Highline Men's Wrestling 2008-09 Season
Match Results
Regional Preview
The regular season is
over and everyone is now 0-0. In order for a wrestler to
advance to the National tournament, they must place in the top
3, or be awarded a wildcard.
At 125, Justin Purves
should be the #1 seed; however, he has lost a tight match to a
wrestler from Southwestern Oregon. Purves is 15-6.
Aaron Smith (133) will look to prove why he is the #2 wrestler
in the nation. I expect him to be seeded first. He
will most likely face 3rd ranked Lester Brown from North Idaho
for a third time at some point in the tournament. Smith is
19-6 and undefeated among Junior College competition.
Zach
Burnett will compete in his second tournament at 157.
Burnett has been at 165 all season, and should compete well at
the Regional’s.
Highline will put Casey Park in at 174.
Casey has done a good job most of the year, but he is going to
have to step up if he wants his season to continue.
At 184,
Caleb Padgett will have to fight his way through a loaded weight
class. Most coaches feel this is the toughest weight in
our Region. It will be no picnic getting through to
nationals, but Caleb certainly has the ability to do it.
Mike
Morales (197) will continue his recent winning ways. He’s
been in the semis the last two tournaments, and he was a Region
runner-up last season. He is wrestling really well right
now.
Hwt. David Lopez has found himself in the semis the last
two tournaments. He is an imposing figure with a lot of
athleticism. Once he can execute his moves in matches he
will do very well.
Drew Anderson will compete at 141, while
Spencer Fisher will compete at 149, Colt Amborn will round out
the team at 165. The Regional tournament will begin on
Feb. 14. All questions will be answered then.
San Francisco State Championships Jan. 31,
2009
The Thunderbirds finished the
regular season with there toughest tournament yet.
Highline has been getting a lot of early momentum in their lower
weights in Justin Purves (125) and Aaron Smith (133). The
two have amassed 33 wins between the two.
Purves opened the
meet in control over Luis Mercado (Lassen C.C.)with an early
takedown. Purves then had a double-arm bar and began to
turn Mercado, when all of the sudden Mercado hit an explosive
bridge and came out on top and caught Justin on his back for the
fall.
Bad luck struck again when Purves was not
awarded a takedown against Piere Bondas (San Francisco State).
The referee also missed a figure 4 hold which was also a penalty
point for Purves. The referee immediately apologized for
the bad calls, but it cost Justin the match. Purves will
still most likely be the #1 seed in the Region 18 Championships
Feb. 14. He has only lost to 1 junior college opponent.
Aaron Smith (133), and ranked 2nd in the nation, lost his first
match to Justin Durham from Cal-State Bakersfield, which is a
Division 1 program. He then went on to real off 4 straight
victories. Smith caught the attention of Sammy Hensen who
was second in the World Championships, and was one of the top
U.S. lightweights. Hensen was extremely excited about
Smith, in the hopes of possibly bringing him to Cal Poly where
he now coaches. “Smith is explosive, has excellent
technique, and puts a lot of pressure on his opponents,” said
Hensen. Smith was among the final 6, before he was
beaten by Boise State’s Josh Strong. Aaron is undefeated
in Junior College competition, and will be the #1 seed in the
Regional Tournament.
Zach Burnett
just recently made the cut to 157, and did a good job coming
away with 2 wins for the first time being down at that weight.
Caleb Padgett (184) won 3 matches, and lost the final one in
overtime. He still has some adjustments to make before the
Region Tournamment.
For the second time in two tournaments,
Highline finished strong putting Mike Morales (197) and David
Lopez (HWT.) in the semi-finals.
Unfortunately, it was the second time that Morales had to injury
default out of the tournament due to his knee locking up.
He has been wrestling extremely well lately. “We pulled
him out to protect him for the national tournament,” said Coach
Norton. Lopez was defeated in the semis, and then
lost his next match to get into 3rd and 4th to Portalnd State’s
HWt. David has turned a corner, and we are excited about
the way he is wrestling.
The team
has really come on as of late, even though they had so many
injuries. The Thunderbirds have started tournaments out
quickly with their lightweights, and kept momentum in the middle
of the line up, all the way through their upper weights.
“I feel very good about the way our team is wrestling right now.
The goal is to improve each weekend, and peak at the National
Tournament. Highline’s next meet will be the Region 18
Championships on Feb. 14 at Coeur De Lane, Idaho.
Clackamas
Open Jan. 17, 2009
Highline seems to be a fairly decent tournament team as they put
three in the semi-finals in 133 Aaron Smith, 197 Mike Morales,
and Hwt. David Lopez. Unfortunately, Smith lost to an
Oregon State wrestler, while Mike Morales had to injury default
to his Simon Frasier nemesis.
Hwt. David Lopez had a strong showing as he placed 4th.
Meanwhile, freshman Aaron Smith beat 3rd ranked Lester Brown for
the second time in 3 days.
It has recently been decided that the Thunderbirds will pull
freshman Justin Purves out of redshirt to provide some much
needed help. Purves will breathe a breath of fresh air to
a struggling line up that has been plagued by injuries all
season. Highline also found out that #1 ranked Marshall
Giovaninni has been granted a medical redshirt, and will return
to Highline next season.
North Idaho vs. Highline Jan.
15, 2009
Highline ran into some
difficult competition on Thursday as they took on 3rd ranked
North Idaho College. Highline exploded right out of the
gate at 125, as Justin Purves pinned his North Idaho opponent.
Unfortunately, the match was only an exhibition due to Purves
taking a redshirt.
Next, freshman Aaron Smith took on
third ranked Lester Brown at 133. Brown scored first to
open the period, however, the two seemed to trade takedowns over
the next 6 minutes. In the end, in a barnburner, Aaron
Smith upset Brown with a takedown with 15 seconds left in the
match.
Unfortunately, the only points Highline tallied over
the rest of the meet was a forfeit at 174. Highline’s next
meet will be the Clackamas Open on Jan. 17.
Southwestern Oregon Dual Jan. 10, 2009
After a crazy winter of snow, rain, and wind which forced the
Thunderbirds to miss 2 duals and 2 tournaments, Highline
finally returned to the mats. Unfortunately, it was
without 4 starters. The biggest blow was when #1 ranked
Marshall Giovaninni 157 went down with a season ending injury to
his shoulder. Giovaninni will pursue a medical redshirt.
The second blow came when Derek Driscoll 149 got healthy for 2
meets, only to see his season end with a back injury.
Logan Roadman will replace Giovaninni, while Spencer Kalebac
will replace Driscoll. The Thunderbirds also lost Jared
Sterling 141 due to issues and personal problems. Steven
Sanchez 125 will for go the remaining part of the season, and
may return next year. “Its been frustrating, but these
things can happen,” said coach Norton.
Highline was only able
to muster 3 wins against Southwestern Oregon. Fireplug
Aaron Smith 133 destroyed his opponent. Mike Morales 197,
dominated his opponent and won 6-0. David Lopez HWt. was
out in front of his match, before his opponent injury defaulted.
Highline’s next match will be Jan. 15 against North Idaho
Thursday at 7.
Clackamas vs. Highline Dec. 6, 2008
The Thunderbirds were defeated soundly by Clackamas.
“Their team looked very impressive, especially in the upper
weights. They simply outwrestled us, period,” said Coach
Norton.
Highline forfeited at 125.
However, they had Aaron Smith at 133 who worked his way to a
solid 15-6 major decision. Highline then forfeited again
at 141. Derek Driscoll lost his first match 7-1 to Anthony
Wearhaim. Derek has only had 4 practices in the last month
and a half. He most certainly isn’t in shape yet.
But I still believe he is one of the best wrestlers in the
country in his weight.
The
misery began at 157, due to Marshall Giovaninni sustaining an
injury where Highline was forced to forfeit. It was all
Clackamas after that with the exception of 197.
Mike Morales shoved Brett Sanchez around the mat for 7 min., but
came up short a takedown.
The key to
beating Clackamas is in the lower weights. They appear to
be head and shoulders above most of the other teams in the upper
weights.
Highline’s next match will be against Southwestern
Oregon on Sunday at 12:00.
Highline vs. Pacific
December 5, 2008
The Thunderbirds
headed to Portland this weekend to take on Division 3 school
Pacific University. Unfortunately, they were without the
services of Jared Sterling 141 ,due to difficulty making weight,
and were forfeiting at 125, due to a wrestler needing to study
for a final.
Pacific got on the board first due to Highline’s
forfeit at 125. However, Aaron Smith (133) demonstrated a
dominating performance over Andy Wolfe posting a 18-5 major
decision. Highline then gave up another forfeit at 141.
Highline then opted to bump up
there line-up from 149 to 184 to help Derek Driscoll get a
match. Driscoll posted a 8-4 decision at 157 over Kody
Kramer. Driscoll has had limited time on the mat since his
knee injury earlier this season.
Things got a little interesting as Marshall Giovaninni moved up
to 165. After Marshall’s initial take-down, the referee
stopped the match and said he had 1:30 seconds to shave.
It was quite a spectacle to see Coach Norton and Luvaas both
trying to shave Marshall’s face at the edge of the mat.
Once action resumed, Marshall defeated Nathan Shay 10-6.
At 174, Zach Burnett posted 15-0 drumming of Lane Wiltshire.
Casey Park followed that win up with a 10-1 decision over Micah
Olivera at 184. Mike Morales added a 7-3 decision over
Jordan Branson, and David Lopez collected a forfeit.
Overall, the meet went well. Highline lost no matches and
sported 7 perfect wins. “The team wrestled well, however,
it was clear that a 4 hour drive left several wrestlers very
lethargic. That being said, I was pleased with their
performance.”
Coach Norton.
Highline
vs. Yakima Dec. 2, 2008
The Highline wrestling team has really struggled with several
injuries to key wrestlers, which has made dual meets very
difficult to win, and this meet was no different with 3 starters
out.
At 125, it was a double forfeit
with neither team weighing in a 125 pounder. The
Thunderbirds got off to a very rocky start at 133, with Aaron
Smith leading Gustavo Lopez with 20 seconds left, when he was
caught on his back and pinned.
Jared Sterling got Highline on
the board with a major decision over Phillip Ontiveros 18-7 at
141. Highline then forfeited at 149, where Derek Driscoll
resides. Derek will be activated for his first match of
the year against Pacific.
At 157,
National Runner-Up Marshall Giovaninni posted an effortless
victory over Adam Mcnaughten 17-4. This was Giovaninni’s
first match since the Michigan State Open. He is currently
8-1, an undefeated amonst Junior College Competition.
At 165, Zach Burnett racked up 6:00 of riding time en-route to a
dominant 6-2 decision over Josh Mathis. Burnett was
working the whole match on top for the fall. However, the
referee was content to let Mathis lay on his belly for 6 minutes
without making a move to escape. It really looked like
great gut-wrench defense, as Mathis relaxed comfortably in the
par-tear position for all 6 minutes. Most referees
probably would have disqualified Mathis for stalling.
At 174, Colt Amborn made his first appearance in a
Highline singlet, but lost to Sam McNaughten 7-2. Colt did
a great job, considering his limited wrestling experience.
He is actually a walk on.
Casey Park continued to
impress coaches as he jumped up to 184 from his normal 174 wt.
class. Park shut down Brock Saxen 6-0. Saxen dropped
from 197 to 184. He had beaten Highline’s 197 pounder
earlier in the year.
At 197,
Mike Morales got back on track after being plagued with the flu
for the last 3 weeks. He posted a 14-4 victory over Barry
Wise of Yakima. Morales constantly put pressure on Wise as
he continuously backed up time after time, after time, after
time. Constant pressure and moving forward is what is
preached at Highline. We don’t back up, ever!
David Lopez sealed the victory for the Thunderbirds as he
beat Dan Escamilla for the 2nd time 8-5.
The key
performance of the meet was unquestionably Casey Park. He
comes from an outstanding high-school program, Enumclaw, and he
appears to be a late bloomer.
Pacific Open
11/16
Freshman Justin Purves at 125 lbs. led all Highline wrestlers,
and placed a strong 4th. He won 5 matches en-route to his
4th place finish. Two other wrestlers also won 4 matches,
but were eliminated to get into the consolation finals.
They were Caleb Padgett (184) lost to the same wrestler twice in
Klete Hanson from Simon Frasier. Jared Sterling at (141)
also was eliminated to get into 3rd and 4th, but managed to come
away with 4 wins. Zach Burnett also did a nice job, coming
away with 3 victories as well. Highline will travel to
Medford the weekend of Nov. 21&22 for the Best of the West
Tournament.
By: Scott Norton Nov. 20, 2008
Auburn Duals: Yakima vs. Highline 11/15
After one week, Highline was without the services of their top 2
wrestlers in 157 lb. Marshall Giovaninni and 149 lb. Derek
Driscoll, both were out due to injuries. Yakima received
12 pts in forfeits, but were only able to come away with two
wins against Highline. Those came at 125 and 174.
Aaron Smith received a forfeit at 133, while
Jared Sterling posted a 15-7 decision over Phillip Ontiveros at
141. Zach Burnett posted a 10-4 decision over Josh Mathis.
Caleb Padgett beat Barry wise 10-2.
The turn
around really came in the upper weights. Mike Morales was
beaten the week before, but posted a 14-2 decision over Brock
Saxen at 197. HWT David Lopez then beat Daniel Escamilla
8-6. The final score was 23-20 Highline.
125 – Gustavo
Lopez(YVCC) 15-2 over Ryan Apperson (HCC)
133 – Aaron
Smith(HCC) forfeit over (YVCC)
141 – Jared Sterling (HCC)
14-10 over Phillip Ontiveros (YVCC)
149 – Ricky Robbins(YVCC)
forfeit over (HCC)
157 – Adam McNaghten (YVCC) forfeit over
(HCC)
165 – Zach Burnett(HCC) 10-4 over Josh Mathis (YVCC)
174 – Sam McNaghten(YVCC) 11-2 over Casey Park (HCC)
184 -
Caleb Padgett (HCC) 10-2 over Barry Wise (YVCC)
197 – Michael
Morales(HCC) 14-2 over Brock Saxen (YVCC)
HVY - David
Lopez(HCC) 8-6 over Daniel Escamilla (YVCC)
By: Scott Norton
Nov. 20, 2008
Auburn Duals: Highline vs. Simon Frasier and
Douglas C.C. Nov. 15, 2008
Highline defeated Douglas C.C., but was defeated by SFU.
Against SFU, Casey Park at 174, led Highline against SFU with a
fall. The thunderbirds also received decisions from Ryan
Apparson 125, and Zach Burnett 165. Highline lost
tight matches at 133 in Aaron Smith who was reversed with 10
seconds left in the match and lost 10-11. Jared Sterling
141, gave up a near fall in the third period to lose to Isaac
Wing 11-9.
By: Scott Norton Nov. 20, 2008
Michigan State Open 11/9
We only brought
two of our best wrestlers to this tournament because it is
primarily a Division 1 wrestling tournament. It featured
half of the Big -10 wrestling conference. The teams
featured: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn
State, etc.
Marshall Giovaninni (157) wasted no time
establishing that he clearly belongs with that type of
competition. He posted 5 wins and lost his opening match
to two-time National Qualifier Daryl Corozz who is redshirting
this season. It was a tight match, but Marshall lost 5-3.
Marshall was amongst the top 6 in the tournament before bowing
out with an injured shoulder.
Highline’s other competitor was Mike Morales at 197.
Morales won 1 match and gained valuable experience that should
pay off at the Nationals in February.
By: Scott Norton
Nov. 13, 2008
Highline Stumbles Out of the Gate: Matches
against Yakima CC and North Idaho College
Report by Coach Scott Norton Nov. 11, 2008
Highline vs. Yakima
The
Thunderbirds began the season traveling to Yakima and North
Idaho. Unfortunately, they also knew that they would be
giving both opposing teams 12 pts. before any wrestlers stepped
out on to the mat.
Earlier in the week, Freshman
sensation Derek Driscoll 149, went down with a torn LCL
ligament. However, doctors are optimistic that Driscoll
will be able to come back after about 4 weeks. The other
forfeit would come at 125, where transfer Steven Sanchez
resides. The coaches were forced to hold Sanchez out
because of a hold up in his transcripts from Dickenson State.
At 125, Highline forfeited, but
sent out freshman Justin Purves who will be redshirting this
season. He quickly pinned Yakima’s starter J.J. Garza.
Freshman Ryan Apparson then bumped up a weight and quickly
pinned Gustavo Lopez at 133. The Thunderbirds had to leave
freshman starter Aaron Smith at
home because of a mid-term that was scheduled.
Another hiccup came at 141, where freshman Jared Sterling missed
weight by four tenths of a pound.
At 157, Marshall Giovaninni had a forfeit.
Zach Burnett out of Lake Stevens then shoved Josh Mathis
around the mat and came away with a dominant major decision.
Highline then dropped a decision from Casey Park.
At 184, Caleb Padgett took out his frustration on Sam McNaughton
with a non stop take down clinic, and earned a dominant major
decision.
After all the forfeits in
the lower weights, Highline then began to have some major
problems in the upper weights. Sophomore Mike Morales was
arm-spun for 5 in the opening minute by Brock Saxen, and then
was cradled for near fall several times throughout the opening
period. He ended up losing 16-17. Morales needed to
establish hand control before trying to stand up, that led to
the cradles.
At Heavyweight, big man
David Lopez was out in front 4-1 ahead of Daniel Escamilla.
Unfortunately, Lopez tried a very low percentage dive roll and
was pinned, which also sealed Highline’s fate. The final
score was 28-19.
Highline vs. NIC
North Idaho
After 7 hours of driving for the day. Highline assembled
to take on perennial powerhouse North Idaho. Redshirt
Justin Purves continued his collegiate assault on competition by
posting a second fall in two matches. However, Highline
was unable to take the points because of Purves taking a
redshirt year.
Ryan Apparson
then dropped a decision at 133, as did Jared Sterling at 141.
The Thunderbirds then gave away another 6 points with a forfeit
in the absence of Derek Driscoll.
In
the feature match of the night, Marshall Giovanni lit up
Cheshire from NIC 10-4 who was highly touted last season and
placed 3rd in the Best of the West
Tourney. Marshall was able to scramble out of
several shots, as well as add multiple take downs of his own.
That was a huge decisive win for Marshall.
At 165, Zach Burnett lost a decision, as did Casey Park at 174.
Caleb Padgett then fell behind
early at 184. However, he came storming back, while his
opponent opted for an injury time out as did several of the
previous NIC wrestlers. At this point, it became
abundantly clear that Highline was in far superior condition.
Unfortunately, Caleb lost by 1 point, but clearly outwrestled
Cameron Jackson.
The most
controversial match came at 197. Mike Morales found
himself down early, but closed the gap by round 3. Then
for the the 5th time another NIC wrestler was asking for an
injury time out. When the action resumed the riding time
was screwed up as time wound down. The scorers then gave
the riding time to the NIC wrestler, when Morales had erased the
riding time advantage putting the match in overtime. “As a
coach, I’m a firm believer that Morales shouldn’t have kept the
match that close because it puts the match in the hands of the
officials and sometimes they make mistakes,” said Coach Norton
Morales fell in overtime, however, the Highline coaches received
an apology for the riding time mistake. Unfortunately, the
victory was given to the wrong wrestler.
At heavyweight,
David Lopez won a decision over his opponent. North Idaho
won the meet, but the score wasn’t a good indicator of how close
the meet was. “I was very pleased the way our kids
competed. We have a young team, and we didn’t have 3
starters. The national tournament is what we are preparing
our wrestlers for, between now and then is really just a
stepping stone,” said Coach Norton.
By: Scott Norton Nov.
11, 2008
The Truth
Marshall Giovaninni has proven
his durability last season by winning a season high 30 matches.
His lone loss came in the finals when he lost a heartbreaking
decision on 4 seconds of riding time. Most wrestlers would
be ecstatic to come away with a 2nd Place Finish in the country;
however, this was not the case for Giovaninni. He was
extremely disappointed.
Since then, Giovaninni has had knee
surgery in the spring which kept him off the mat for two months.
However, upon being cleared by his doctor, Marshall has been
working out all spring and summer. He has been open to
suggestions, and fixed his areas of weakness. Next, up for
the #1 ranked NJCAA wrestler is the National Title that narrowly
eluded him. Giovaninni is back with a vengeance.
Coach Norton believes that he will be the National Champion at
157 lbs. in February!
Season Outlook 2008-09
This wrestling season looks extremely promising, especially with
the return of
National Runner-Up Marshall Giovaninni who
will most likely be the #2 ranked wrestler
in the country
behind the returning National Champion. Giovaninni has
been working
diligently all summer, and has all the tools to
win the nationals in February. However,
he may have
some company with new comer Derek Driscoll at 149.
Driscoll was a 2 time
State Prep Champion. Derek is
extremely aggressive, strong, and a good technician.
Another horse in the stable, will be Mike Morales at 197.
He has unparalleled
conditioning, and is developing good
technical skills. He narrowly missed becoming an
All-American last season.
At 125 lbs, Highline also has some excellent talent in transfer
Steve Sanchez.
Steven has some slick technique and
should be a force to reckon with.
Highline will get another boost by freshman Caleb Padgett at
184. Caleb is brother
of former stand-out Brad
Padgett, who was the #1 ranked NJCAA wrestler. Caleb is very
talented, and could do some big things at Nationals.
The Thunderbirds are also very solid at 133 lbs. with freshman
Aaron Smith,
165 Zach Burnett, and HWt. David Lopez.
All three could really surprise some people.
Highline will
search for answers at 141 and 174, however, they have what looks
l
ike a very solid team. “This is only on paper, we
still have some major hurdles to get t
hrough such as:
1)Keeping all the wrestlers healthy; 2)Staying eligible at the
break; and
3)having all our wrestlers wrestling to their full
potential,” said Coach Scott Norton,
”We have to remember
that this team is mostly freshman, and will only start 1
sophomore.”
By: Scott Norton Nov. 4, 2008
Ranked 3rd
in the Nation
Brad Padgett is
currently ranked #3 in the country for NCAA Division 2
powerhouse
St. Cloud Minnesota. Padgett finished 4th
at the Nationals last year. Brad also became a
3 x
All-American; Padgett was 5th for Highline, and finished 2nd in
his sophomore year.
By: Scott Norton 10/15/08
