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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Manzano Grapplers Share City Title

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    The Manzano High wrestling team— with four silver medals and two bronzes— tied for first place at the Farmers Insurance/Albuquerque Public Schools City Tournament at Eldorado on Saturday.
    "That's the first time ever that a Manzano team has won the city title (as a co-champion or otherwise)," said former Monarchs athletic director and wrestling coach Bob Kelly, who now is the District 5-5A coordinator. "Manzano had never won city before."
    The Monarchs and Cibola both scored 151 points for the shared title at the 11-team, all-APS competition. Rio Grande was third with 140.
    However, the Monarchs' reaction to the knotted score was subdued to say the least.
    "They're disappointed," Manzano first-year coach Dan Sparago said. "We didn't do as well as we'd hoped to in the (championship) finals."
    The Monarchs had four wrestlers in the concluding round, while the co-champion Cougars qualified three athletes. Manzano wound up losing those four matches, while Cibola won its three.
    "We were ahead nearly from the start almost to the finish," Sparago said. "Let's say it was like kissing your sister. Well, maybe not that bad, but we were disappointed."
    Manzano still had a narrow advantage, even after senior Caleb Krumel, who hails from Cedar Crest, fell in a 6-4 decision in the 189-pound championship match to Del Norte's Joe Valdez.
    But Cougar heavyweight Franco Flores closed the gap in the last confrontation of the tournament. The Cibola wrestler got an escape for a 5-4 decision in the fourth overtime period against La Cueva's Pedrum Khodaie to garner the team tie.
    "Give credit to Cibola— they came back on us," Sparago said.
    The Monarchs appeared to have an outright win in the bag after Dominic Lopez (140 pounds) and Sandia Park's Travis Barr (215) won their third-place matches. Matt Raymer, also of Sandia Park, and Albert Gonzales placed fourth for Manzano, respectively at 152 and 285.
    "I was on the top of the bracket, and then I wrestled (Valley's Jeff) Hooper in the semis, but he beat me," Barr said. "Then I beat Eldorado (Michael Einspahr in a 10-3 decision) for third. He had beaten me before. I was fortunate to win."
    In addition, the Monarchs got these four semifinals victories:
   

103— Justin Martinez got an 11-0 major decision over Cibola's Nick Pino.
   

112— Kenneth Eye pinned Albuquerque High's Pablo Gunderson at 3:11.
   

119— Jordan Eye decisioned AHS' Jordan Santiago 2-0.
   

189— Krumel pinned Rio Grande's Charlie Padilla at 2:41.
    So all that was needed was one win in the finals. But it wasn't to be.
    Albuquerque High's Johnny Garcia decisioned Martinez in a 4-0 decision. Cibola's John Ortega decisioned Kenneth Eye 7-6 in quadruple overtime.
    Jordan Espinosa got a 3-1 decision over Jordan Eye. And then Valdez edged Krumel, with Krumel giving up a pair of penalty points.
    Kenneth Eye seemed to earn the winning point in the third overtime with Ortega on his back and Eye's legs scissored over the Cougar's upper torso. But the call didn't come, much to the chagrin of Sparago, who pleaded with both officials.
    "It was a matter of control," said Manzano assistant coach Armand Martinez. "It should have been an escape."
    Ortega ultimately got the golden point with an escape with 12 seconds left in the fourth.
    "I'm just mad," said Kenneth Eye, a 5-foot 6-inch junior. "There were a couple of calls I thought I had. ... But I don't want to take away from (Ortega's) glory."
    The Monarchs also met Del Norte in a dual at the Knights' gym late Wednesday.
   
Manzano swimming
    The Monarchs boys placed ninth at the Albuquerque Public Schools All-City Championships at the West Mesa Aquatic Center on Saturday.
    Sandia High won the meet— also called the District 4/1A-5A Championships— with 491 points. Manzano scored 40 points in a 12-team field.
    Sean Albarran had the Monarchs' top individual finish. The junior was eighth in the 100-yard breast stroke in 1 minute, 11.27 seconds.
    The Monarchs' best relay placement was in the 200 medley. The Manzano foursome of Albarran, Cullen Roth, Robert Webb and Tijeras' Phillip Atencio was 10th with a time of 2:00.72.
    The Lady Monarchs will compete in their city meet this weekend.
   
Moriarty wrestling
    The Pintos took ninth place in the 29-team Cardinal Classic at Las Vegas Robertson on Friday and Saturday.
    Liberal (Kansas) was first with 288 points, and the hosts were second with 2321/2 points. Moriarty accumulated 1571/2 points.
    The Pintos had to leave three starters at home due to sickness or injury, Moriarty coach Dennis Friedland noted in an e-mail Monday. Moriarty senior Bradley Spence was first at 130 pounds.
    The Pintos will be idle until they host the District 5-4A duals tournament Feb. 15-16. Besides Moriarty, the district members are Albuquerque Academy, Belen, Del Norte, Grants, St. Pius and Los Lunas Valencia.
    Belen is the reigning state and district champion.