5 Forfeits Help Eagles Pin Loss on Warriors

On the scoreboard, the Calvary Chapel wrestling team appeared to roll over another opponent Wednesday with a 45-18 victory over Olympic League rival Brethren Christian.

But the dual meet between the league’s two best teams bears a closer look, especially because the league finals are next week.

For one thing, Brethren Christian, which fields a small team, had to forfeit five weight classes and handed the Eagles 30 points. Calvary Chapel had to forfeit only one weight class.

Of the eight matches that took place, the Warriors won five.

The most crucial match was at 119 pounds because it featured each team’s best wrestler. Calvary Chapel’s Steve Esparza, the county’s top-ranked 112-pounder, moved up a weight class to face Brethren Christian’s Mike Simpson, ranked second at 119. Simpson won, 5-3.

Other important Brethren Christian victories were scored by Anthony Rodriguez, who easily handled Calvary Chapel’s Anthony Archuleta, 16-6, in the 103-pound class, and Steve Garcia, who defeated Calvary Chapel’s Josh Johnson, 6-3, in the 135-pound class.

But there were bright spots for Calvary Chapel. In the 125-pound class, Frank Gill pinned Brethren Christian’s Tom Risely in 15 seconds. Josh Sakal took a bit longer--5:56--but was able to pin the Warriors’ Paul Pak at 145 pounds.

Both coaches afterward said good things had happened for their teams.

“We saw some things we wanted to see,” Brethren Christian Coach Mark Cody said. “We saw some of the [favorite] moves by their top wrestlers. We got to see some key head-to-head matchups. We’d have never gotten the Simpson-Esparza match otherwise.

“I also saw that we need to get in a little better shape as a team. But on the whole I was pleased. We want to wrestle these guys as much as possible. I don’t want our kids afraid of the Calvary mystique. I want them to know they are human.”

Human and young, which is why Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo doesn’t make too much of Wednesday’s result. He said he has spent the entire season getting the inexperienced Eagles ready to do their best wrestling at the upcoming league, Southern Section, Masters and state meets.

“I feel we’re making progress,” Azevedo said. “We know they have 4-5 top wrestlers, and that they are a good program. But I feel we are on schedule.”

In the Century League:

No. 4 Villa Park 66, Canyon 9--The Spartans won 12 of the 14 matches. The victory for Villa Park (4-0 in league) sets up Friday’s showdown with El Modena. The teams are ranked fourth and fifth in Southern Section Division I and fourth and sixth in the county, respectively.

Foothill 56, Orange 21--Third-ranked Ben Balmages (135) earned a 16-0 victory and fourth-ranked Bret Hormuth (140) won his match by fall for host Foothill (10-5, 3-2). Orange is 0-5 in league.