As the season moves along the competition gets tougher and tougher and that’s just how Palisades High wrestling coach Randy Aguirre planned it. He wants to have his team in peak form for City finals, so he entered the Dolphins in last weekend’s Blackwatch Invitational at Upland High with hopes of getting some of them valuable experience.
Most team members were either sick or on vacation during the Winter Break, so only six made the meet, but three of them survived to the second day in a draw that featured more than 40 varsity teams. Aguirre is trying to keep his expectations high yet realistic given his team’s size and inexperience.
“Birmingham has 100 kids in its program while we’ve got between 20 and 25,” Aguirre explained. “We don’t have the depth they do, but I think we can win league and regionals and I’ll be happy if we’re top five in City.”
Palisades’ top placer was Erik Miranda, who finished sixth in the 106-pound weight class. In the early rounds he showed why he leads the team in pins, making short work of his first two opponents. Then he took on Zeke Garcia of Covina, who Miranda had beaten 5-1 in Rosemead. This time he scored an 11-1 victory to earn a spot in the semifinals.
“I knew he would keep shooting so I got in my sprawl and got my timing right,” Miranda said. “I didn’t get any near fall points last time, I just took him down and let him up.”
In the semifinals, Miranda faced top-seeded David Gonzalez of San Dimas and got pinned in the first period.
At 145, Brad Boorstin made it to the second day and won by scores of 9-2, 18-2 (technical fall), 12-1 and 3-2 before falling 10-5 to eventual third-place finisher Adam Cervantes of Los Osos.
“I lost my vision for a few seconds, it was a rough break,” Boorstin said of his elimination match. “I was seeded third so I’m a little disappointed I didn’t place but the end of tjhe season is all that matters. I just need to work on a few things and I’ll be unstoppable.”
In the heavyweight division, Kenny Jones won his only match Friday but was upset by Montclair’s Dan Mcrew, 4-3, in the quarterfinals, dropping him to the back draw. From there he battled back to secure fifth place, pinning his first opponent in the first period and his second opponent with one minute left.
“Every loss is like a wake-up call,” Jones said. “I just wanted to have fun and finish strong. It’s all about wrestling smart. If a pin is there, take it. If not, score points and move on.”
Next up for Palisades is the ASICS Challenge tomorrow and Saturday at Tustin High.
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