boorstin shook off sickness to finish fourth at 170 pounds,  David Rheingold took sixth at 113 pounds,and Erik Miranda (106)and Kevin Rosen (138) each went 4-2 and just missed placing.

Palisades finished seven spots ahead of reigning City champion San Fernando, thanks in part to Miranda’s 9-3 decision against the Tigers’ Albert Del Toro.

“That meant more to me than winning the whole tournament,” Miranda said. “He beat me in overtime at the Rosemead Tournament but I’ve watched a lot of his matches and this time I stuck to what I knew. I got a bunch of takedowns and turned him on his back to make it 5-0.”

Rheingold won his first two matches Friday (the second by technical fall), then won 10-7 and 5-3 decisions to reach the fifth-place match.

Boorstin, seeded second, won his first three matches by fall before dropping a 4-3 decision to third-seeded Travis Shumway of Canyon Springs.

The Dolphins sharpened up for next Tuesday’s first round of the City Dual Championships against Carson by outscoring a combined team from West Adams, Fremont and Dorsey in last Thursday’s final Coliseum League meet at West Adams.

All but two of Palisades’ 10 wins were by fall. Jake Carpenter won by pin at 106, Miranda won did the same at 113, Rheingold followed suit at 120 and Matt Au won by pin at 126.

Lance Santelices lost by fall at 132, Daniel Radyuk pinned West Adams’ Juan Telles at 138, Rosen won by pin at 145 and Anthony Teitelbaum won by techincal fall (16-0) at 152.

Sam Reedy lost 3-2 at 160 pounds, Marcelo Maya won by fall at 170, Boorstin pulled out an 8-7 win over Dorsey’s Durell Johnson at 182, Hanzah Alsaudi won by pin at 195, Aria Mahinfar pinned Dorsey’s Eric Smith in the third period at 220 and Jones pinned Fremont’s Avel Zavala at heavyweight.

“I’m really comfortable with my weight and I look at this as a warm-up for City,” Jones said about Canyon Springs. “I’ve improved my technique a lot. I’m working on my outside singles but my added strength is helping.”

Palisades is ranked No. 2 in the City behind El Camino Real and Coach Aldo Juliano is trying to round his team into form before the finals Feb. 21 at Roybal Learning Center.

“I’m just trying to keep them focused on what they know, sticking to their technique and not worrying so much about where they’re ranked,” he said.