Downey tops Warren in wrestling showdown

DOWNEY – The Warren High School wrestling team traveled to cross-town rival Downey Tuesday night for their annual grappling showdown and were defeated, 43-25. 

The evening started well for the Bears as 106 pounder Carlos Vasquez defeated Isaac Medina of Downey 9-2 to take a 3-0 lead. 

Downey’s 113 pounder Jonathan Prata pinned Warren’s Moreno at the 2:28 mark of the second period and the Vikings took the lead at 6-3. Downey’s 113 pounder Dilan Ajtun pinned Warren’s Salvador Alvarez at the 2:45 mark of the second period to extend Downey’s lead to 12-3. Roland Dominguez of Downey pinned Joshua Mendoza at the 3:02 mark of the second period and Downey went up 18-3 after four matches.  

Warren’s Matthew Lopez defeated Matthew Morales at 132 pounds 3-1 and Warren closed the gap to 18-6. Allan Elizalde of Warren defeated Omar Acosta of Downey 6-5 and Warren pulled to within 18-9. Downey’s 145 pounder Armando Padilla defeated Warren’s Allan Dillon 7-0 and Downey extended their lead to 21-9. Downey’s 152 pounder Adrian Segovia pinned Gabriel Cabrera at the 1:08 mark of the first period as Downey started to pull away 27-9 after eight matches.

Warren’s 160 pounder Ismael Bautista answered back for the Bears as he pinned Sergio Smith at the 3:27 mark of the second period to get Warren six team points and draw the score to 27-15. Downey’s 170 pounder Nic Arellano pinned Martinez of Warren to make it 33-15 and Miguel Bravo of Downey pinned Garcia of Warren at 189 pounds as Downey took a commanding 39-15 lead.

The Bears’ 195 pounder Kenneth Gonzalez defeated Downey’s Daniel Martinez 11-0 to add four team points and close the score to 39-19. Warren’s 220 pounder Alexis Galvan then pinned Downey’s Adrian Guerra at the 3:50 mark of the second period and that closed the score to 39-25. Finally, Viking heavyweight Elias Velasco (285) defeated Warren’s Edgar Negrete 16-2 to add four more team points to nail down the Vikings’ 43-25 win. The Bears wrestled well and won 6 of 14 weight classes.     

■ The Downey High School wrestling team competed in the Juan Enriquez Memorial Tournament at John Glenn High School last weekend where they finished in second place behind tournament champion Millikan. 

Downey had five wrestlers place in the top eight of their individual weight classes.
Jonathan Prata placed first at 106 pounds and was named “champion of champions” for the tournament. Dilan Ajtun also placed first at 113 pounds as did 120 pounder Roland Dominguez. Downey went 3-3 in the 106, 113 and 120 weight classes. Nic Arellano placed second at 170 pounds and Adrian Guerra placed fourth at 195 pounds. 

Millikan finished the tournament with 193 points, Downey finished second with 180.5 points, Mira Costa finished third with 169 points, John Glenn finished fourth with 165 points and Cypress finished fifth with 162 points, respectively.

To round out the top ten, Santa Fe finished sixth with 159 points, Valencia finished seventh with 147.5 points, Marina finished eighth with 143 points, Peninsula finished ninth with 142.5 points and Ventura finished tenth with 137 points.

Downey defeated cross-town rival Warren 43-25 on Tuesday at Downey and wrestled Gahr yesterday (scores unavailable at press time). Coach Soto, his staff and wrestlers are all looking forward to S.G.V.L. competition and making another run at a C.I.F. championship.  

■ The Warren High School boys’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 7-9 and began league play Wednesday night when they traveled to Paramount to play the Pirates (score unavailable at press time). 

The Bears competed in the Rancho Mirage Holiday Invitational Tournament over the Christmas Break and finished with a record of 1-3.

Warren was defeated by Faith Lutheran of Las Vegas 61-36 on 12/27, were defeated by Ironwood Ridge of Tucson 55-48 on 12/28, were defeated by La Quinta 70-66 on 12/29 and defeated Bellarmine-Jefferson of Burbank 83-71 on 12/30.

In their final preseason games, the Bears were defeated by La Salle 59-56 at Warren on 1/4, were defeated by Woodrow Wilson of Long Beach 75-67 at Warren on 1/6 and defeated Bernstein of Hollywood 70-65 on 1/7 in the Cavalier Classic. 

Warren will host the Gahr Gladiators later today and will travel to cross-town rival Downey next Wednesday for the first of two of their much anticipated games against the Vikings.
Coach Leflore, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of league play. The preseason is now officially over and the S.G.V.L. season is finally here. 

Warren finished last season with an overall record of 13-14 and were 3-7 in San Gabriel Valley League play. Lynwood and Dominguez will once again be the teams to beat.

■ The Downey High School boys’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 11-8 and played Dominguez at Downey on Wednesday night in the S.G.V.L. opener for both schools (score unavailable at press time).

The Vikings competed in the Holiday Hoops Classic Tournament at Mt. Carmel over the Christmas Break and finished in fifth place. Downey defeated Mission Vista of Oceanside 74-39 in their first game on 12/27, defeated Chatsworth 60-45 in their second game on 12/29 and defeated Burbank Burroughs 53-39 in their third game on 12/30. The win over Chatsworth secured the Downey’s fifth place finish.

In their final preseason games, Downey was defeated by Murrieta Mesa 54-50 on 1/5 at Downey and defeated Sunny Hills 68-61 on 1/6, also at Downey. The Vikings will travel to Lynwood later today to face the Knights and will host cross-town rival Warren on next Wednesday.

Coach Shelton, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of league play. Downey has been led on offense this season by senior Brian Chavez’s 14.6 points per game, senior Justin Reyes’ 14.3 points per game and senior Aaron Garcia’s 11.6 points per game. 

The Vikings finished last season with an overall record of 20-10 and a S.G.V.L. record of 3-7. Downey was defeated by J.W. North of Riverside 51-36 in the quarterfinal round of the C.I.F. Division 1AA playoffs.