South City wrestling soph making noise at lightweights

Al-hasasneh is now 10-1 on the season, with a previous tournament championship at the 58th Invitational Peninsula Wrestling Tournament, held Dec. 6 at Half Moon Bay. The sophomore is now gearing up to cross paths with El Camino junior Niko Selianitis, the reigning Peninsula Athletic League champion at 108s, at some point this season.

“Our goal is to face him,” South City head coach Temo Cervantes said. “Hopefully we can meet him at league finals. So, our goal right now is to try and sneak into that league podium. ... It’s pretty stacked this year at that weight class, so we know we have a lot of work to do.”

Al-hasasneh and Selianitis are friendly rivals. They’ve both come through the South San Francisco Gators Wrestling Club, and Al-hasasneh was training partners with Selianitis’ younger brother Elias at Westborough Middle School.

As a freshman, Al-hasasneh didn’t compete in the PAL tournament after suffering a season-ending concussion near the end of the regular season. He previously made his high school debut at the 2024 Webber Lawson, posting a 2-2 record at 106s while Selianitis captured the championship in the same lightweight bracket.

“I think we could have finished the league tournament in the finals (last year),” Cervantes said. “I think he could have been a [Central Coast Section Masters finals] qualifier last year.”

Growing the SSF Gators

Cervantes knows full well the importance of family connections through the SSF Gators feed program. A graduate of South City in 2011, Cervantes was coached by Sisi Aquino, the younger brother of current El Camino head coach Japheth Aquino, when he was a young high school upstart.

“So, it’s all coming full-circle now,” Cervantes said. “So, it’s cool to watch how it all plays out.”

The Gators Wrestling Club was a different beast when Cervantes wrestled there. It had a looser structure and less outreach, catering predominantly to students who were already seriously interested in wrestling.

Five years ago — with high school programs like the ones at Menlo-Atherton and Half Moon Bay becoming perennial contenders in the PAL, fueled by feeder programs of their own — Cervantes and Japheth Aquino decided to do something about growing the SSF Gators throughout the SSFUSD middle schools, and even grammar schools. The coaches run rival wrestling programs on paper, but regularly host dual practices at El Camino, where the home base for the Gators resides. Now, they have wrestling programs at two of the district’s three middle schools, and plan to bring programs to the third middle school and all nine of South San Francisco’s elementary schools over the next five years.

“One of the biggest things is trying to get kids to find this in high school,” Cervantes said. “So, one thing we started doing — this is my second year of doing the PE demonstrations ... to all the junior high school PE classes — and because we’ve had kids that have come through the program, they’re more than willing to step up and demonstrate how it works, and kids are much more receptive to it.”

‘Another day in the office’

Al-hasasneh’s day at the Webber Lawson started with a rematch against Aptos sophomore Jack Moreno in the tournament opener. The previous week at the Peninsula Tournament, the two met in the finals, with Al-hasasneh claiming a gritty overtime victory.

“So, we kind of expected it to be another meat grinder,” Cervantes said.

Al-hasasneh’s win over Moreno at the Webber Lawson came in the third round via fall, but the leg ride and cross face he used to put Moreno on his shoulders also registered as a 15-point lead on the scorecard, enough for a tech fall. Al-hasasneh went on to defeat McCune in the quarterfinals via 10-7 decision before falling in the semifinals via first-round pin against Kennedy-Fremont freshman Rama Valencerina.

In the consolation bracket, Al-hasasneh earned a quick first-round pin over Alisal junior Sergio Puentes to advance to the third-place match, where the sophomore treated the second-round pin of McCune as business as usual.

“It was another day in the office,” Cervantes said.

Other San Mateo County placers ...

Serra earned three podium finishers at the Webber Lawson, junior Sebastian Garcia, second place at 165s; sophomore Leon Bleess, seventh place at 175s; and senior Tate Williams, consolation champion at 157s.

Capuchino junior Jesse Chavez took fifth place at 126s; El Camino’s Niko Selianitis at 113s and junior James Newton-Busilacchi at 157s earned consolation championships; and M-A junior Colin Chung at 150s and junior Basilio Tiniacos at 190s took consolation championships.

Webber Lawson girls’ tourney ...

In the Webber Lawson girls’ tournament, Menlo-Atherton junior Eva Bhattacharya was San Mateo County’s top finisher, claiming second place at 110s.

South City senior Khloe Meisenbach at 140s and Half Moon Bay junior Pluto Halterman at 190s each took third place; San Mateo junior Hannah Villareale at 125s, Sequoia junior Yuki Ahmann, and Westmoor senior Nataly Cuculista each took fourth; and San Mateo senior Sara Cantillo at 115s took eighth.