Agoura has senior leadership in wrestling

The Agoura wrestling team opened the season with a 59-8 win over Channel Islands last Thursday night in a match at Agoura High School.

Charger coach Dennis Ritterbush, now in his 25th season, is hopeful that this will be a successful campaign after a season of struggle last year when Agoura lacked a full lineup.

"Last year I actually felt was a good year," Ritterbush said. "We qualified two kids for Masters, the first time in four years, and we had good wrestlers. We just didn’t have the team size to win matches. We won on the mats, we just didn’t have the bodies."

This year, Agoura has a more complete lineup of competitors.

"We’re trying to build off of last year," Ritterbush said. "We have a full team, finally, and we have a lot of seniors. I expect a lot out of them."

Against Channel Islands, eight of 13 wrestlers were seniors.

"Our abiding thing is the amount of experience we put on the mat," Ritterbush said. "I’ve even got a couple of weight classes where three seniors are fighting for one spot. Our strength is the experience they have, the number of years they’ve been wrestling."

Josh Kirsch at 119 pounds, Everett Johnson, 125; Mike Smith, 130; Casey King, 140; Mark Guittentag, 145; Bryan Fleming, 152; Derek Dummit, 160; Ariell Ayalon, 171; and Jeff Gordon, 215; are senior wrestlers who should compete this season.

The Charger squad is deep this year, too.

"Right now, we’ve got a number of seniors who aren’t in the varsity lineup because they can’t break in," said Ritterbush.

Sophomores who should make an impact this year are Ehren Baker at 103, Tim Waller, 112; Ellis Weiner, 189; and Alex Walsh at heavyweight. Ryan Castle, a junior, wrestles at 135.

In the win over Channel Islands, Baker at 103 won by forfeit, Waller at 112 lost a decision, Kirsch at 119 pinned his opponent in the second round, and Johnson at 125 and Smith at 130, won by forfeit. Castle at 135 won a close 5-4 decision, and King, at 140 and Guittentag at 145 won by forfeit.

Fleming at 152 won a 16-0 second-round decision, Dummit, at 160 earned a first-round pin, Ayalon lost a decision at 171, Weiner at 189 won 5-4, and Walsh at heavyweight won by forfeit. Gordon wrestled a JV opponent because there was no varsity match at 215 vs. Channel Islands.

"We’ve already gotten a lot of leadership out of our senior class," Ritterbush said.

The coach described what it takes to put a winning wrestling team together at Agoura High School.

"I think wrestling ends up being how well you recruit off the campus," Ritterbush said. "That’s what it boils down to. I don’t know if there are better or worse athletes on a yearly basis. It’s such an individual sport.

"If you can recruit those seven or eight good athletes to come out for wrestling, you’re going to have a very good team."