FOUNTAIN VALLEY – Three Fountain Valley wrestlers won championships in their weight divisions in the Five Counties Tournament that was held Saturday in their home gym.
One of the three barely made it through his match in the finals.
Isaac Torres of Fountain Valley won by decision over Servite’s Massimo Ortiz at 126 pounds. Fountain Valley’s Mikel David Uyemura won by decision at 150 pounds.
It might be more accurate to describe what Fountain Valley’s Kavi Garvey did as survival, really, in the tournament’s final at 144 pounds.
Garvey’s right knee was in a brace for Saturday’s final day of the prestigious two-day tournament. He needed an injury timeout during his 11-6 decision victory over Ames-Michael Hoevker of Granite Hills in the finals. Trainers worked on his knee and lower right leg until Garvey was able to resume wrestling with only seven seconds left in the injury timeout.
On the victory stand, Garvey’s deep breaths revealed that he was experiencing a high level of pain. Third-place finisher Marcus Abeyta of Cleveland High helped Garvey, a junior, off of the platform.
“I just gutted it out,” Garvey said. “I’ll be ready for state.”
The CIF State Championships are Feb. 26-28 in Bakersfield.
Garvey, who started his high school wrestling career at Dana Hills, would have to wrestle well through the CIF Southern Section finals and the CIF-SS Masters Meet to qualify for the state meet.
He is ranked No. 8 at 144 pounds in California by CalGrappler.com.
Garvey impressed his teammate Uyremura.
“He’s been dealing with that knee for a while,” said Uyemura, a senior. “He toughened up and won his match. I’m really proud of him.
Torres defeated Ortiz by a 4-2 decision. He was pleased with his performance Saturday.
“I brought the intensity,” said Torres, a senior. “But that match, I could have been better defensively.”
Uyremura said winning his championship match, an 8-6 decision over Dalton Compton of Gilroy, was the result of sticking to strategy.
“I stuck to my game plan,” he said. “I have good coaches and good teammates who help me do this.”
Gilroy won the tournament team championship with 321.5 points led by five first-place finishes. Fountain Valley finished third with 198.5 points. Servite was eighth at 129 points, four points behind Trinity League rival St. John Bosco’s seventh-place finish.
CIF-SS individual championships are Feb. 13 and 14 in six divisions.
The CIF-SS Dual Meet championships begin Jan. 31.