Warriors honor four wrestlers on Senior Night

January 28 was Senior Night for the Fallbrook High School wrestling team, which lost that day's match to Orange Glen by a 54-18 score.

The Warriors won four of the 12 contested matches, including a decision victory by Fallbrook senior Guillermo Juarez in the 138-pound weight class. "I was so proud of all the kids because they all stepped up," said Fallbrook coach Cristian Vera.

The heavyweight class has a limit of 285 pounds, and since Drew Backe was 288 pounds during the weigh-in prior to the meet Fallbrook had to forfeit that class. Backe and Orange Glen heavyweight Luis Mendoza competed in an exhibition match to allow Backe one final home contest, although Mendoza won that non-points competition. Fallbrook senior Jon Magallanes lost a 12-11 decision in the 160-pound division and twelfth-grader Chris Franklin was pinned in the 195-pound match.

Although the loss gave Fallbrook a Valley League record of 0-3, the margin of defeat was closer than the 55-12 match Jan. 14 at home against Valley Center and the 58-18 result Jan. 21 at Oceanside. "I thought we did fine," Vera said. "We definitely had some pretty good wins and we lost some very close matches."

The Valley League only has five wrestling teams since Mission Vista does not field that sport, so each team has either a bye or a non-league contest during each of the five weeks of the league season. Orange Glen entered the Jan. 28 meet at Fallbrook with a 2-1 league record with Ramona accounting for the Patriots' loss and holding a 2-0 mark entering the Bulldogs' Jan. 28 home meet against Valley Center. "We knew we needed to step up," Vera said.

Injuries have kept sophomore Steven Tausan off the mat, so freshman Curtis Permito is now Fallbrook's 120-pound grappler.

"He's just naturally talented in the sport," Vera said of Permito.

Permito pinned his Orange Glen opponent in the first period to improve to 3-0 in varsity matches. "Permito stepped up in a huge way," Vera said.

The meet against Orange Glen saw the return of junior Carlos Castro, who pinned his 145-poind opponent during the third two-minute period. "It was a big emotional win for him," Vera said.

In the 182-pound match sophomore Elias Moreno gave Fallbrook three points for his win by decision. "He just pretty well imposed his will," Vera said.