Three months of hard work and sacrifice showed on the mat Saturday inside the Palisades High gym, where the Dolphins’ wrestling team finished second to El Camino Real at the City Section dual championships.
“I’m always hyped up for a match, today even more than usual,” Palisades head coach Steve Cifonelli said. “We’ve pushed these kids every day and they’ve done everything right — from eating, to lifting, to practice. Individually, this is the best we’ve wrestled all year but we needed to do better as a team.”
Before the day’s competition began, a moment of silence was observed for former Pali High coach Randy Aguirre, who died of brain cancer last January. That seemed to inspire the Dolphins, who upset Birmingham 37-28 in the Division I semifinals despite having to forfeit two weights.
Carlos Velado clinched the victory by pinning the Patriots’ Moses Trujillo in 1:42 in the 220-pound division.
“I knew what the [team] score was but I was more focused on my own match,” Velado said. “I pinned him with a reverse half nelson. If it’s there I use it.”
Joseph Velado, Carlos’ brother, earned a crucial six points with a 52-second pin at 170 pounds.
“It was a big learning experience for me,” Joseph Velado said. “I started the year at 195 [pounds] but I made the cut down [to 170], gained some muscle and I feel lean at this weight. When I work my moves I usually win.”
Palisades fell behind 13-0 but Samson Dorff scored a major decision at 126 and Lance Santelices won by fall at 58 seconds at 132 to get the Dolphins back in it. Jake Adler got a gutsy 6-5 win at 145, Kevin Rosen won 15-3 at 152 and Marcelo Maya won by fall in 1:45 at 160 to push the Dolphins in front for the first time.
At 195 pounds, Hamzah Al-Saudi found himself tied with Birmingham’s Jesus Quintero in the final minute before scoring the last five points to win 13-8 and give Palisades a 32-22 lead.
El Camino Real beat Carson 54-24 in the other semifinal.
After a two-hour break, Palisades and ECR went head-to-head for the championship and the Conquistadores came away with a 41-26 victory, aided by defaults at 113 and heavyweight.
Dorff again got Palisades on the scoreboard with a 10-2 decision over ECR’s Shane Rooney at 126, but afterwards he thought he could’ve done more.
“I’m glad I won but honestly I’m disappointed I didn’t get the pin — I really wanted it,” Dorff said. “I’m working on opening my stance more. We expect a little better but we still have City and Individuals.”
Santelices earned his team four points with a 21-8 win over ECR’s Nick Reiner at 132.
“I’m the guy to watch right now,” Santelices said. “I’m coming into regionals with momentum and when coach tells me a move I’m going to hit it. I trust him and he trusts me. I feel very strong at this weight.”
After Adler won 9-1 for four points at 145, Rosen won 9-3 for three points at 152, Maya gave the Dolphins a 20-18 lead by pinning ECR’s Behraz Ranjbari in 1:53.
“The first [pin] was on a straight double to his back and the second was a banana split,” Maya said. “I’d wrestled the ECR guy before so I saw my shot, took it and rode him out.”
Al-Saudi got an unexpected win at 195 pounds, beating the City’s top-ranked Anthony Aquino, 5-2, then Carlos Velado earned the Dolphins’ last points with a 3-1 win at 220.
Cifonelli hopes for an even better showing at City finals.
“We’d better be taking 12 guys to City, meaning everyone places in the top 5 [at regionals],” he said. “This is where all of the morning practices and all of the extra work we’ve done pays off.”
While her teammates were dualing on campus, Kaila Osorio was competing in an all-girls meet at Birmingham High. She finished 2-2 and placed sixth place at 189 pounds.
“I wanted to be with my team, but competing out there made me proud,” Osorio said. “Guys on the team were texting me how they were doing so I knew the score. I was excited to show I can do this. I wrestle guys everyday, so girls shouldn’t be a problem.”
— Steve Galluzzo
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