PREP WEDNESDAY : Tapia Tops the County in Wrestling

SAN CLEMENTE —  On his first trip to the CIF State wrestling meet, Zac Tapia of San Clemente watched the finals unfold from the dimly lit stands and wondered what it would take to make it under the spotlight at the arena’s center.

Tapia concluded that there were no secrets to improving on his seventh-place finish at the 1992 meet. It would simply take hard work.

With that notion guiding him, Tapia roared through the 1992-93 season bent on winning the State championship at 135 pounds. Nothing else would do. And in the end, Tapia didn’t have to settle for second-best. A 5-2 victory over Craig Welk of Vista in the State final on March 6 at Stockton capped a dominating senior season for Tapia, The Times Orange County wrestler of the year.

Tapia (53-1) was relentless, and his increased workload appeared to be paying off in January.

By the afternoon of the Five Counties Invitational final, Tapia had a 29-0 record and won tournament titles at Colton, El Dorado, El Toro and Escondido Orange Glen.

But Tapia’s dream season went for a tumble in the final against Mauricio Mora of Calvary Chapel, who delivered a crushing, 12-6, defeat.

“He wasn’t mad,” San Clemente Coach Mark Calentino said. “Just quiet. He was very, very frustrated.”

Tapia also learned a valuable lesson.

“He realized how foolish it was to allow someone who probably isn’t yet his equal to beat him,” Calentino said.

The solution, Tapia decided, was more hard work. With Calentino’s blessing, Tapia started his day at 6 a.m. with an hour-long workout. After classes, he participated in the Tritons’ 2 1/2-hour workout, then headed home for a short rest. In a few hours, he was back on the mat again.

Tapia stuck to the exhausting routine for almost a month and it propelled him to new levels of wrestling. He won the Southern Section Division I championship, then pinned Mora 1 minute 45 seconds into their match in the Masters meet final.

After the section final, Tapia was careful not to give Mora any added motivation. “Hey, do you mind not writing down anything about Mora?” he asked a reporter. “I don’t want him to know I’m looking forward to him next week.”

Compared to the emotional rematch with Mora, Tapia’s march through the State tournament field was strictly business. He spoke of the difficulty he had in battling Welk’s strong upper body, of making a mistake in choosing the down position to start the final period and of his anger at being tagged for stalling in the waning seconds.

“I guess I should be jumping for joy,” he said finally.

Tapia was simply untouchable, and that clearly set him apart for the rest of the State’s 135-pounders. He won his opening-round match, 16-0. It was 12-4 in the second round, 9-3 in the quarterfinals and 13-6 in the semifinals.

He never faced Mora or Canyon’s David Gayer, his closest county rivals. Each lost in the second round and did not place among the top eight. At last, Tapia owned the spotlight.

“A huge weight was lifted from his shoulders,” Calentino said. “Around school, people will say ‘Hi’ and he’ll say ‘Hi’ back. He’d been off somewhere else, on a different plane all year. Now, he’s totally different. He’s laughing and goofing around.”

The hard work is finally over.

All-County Wrestling FIRST TEAM Sean Billings, Irvine, Sr., 103, Southern Section Division III champion. Shane Valdez, Calvary Chapel, Jr., 112, State meet runner-up; 55-2. Dane Valdez, Calvary Chapel, Jr., 119, State meet champion; 44-0. Teak Sato, Savanna, Jr., 125, State meet runner-up; 57-4. Joey Coughran, Calvary Chapel, Sr., 130, Five Counties champ, State runner-up. Zac Tapia, San Clemente, Sr., 135, State meet champion; 53-1. Jeff Rodrigues, Savanna, Sr., 140, Finished seventh at the State meet. Ed Mosley, Calvary Chapel, So., 145, Finished sixth at the State meet. John Pickens, Ocean View, Jr., 152, Division I runner-up, State qualifier. Miguel Melendez, San Clemente, Sr., 160, Fourth at Division I, State qualifier. Hyuson Kim, University, Sr., 171, Finished eighth at the State meet. Tito Ortiz, Huntington Beach, Sr., 189, Finished sixth at the State meet. Wali Sibrie, Buena Park, Jr., HWT, State runner-up, Division III champ. SECOND TEAM Roger Santiago, Santa Ana, Jr., 103, Fourth at Division I finals. Loc Pham, Irvine, Sr., 112, Finished seventh at the State meet. Ahid Diab, Los Amigos, Jr., 119, Division IV runner-up; State qualifier. Kirk Offel, El Dorado, Sr., 125, Section Division II champion. Juan Alvarez, El Modena, Jr., 130, Division I champion, State qualifier. Mauricio Mora, Calvary Chapel, Jr., 135, Five Counties champ, State qualifier. David Wells, El Modena, Jr., 140, Finished eighth at the State meet. Chris Jaime, El Modena, Jr., 145, Third at Division I, State qualifier. Ryan Sufian, Fountain Valley, Sr., 152, Third at Division I, State qualifier. Eric Escobedo, Huntington Beach, Sr., 160, Section Division I champion. Alonzo Ruiz, Santa Ana, Sr., 171, Division I runner-up; State qualifier. Rodrigo Cibrian, Santa Ana Valley, Sr., 189, Section Division I runner-up. Caleb Kemp, Los Alamitos, Sr., HWT, Division II runner-up; State qualifier. Honorable mention: Todd Cameron (El Modena), Sr., 135; David Gayer (Canyon), Sr, 135; Jimmie Gonzalez (Mater Dei), Sr., 130; Josh Holiday (Calvary Chapel), So., 140; Juan Lua (Century), Sr., 145; Bryan Neal (Savanna), So., 145; Tom Stapleton (Canyon), Sr., heavyweight; Cesar Trejo (Canyon), Jr., 119; Terry Tuzzolino (Capistrano Valley), Jr., 171.