Wrestlers Wrap Up at Finals

Van Wagenen, Woods and Addis Are City Champions as Palisades Finishes Second in Team Standings 

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor         

After a long and grueling day of wrestling at Birmingham High, three Palisades High boys emerged as champions and the Dolphins took second place in the team standings.

No one was more impressive than whirling dervish James Van Wagenen, who scored three pins, all in 30 seconds or faster, on his way to the 106-pound title. Using cat-quick reflexes, he downed Birmingham’s Jaydon Whitaker with one move and won in 18 seconds, springing to his feet in jubilation after one of the swiftest results in the history of the City finals. 

“I wrestled him twice before and I got a pin and a tech fall so my impulse was why change anything now?” said Van Wagenen, a sophomore who had his hopes dashed when the City Championships got  canceled last year because of the coronavirus. “My impulse was to just go out and do first, think later. I was small and I got bullied a lot when I was younger so I’ve been wrestling since I was 11. I did real well at Paul Revere. I like to get it over with as quick as I can. I’m in attack mode all the time.”

Junior Ryan Woods appreciates the exhilaration his younger teammate was feeling (he was in the same shoes two winters ago when he won City at 106), only now he is older and wiser and he used his experience to take first place in the 132-pound division. He scored two pins and a win by forfeit to reach the final, where he posted a 12-2 decision over Nikita Samtov of Birmingham.

“It hasn’t hit me yet, it feels like my first one since we didn’t have the tournament last year,” he said. “Winning City again is great but I really want to win a few matches at state. I was up 8-0 in my second match two years ago and got pinned so I’m anxious to show how much I learned from that.”

Proving his mettle in one of the deepest weight classes was senior co-captain Charlie Addis, who won all four of his bouts by first-period fall, including a pin in 61 seconds in the finals facing Frankie Gonzalez of San Fernando, whom he edged 14-12 in the region finals one week before.

  “That was the perfect ending… there’s absolutely no feeling like it—it’s what I’ve dreamed about since I was a freshman,” said Addis, who likes using blast doubles and cradles to put opponents on the defensive. “I go for quick pins. I’m tall and lanky and if I see an opening I take it. My older brother [former Pali High captain Samson Dorff] was my first coach and he got me into it. I was eager to be captain to follow in his footsteps.”

Six other Dolphins also placed in their divisions. Matthew Maldonado-Cruz took third at 113; Derek Anwar took second at 138; Ben Frizzell was second at 145; senior co-captain Johnny Berrellez took third at 160; Cole Rowland placed third at 170 pounds and Ricardo Abrego was third at 195.

The finals were held outdoors for the first time as six mats were placed side by side overnight on the football field. Woods recalled there being sheets of ice across the surface that had to be scraped off before the competition could start. By midday, the sun had made the mats so hot they had to be sprayed with water in between bouts.   

When all was said and done Palisades accumulated 222 points, matching its highest finish ever.  Birmingham won with 300 points.

Van Wagenen, Woods and Addis all qualified for this weekend’s CIF state meet at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield.