Half Moon Bay wrestling dominates El Camino in PAL opener

Sophomore Ricky Camacho prevailed in the meet’s penultimate match, pinning El Camino’s Jerell Pelesauma in the 220-pound division. Then in the heavyweight main event, Ricky’s older brother Miguel Camacho won via an eventual forfeit, when El Camino’s Gion Seisa conceded in the second round due to injury.

The Camacho brothers are part of a pipeline of Half Moon Bay wrestling talent that has committed to the sport since as early as grade school. They both wrestled at Cuhna Intermediate School, a program now helmed by Half Moon Bay assistant head coach Sam Temko. In fact, both the Camacho boys took up wrestling in grade school.

The feeder program is half the secret to Half Moon Bay’s success. The other element to producing a PAL dynasty — the Cougars have won back-to-back PAL Bay Division titles, and three over the past four years — is keeping wrestlers on the mat throughout the calendar year.

“We’ve had a good core of guys wrestling year-round instead of just seasonal wrestlers,” Temko said. “It’s good to keep them on the mat.”

Temko knows what it takes to excel as a high school wrestler. A graduate of Half Moon Bay in 2003, he won back-to-back individual PAL titles, capturing the 145-pound championship as a junior in 2002, then moving up to the 160-pound division as a senior to claim a second title.

The third-year assistant head coach also knows something about brothers thriving on the coast-side. During his heyday, Temko wrestled with the Rey brothers. After the oldest of the three, Nate Rey, was the first Cougars wrestler ever to advance to the state playoff meet, Chris Rey and Nick Rey paired to win individual PAL titles alongside Temko in 2003.

The Camacho brothers are getting a late start this season, however, both having served as linemen with the Cougars’ Central Coast Section Division V champion football team. Ricky Camacho made his wrestling season debut during the last weekend of 2015 in the Coast Classic Tournament, posting a 3-2 record. Thursday’s dual meet was Miguel Camacho’s first match of the year.

Miguel Camacho plans to contend with Jacob Garrett for the first-string heavyweight spot. Garrett is currently the first-stringer, but fell ill this week and could not go Thursday. So, Miguel Camacho got the starting nod.

With the 257-pound Miguel Camacho outweighing the 235-pound Seisa, it was a tough go for El Camino, especially with Seisa battling an ankle injury. The injury proved costly when Miguel Camacho scored a point and caused Seisa to crumble to the mat in pain. Moments later, Seisa was forced to forfeit.

“It was a grab and under-hook,” Miguel Camacho said. “I was driving and as soon as he fell, his body went the opposite way of his ankle.”

Ricky Camacho’s match proved much more dramatic. The sophomore went into the second round tied 0-0 with Pelesauma. Then, selecting a bottom start in round 2, Ricky Camacho scored on a reversal before earning the pin on a reverse half.

“I never did that last year,” Ricky Camacho said of the reversal. “But I’m just trying to get more confident in doing my things and finally it worked.”

In other action, El Camino freshman Trinity Diokno opened the night with a win via forfeit. Then the Cougars rallied for six straight individual wins by way of pin, as Marlon Linares defeated Natali Vazquez in the 113-pound division; EdRey Casamina defeated Noel Angeles in 120s; Luis Alcala defeated Paolo Moralit in 126s; Tristian Keller defeated Tyler Mercado in 132s; and Evan Marschall defeated Noah Pedraza in 138s; and Will Fullerton defeated Miaial Turcios in 145s.

El Camino senior Roman Reich followed with the Colts’ only win on the mat, going the distance with Khalil Droubi for a 10-5 win. Droubi kept it close through the first round, scoring a two-point takedown at the end of the period to close Reich’s lead to 4-3. Reich opened the second round with a quick reversal though and dominated from there.

“I just wanted to get some mat time,” Reich said. “I wasn’t so much focused on getting a pin. I wanted to stay on the mat as long as possible … for more experience.”

Half Moon Bay then scored five more pins to close out the night, as Cody James defeated Arman Webb in the 160-pound division; Hugo Plancarte defeated Alberto Tuvo in 170s; Jimmy Claitor defeated Omar Valdez in 182s; and El Camino’s Justin Ilao won via forfeit before the Camacho brothers won back-to-back.

El Camino head coach Ray Reyes is looking to rebuild after seeing 11 wrestlers graduate from last year’s team. He referenced the difference between Half Moon Bay — with its strong feeder program — and an El Camino team struggling simply to get bodies on the mat, not to mention competing year-round.

“I think we can do well individually,” Reyes said. “But … being young, it’s tough to get that kind of commitment.”

El Camino’s girls’ wrestling team is off to a good start though. Not only did the team see Vazquez — the returning PAL girls’ champion in the 106-pound division — and Diokno compete in Thursday’s dual meet, the three-girl team including sophomore Sidney Brooks won the team championship earlier this season at a small tournament at Independence High School. Then during winter break, the team took second place at the Britney David Tournament at Liberty High School.

“We’re strong with the girls, even though we’re small,” Reyes said. “They have to get in with the boys at practice, so they’re tough.”