Prep Wrestling: Titans shooting for history at Masters
The Poway High wrestling program has done nearly everything in its storied history. But this year’s Titans are gunning to achieve something no other has — send all 14 grapplers to state.
Poway, ranked No. 3 in the state and No. 9 in the nation by Flowrestling, is looking to bring everyone to the state championships in hopes of knocking off favorite and four-time defending champion Clovis.
The Titans will get their chance to qualify a wrestler in each weight class at the two-day Masters Championships at Southwest High School. The tournament begins Friday at 10 a.m. and will conclude with the third/fourth-place matches and championship matches at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The top three in each weight class advance to the state tournament in Bakersfield March 6 and 7. Poway has qualified 12 to state the last three years in a row, but is set on making history this season.
“Normally, it is about doing what has already been done before you and doing it well,” said Poway’s 145-pounder Ralphy Tovar, who is ranked No. 1 in the state by The California Wrestler. “But getting the chance to do something completely new is incredible. It is monumental. We are super excited to be that team, if we can do it. We want to be that team.”
Tovar is just one of three Poway grapplers holding down a No. 1 ranking in the state. Defending state champion Colt Doyle (160 pounds) and senior Liam Sorahan (220) are the two others. Both Doyle and Sorahan are undefeated this season.
The Titans showed just how dominant they are in the San Diego Section on Saturday, sending all 14 wrestlers to the final of the Division II tournament. Thirteen of them walked away champions, including first-year varsity wrestler and senior Philip Pham at 170 pounds.
Pham, who has persevered through injuries last year and this season, has helped fill what was a void at the beginning of the season at 170 pounds. The Titans had Doyle at the spot a good portion of the year, but were able to drop him back to 160 with Pham’s emergence.
“He is one of those guys a lot of people didn’t know,” Tovar said. “Things worked out and Doyle dropped to 160. (Pham) has worked hard since he was a freshman and it is so gratifying to see him helping the team now. It is his senior year and he is closing it out as well as he could.”
Tovar has won the Masters Championship title the last two years in a row. He took fourth at state last year and fifth in state in 2013. After a lackluster performance at the Reno Tournament of Champions, he has been on a mission to finish strong.
“I can’t forget about that tournament,” Tovar said of the Reno TOC, where he placed seventh. “It wasn’t my best showing and it was a bit of motivation for me.”
Rancho Bernardo, who placed second to Poway in the Palomar League and in the Division II Dual Championships, has a shot at qualifying several grapplers to state.
Adrian Charbono (120), Chasen Blair (182) and Corbin Grenowich (220) are the frontrunners to advance. All three finished in second place at the Division II tournament Saturday and have a strong chance to reach the finals at the Masters Championships.
Grenowich came the closest to capturing a Division II title. He faced Poway’s Sorahan in the final and fell in overtime 5-4. It was the second straight week those two faced off and Sorahan won in overtime. They could very well meet again in Saturday’s final.