Hueneme Wins and Enjoys View at Top

OXNARD —  A wrestling league title is up for grabs in the fledgling Pacific View League. And it’s crowded at the top.

Hueneme High created a three-way tie with an emphatic 45-18 victory over Rio Mesa on Thursday night at Rio Mesa.

The Vikings (14-7, 2-1 in league play) pulled even with Rio Mesa (16-6, 2-1) and idle Oxnard (2-1) in the five-team league.

Not only is the league new, so is the notion of winning a league title for Hueneme and Rio Mesa, both of which never won a title in the Channel League.

With much at stake, Juan Flores, coach of Hueneme, sequestered his wrestlers in the locker room for a pep talk that delayed the start of the dual meet 20 minutes.

“We’ve never won a league title,” Flores said. “We basically talked about what it means. I think we’re peaking right now.”

The wait was worth it. Hueneme exploded for seven consecutive victories to finish what began as a close match.

Oscar Carbajal (119 pounds), Juan Albarron (125) and heavyweight George Tapia recorded pins. Enrique Franco (171) recorded a third-period technical fall over Chris Davis, piling up a 20-5 advantage.

Taavili Pollard (215) defeated Hugo Mendez, 15-5, Joe Serrano (160) defeated Fred White, 14-6, and Javier Vargas won, 9-1, against Nathan Bautista.

Ironically, Tiloi Tuitama, Hueneme’s best wrestler and Channel League champion at 189 last season, earned the hardest-fought victory, outlasting Andre Malloy, 3-0, in a grueling match.

After two scoreless periods, Tuitama took a concession escape, then grabbed Malloy by the leg and took him down.

Tuitama (36-2) spent most of the bout leg-riding his opponent.

“I had to use a lot of muscle on him,” Tuitama said. “Throughout the second period, I just tried to ride him out. He was tough. It was the toughest match I’ve won all season.”

Carbajal dominated Morales, who moved up from 103. The winning move came 23 seconds into the third period, when Carbajal twisted and dropped Morales on his back. The pin came instantly.

“I just work so hard,” said Carbajal (21-7). “I listen to my coaches and I practice hard.”

Albarron rallied from a 7-3 third-period deficit to take an 8-7 lead. He pinned Augustin Franco at 5:05.

Rio Mesa’s best moments were provided by Carlos Anaya and Scott Speakman, who had first-period pins.

Anaya outmaneuvered Miguel Murillo before settling matters in 1:30. Speakman, moving up from 135, needed only 57 seconds to pin James Serrano.

Caleb Bautista and Manuel Jacquez earned Rio Mesa’s only other victories.