Wrestling: Spartans Bow Out in Round 2

The La Cañada wrestling team had a very tough draw in the CIF-Southern Section Division VI Dual Meet Wrestling Championships hosted at Monrovia High School on Saturday. The Spartans entered the bracket as the No. 8 seed, and after an easy win over Santa Paula in Round 1, they fell just a few points short of puling off an upset over top-seeded Downey in Round 2, losing 39-30.

In the first round the Spartans had it made against Santa Paula, winning 54-23. The Spartans’ Chris Bache got things going early against Ivan Abarca with a pin in the second period of the 160-pound bout. Adam Skaggs pinned his opponent in 10 seconds flat against Adam Ramos in the 125 weight class. By then, Santa Paula had trouble catching up.

Emotions were running high against Downey. Chris Soo Hoo of La Cañada easily topped Downey’s David Kang, 13-2. The Spartans won two of the next three matches.

In the heavyweight bout, though, a close bout between La Cañada’s Austin Devine and Robert Chism of Downey came down to the last minute. That’s when Chism pinned Devine with just 30 seconds to go in the final period.

Then the Vikings took command, winning the next four of six matches with pins. The Spartans had a chance at a comeback when Brian Streeter pinned Fabian Mendoza in the final period with just 45 seconds left. But then in the 140-pound bout, Steven Johnson took down Gabe Villalobos 40 seconds into the match to avoid any possible upset.

Soo Hoo, Bache, and Daniel Wyatt each won both of their matches during the tournament. 

“No matter the stakes, coach has always told us to fight it out,” Bache said. “If we keep fighting and give ourselves more opportunities, it’s games like these that give us a shot at something. We have always been a ‘six minute’ team, meaning if we don’t get the pin, we will get the win in six minutes, and throughout the season we have.”

Though the Spartans fell early on Saturday, they still have high hopes for this season. 10 of their players will compete in the CIF-SS Individual Wrestling Divisionals on Feb. 18. La Cañada also last week won the Rio Hondo League title, something the team had been working hard at all season.

“When we won last week, I had never seen this team so excited,” Bache said. “Even though we had lost to Downey, I know the effort was there in all of us. We were not going down easy, but it was a lot of fun to be a part of this experience."