ORANGE — The CIF-SS Division 5 Dual Meet Championship between the Bishop Amat and El Modena boys wrestling teams Thursday featured momentum swings from match to match and momentum swings within individual bouts.
The championship was ultimately decided in the 113-pound match, the second to last of the night’s 13 matches, when El Modena’s Gio Hernandez pinned Matthew Lopez to give the Vanguards a seven-point cushion, clinching the team victory at El Modena High.
Despite losing the final bout, the Vanguards defeated the Lancers, 36-34, to capture their first CIF Southern Section championship since 2014.
“Coming in here, we knew it was going to be close and it was going to come down to bonus points,” El Modena coach Matt Biagini said. “And at 113, obviously, Gio went back and forth and found a way to get it done. And it came down to heart and determination. And these guys have been working hard all year, we’ve known this is a possibility all year.”
Lopez was ahead, 7-1, in the second period when Hernadez battled back to get to within one point.
Hernandez had come close to being pinned before muscling Lopez to his back to score a third-period pin.
As it turned out, the Vanguards needed the six team points which are awarded for a fall, after Zeke Sandoval picked up five points for the Lancers for his technical victory over Jose Suazoin the 120-pound match.
The match started with the 126-pound bout.
“I knew I had a lot of pressure going into the match that depending on what I do it would decide how our team would do,” Hernandez said. “We just kept rolling on top of each other. And on that last second when I got him on his back, I was very tired. And I’d look over to see what my coaches would tell me. And all I did was just try to stay on him as hard as I could.”
Jeremy De Alba’s victory by technical fall over El Modena’s Joseph Ramirez in the 150-pound match gave Bisho Amat a 16-10 lead.
El Modena then got three consecutive pins from Lincoln Castro (157), Jacob Martinez (165) and Trevor Bailey (175) to take a 28-16 lead.
Bishop Amat won the next two bouts to get to within three points of the Vanguards.
In a key battle of heavyweights, Booker Gamboa’s hard-fought 3-1 victory over Elias Faanunu gave the Vanguards three points and a 31-25 lead.
In the 106-pound match, Bishop Amat picked up four points with Luis James’ major decision over Alex Armijo making the score 31-29.
James’ victory set up the deciding match between Hernandez and Lopez.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my guys,” Bishop Amat coach Javiar Maldonado said. “In wrestling, it all comes down to who gets the falls. And one of those things that we talked about throughout the week was that we couldn’t give them up. Hats off to El Modena. They are one of those tough, competitive teams that just comes out and they compete.”