Los Angeles: A section on the rise
Ali Naser – El Camino Real HS
By Pablo DiMaria
High School Correspondent
Since the first installment of the state tournament held at Cal State-Hayward in 1973, the Golden State has produced many collegiate and Olympic champions. Wrestlers like Dave and Mark Schultz, Adam and Dan Cuesta, the Kistler brothers, John Azevedo, Russ Camilleri and Joe ”Gonzo” Gonzales have stepped on the mats of the California state tournament and international tournaments with tremendous success. The Golden State has more than 700 schools that provide wrestling to students, divided into ten sections that send wrestlers into state to make a 40-man bracket. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class are recognized as All-State by the California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF as it’s known around the state.
The section that has started making waves around the state this year is the Los Angeles City Section. The section has over 130 schools, of which 24 schools sponsor wrestling, three times more than in 1997 when only seven schools had a wrestling program.
The LA City Section hasn’t always made waves around the state as it is doing right now. Since 1973, the section has only produced ten wrestlers who became state medalists: Tony Cooper (Gardena High), Ben Zuniga (Franklin High), Jonas Robledo (San Fernando High), Greg McMurray (El Camino Real High), Jose Barahona (Canoga Park High), Willy German (San Fernando High), Vlad Kochiev (Birmingham High), Raphael Reynolds (San Fernando High), Miguel Gallegos (San Fernando High) and Ali Naser (El Camino Real High).
Even though some of the schools that provide wrestling in this section are located in urban neighborhoods in Los Angeles and San Fernando Counties, many coaches have stuck to this sport and have become role models and father figures to some of the wrestlers.
Coaches who started wrestling programs in the section and are responsible for the growth and interest in this sport are Bob Hammond (Chatsworth), Mike Young (Franklin High), Frank O’Connor (Bell High), Tom Jones (James Monroe), Terry Fischer (El Camino Real), Bill Lake (Granada Hills), Mike Castillo (San Fernando), Fernando Gonzales (San Fernando High) and the Legendary San Fernando coach Sam De John.
A lot of credit has to also go to the wrestling clubs that sponsor Freestyle and Folkstyle wrestling that many wrestlers from the LA City Section attended or wrestled in as youth wrestlers. They include the San Fernando Tiger Wrestling Club, the main provider of wrestlers in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding counties, the SK Golden Boys Wrestling Club, a club that mostly concentrates on Freestyle wrestling, and the newest, the Southeast Youth Wrestling Club.
This year the section made history by having two wrestlers ranked in the nation, Ali Naser at 132 pounds and Sohrab Mohavedi at 182 pounds. Both are ranked top eight in their respective weight classes in California. Also, Naser could make history this year by becoming the first ever two-time state medalist from the LA City Section. He was a state medalist and Fargo Cadet All-American in 2011. Last year before the postseason started he sustained an injury that prevented him from competing at state.
I want to thank and encourage the following coaches who are sacrificing their time and money to keep wrestling alive in this section. Josue Pivaral, Mike Lopez and Frank Aceves (Bell High), Terry Fischer and Paul Moomjean (El Camino Real High), Nester Sandoval (Granada Hills Charter), James Medeiros and Anthony Born (Birmingham High), Vlad Kochiev (Reseda High), Steve Soltysik (Carson High), Thomas Cottrell and Edwin Martinez (James Monroe), Chad Solano and Jesse Arana (San Fernando High), Jose Hernandez and Joseph Padilla (Roybal High), and Victor Solano and Eddie Moro (Sylmar High).
More Articles at the Open Mat
