CHS wrestlers reach new heights at CIF Divisionals

TAKE DOWN-Calabasas 215-pound wrestler Yevgeniy Pinchuk applies his brute force to an opponent earlier in the season.

In the history of the Calabasas High School wrestling program no wrestler had ever advanced beyond the CIF-Southern Section’s Divisional Round to compete at Master’s. That was until this past weekend at a power-packed event held in Westminster where three accomplished the feat.

Seniors Justin Effres and Ivan Pinchuk and junior Cameron Teitelman all finished in the top five in their respective weight classes to earn spots in next weekend’s state-qualifying competition, an accomplishment head coach Andy Falk called "phenomenal."

"Getting somebody into Master’s had always been that elusive goal for us," Falk said. "That had been a goal of ours from day one. . . . Sure it’s great for those three wrestlers to move on, but this is something the whole program can be proud of."

Effres, a two-year captain and a four-year wrestler at CHS, was the team’s highest finisher over the weekend taking third place in the 152-pound weight-class. Teitelman, the team’s other captain, took fourth at 125 lbs. and Pinchuk landed fifth place at 171 lbs.

Falk said the highlight of the weekend was the performance of the No. 8 seeded Effres, who improved his individual record to 37-7 on the year by besting higher-seeded competition and proving any doubters wrong. The senior, hoping to extend his prep wrestling career at least one more week, even registered two wins by way of pin, something rare at the level of Southern Section Divisionals.

"He just wrestled amazing. He lost one match in the quarterfinal and then basically came back and beat four guys to get third," Falk said. "And it wasn’t like he got lucky or got an easy draw. He just dominated good wrestlers."

Falk was especially impressed with the performance of his seniors, who rose to the occasion when the time called.

"In my experience I’ve seen a lot of times when seniors have so much on their plate, with graduation and thinking about college, that they just can’t rise up and focus on the task at hand," Falk said. "That didn’t happen to our guys. They wrestled liked they wanted to go on to state."

The three wrestlers will take to the mats again Friday and Saturday at the Master’s Meet at Fountain Valley High School. Though they can already consider this season a success, Falk said his final three are hoping to finish in the top eight and qualify for state.

"We’re not satisfied just yet," Falk said. "It won’t be easy—most of the best wrestlers in the state will be there—but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a chance."

More than anything else, Falk said his team’s accomplishments over the weekend set precedence for future Calabasas’ grapplers, a huge step in the progression of any wrestling program.

"What these guys have done is blaze a path," Falk said. "Now we can point to the wall and say to the younger guys, ‘See, guys have done it before you and now you can do it. Before, we couldn’t do that. No longer are we wondering if we can do it, now it is it’s been done before and it will be done again."

Other wrestlers who competed at the Divisional Meet but did not advance to Master’s were Mike Goodman (103), Greg Jacobs (112), Mark Durant (189), Yevgeniy Pinchuck (215) and Joey Hauss (heavyweight).