Marmonte's best grapplers settle things
Talent takes over at league finals
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers GUILE AND GUTS- Agoura High's Jeff Tabachnick, left, defeats Westlake's Jason Villavisencio 84 in the 105-pound division during last Saturday's Marmonte League Wrestling Finals at Moorpark High. For Tabachnick, the win was his first finals victory in three attempts at the league championships.

In December, Royal High grappler Aaron Van Driessche was quoted in the Simi Valley Acorn as saying wrestling "was more than a sport- it's a way of life."

Last weekend at the Marmonte League Wrestling Finals at Moorpark High, life was pretty good for Van Driessche and the Highlanders.

A week after winning the regular-season league championship, Royal dominated during the Individual Finals, with seven of its grapplers taking home titles. The Highlanders had a wrestler compete in 11 of the 14 final matches.

Although RHS wasn't quite on par with the 2005-06 squad that won nine titles, head coach Rich Carrillo was still extremely impressed with the results from his 2008 team.

"I'm thrilled to death," Carrillo said. "This has been a dream team to coach. The team knew that the expectations were set high for them, and they delivered. Our goal wasn't just to make the finals this year- it was to get to the finals and win.

"It's a little too early to tell if the team is as good as the team from two years ago, but this is probably the most dominating team I've ever seen in league," he said.

Both RHS and Thousand Oaks advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division II Team/Dual Finals Saturday at Royal High.

While Royal dominated most of the league event, Agoura, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark and Westlake all had grapplers who took home a title. Here is a list of last Saturday's winners:

105 pounds - Jeff Tabachnick

(Agoura) defeats Jason

Villavisencio (Westlake), 8-4.

Tabachnick won his first Marmonte League title, after previously losing the last two years.

"It feels amazing to win," Tabachnick said. "It's a onceina-lifetime feeling. I trained harder this past year and just gave it everything I had in the second and third periods."

114 pounds - Colin Sasaki (Thousand Oaks) defeats Sam

Mestaz (Royal), 8-7.

After falling behind 6-3, Sasaki made a comeback in the final period. After tying the match at six, Sasaki fell behind 76 before getting two points in the final 20 seconds to get the win.

"The Marmonte League is tough, but I had a feeling that it would come down to me and (Mestaz) for the title," Sasaki said. "I trained harder than ever the past week, and I visualized everything Mestaz had done in our previous two meetings. When I was losing 76 I visualized losing, and I didn't like it."

121 pounds - Philip

Dimalanta (Royal) defeats

Kelly Postel (Westlake), 7-6.

Dimalanta held on to win a close match against Postel, thanks to his execution of the "high crutch" move.

"My friend Sam (Mestaz) lost the match before mine, and that really pumped me up," Dimalanta said. "My coaches told me to stay in there and put in a good effort, and I didn't want to let them down."

127 pounds - Kyle Nance

(Moorpark) defeats Ben Comfort (Thousand Oaks), 5-2.

Nance gave the hometown Moorpark crowd something to cheer about when he defeated Comfort 52. Nance had previously lost to the Thousand Oaks junior twice this year.

"I had a lead on him in the third period, so I was just making sure I didn't do anything dumb to give him back the lead," Nance said. "It feels awesome to win, especially here at Moorpark."

132 pounds - Chris Barr (Simi Valley) defeats Blake

Ginsburg (Royal), 7-4.

"This is as good as it gets," Barr said after his victory. "I've been waiting four years to get this league championship. I just made sure I gave it 110 percent and didn't waste a single second on the clock."

137 pounds - Behrod

Katebian (Thousand Oaks) defeats Franky Bienz (Royal)

10-9.

Although most grapplers were thrilled to win a championship, Katebian was a different story. After the hardfought comefrombehind win in the closing seconds over Bienz, Katebian seemed more disappointed than happy.

"No, I'm not pleased," Katebian said. "I have a lot of work to do if I want to get better. I wasn't prepared to wrestle in the first period, and I learned that I have to be tougher for the entire match."

142 pounds - Mike Dumelle

(Royal) pins Mike Shai

(Calabasas).

After taking an early 6-1 lead, Dumelle disposed of Shai by pinning the Calabasas senior in the first round.

"(Shai) is a pretty good wrestler," Dumelle said. "He's very big, so I tried to stay away from him and capitalize on his mistakes. It felt really good to win, and I credit a lot to my teammates, who encouraged me all year to win this championship."

147 pounds - Thomas Lang

(Westlake) defeats John

Combs (Agoura), 11-5.

"I knew I had to get the first takedown," Lang said of his victory. "I got fifth last year as a junior, so I knew I had to work hard over the summer. All that hard work over the summer is now finally paying off."

154 pounds - Sergio Cortez (Royal) defeats Jack Hoskinson

(Thousand Oaks), 15-3.

Cortez easily handled Hoskinson in claiming his first Marmonte League crown.

"I wanted to get out on top early," Cortez said. "I rely a lot on my takedowns, and they really worked well for me today. I went through a lot of hardships as a freshman and a sophomore, so it feels great to finally win."

162 pounds - Aaron Van Driessche (Royal) pins

Erick Lawson

(Thousand Oaks).

Van Driessche described the win over Lawson as "four years in the making" and relied on his wrestling basics to win. Van Driessche's victory would be the second of four in a row by Royal grapplers on the day.

"This is a dream come true for me," Van Driessche said. "There's also a little vindication for me since last year I lost in the finals to a Thousand Oaks kid, and today I beat a Thousand Oaks kid for the win."

173 pounds - Pascal Combes-Knoke (Agoura) pins Logan Sandoval (Royal).

Combes-Knoke disposed of Sandoval in the first period, thanks to a quick shot that led to a pin. The title was the first for Combes-Knoke in his varsity career.

191 pounds - Matt Rulon (Royal) defeats Jon Hamm

(Simi Valley), 8-6.

Rulon went through a series of emotions in the final seconds of the third period. As the final horn sounded, Rulon believed he had won 76. After the referee corrected the scoreboard, the score showed a 66 deadlock. After regrouping quickly, Rulon made a nice move to get two points and the victory.

217 pounds - Dillon Brockert (Thousand Oaks)

pins Jorge Astorga (Royal).

Brockert captured his first league title after finishing second last season. Brockert dominated from the beginning, building a 70 lead before pinning Astorga in the second period.

Heavyweight - Diego Vargas (Royal) defeats Clint Abraham

(Thousand Oaks), 10-5.

In a tightly contested match, Vargas held onto a third-period lead for his first Marmonte League title. Vargas, who was the last of 11 Royal grapplers to compete in the finals, said the win was well worth the wait.

"Right now I feel like a million bucks," Vargas said. "I had trouble with (Abraham) in the first period when I was trying to throw him. I changed up my style in the second and third period, and it paid off."