ESTANCIA WRESTLING TOURNAMENT : Canyon Qualifies Six for Semifinal Round

COSTA MESA —  Six members of Canyon High School’s wrestling team qualified for Saturday’s championship semifinals in the Estancia High wrestling tournament Friday at Estancia.

Canyon is in first place with 79 points after Friday’s championship quarterfinals. Laguna Hills is in second with 74.5 points, and El Modena is third with 71.

Canyon wrestlers vying for championships are Steve Schlessinger (112 pounds), Jason Mitchell (138), Matt Padgett (154), Travis King (165), Eric Jeppson (175), and Zach Cooper (191).

El Modena qualified Min Park (112), Danny Santana (138), Erik Jacobs (165) and Matt Jones (175).

Laguna Hills qualified Chris DeBelle (105), Frank Gagnon (126) and Brad Grebel (191).

Valencia, in fourth place with 65 points, has Hugo Amaya (98), James Lopez (112), Jose Castillo (165), and Paul Jaramillo (heavyweight) going for championships.

Consolation action resumes today at 10 a.m. Championship semifinals and finals will follow later in the day.

In some of today’s key semifinal matchups, Schlesinger will face Lopez, Castillo will face Jacobs, and Cooper will face Grebel.

Other Orange County schools with championship semifinal qualifiers include Anaheim, Buena Park, Edison, Estancia, Irvine, Katella, Magnolia, Marina, Tustin and University.

Estancia Coach Dave Alexander said seeding problems arose because of a number of sick and injured wrestlers who couldn’t compete, but he believes this year’s tournament competitors are “twice as tough as last year’s.”