Perillo second, Beltran fourth at Carter Classic tournament

The Dec. 5-6 Carter Classic wrestling tournament at Carter High School in Rialto concluded with Fallbrook High School senior Nick Perillo taking second place in the 182-pound weight division and Warrior senior Mario Beltran finishing fourth in the 138-pound class.

“We did very well up there,” said Fallbrook varsity coach Cristian Vera.

Because a freshman-sophomore tournament in Vista was held that same weekend, some of those younger wrestlers competed at that tournament and Vera only took nine grapplers to Rialto. High school wrestling has 14 weight classes, but the Warriors still finished 18th among the 63 team entries in team points despite not fielding matmen in five divisions. Fallbrook had traditionally participated in the Carlsbad Invitational tournament which is also held that weekend, but the Carter Classic is a larger tournament.

Seven of the nine wrestlers were still active during the second day of the double-elimination competition. “They all did really well,” Vera said. “All the boys did exceptionally well, but for us to take back seven guys was phenomenal for us.”

Perillo had the top seed in the 182-pound class and needed fewer than 10 seconds on the mat to advance to the fourth round. He was given byes in the first and second rounds and then pinned Edward Vasquez of Redlands East High School nine seconds into that match.

Perillo then took 2:45 to pin Greg Rivas of San Jacinto. Perillo’s next match was the semifinal against fifth-seeded Andrew Cancino of Indian Springs High School, and Perillo outscored Cancino 8 to 5 for a victory by decision.

In the championship match, Dominic Larraga of Laguna Hills High School had a 12 to 5 scoring advantage after the three rounds to take first place. Perillo was given second place automatically without any losers’ bracket competition which determined the third through eighth positions.

Beltran was seeded fourth in the 138-pound division. He followed a first-round bye with a pin of Walter Orozco of Laguna Hills 2:39 into the match. Beltran then pinned Gabriel Deharo of Santiago in the third period before winning a 12-4 decision over fifth-seeded Jeremiah Bocsa of La Sierra.

The win over Bocsa gave Beltran a match against top-seeded Andres Estrada of Northview, the eventual winner of the tournament and an 11-3 victor over Beltran. Beltran’s first match in the losers’ bracket was an 8-7 victory over Issiah Burkes of Hemet High School.

Beltran’s victory against Burkes meant that the Fallbrook grappler would face Manuel Salcedo of Alta Loma in the third-place match. Salcedo’s 12-7 victory gave him third place and relegated Beltran to fourth.

Two other Warriors reached the quarterfinals but did not place in the top eight. Jonathan Magallanes had the fifth seed in the 160-pound bracket and advanced to the fourth round with a first-round bye, a pin of Upland’s Christian Rosales 45 seconds into the match, and a pin of Rialto’s Carlos Sandoval 53 seconds into the contest. Magallanes was then pinned by fourth-seeded Derrick Moss of Diamond Bar in a match which lasted 2:48. The only losers’ bracket match for Magallanes was a loss to Jeremy Carroll of Canyon Springs in the contest which guaranteed the winner a final position in the top eight.

In the heavyweight division, Drew Backe was seeded fourth. He followed two first-round byes with a pin of Colton’s Andrean Villareal 3:54 into the match, but Backe was pinned 2:57 into his next match by fifth-seeded Jackson Serna of Northview. In the losers’ bracket match for a position in the top eight, Elijah Flores of Serrano High School pinned Backe in 1:41.