San Jacinto roars to victory at Western Invitational

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

By pinning each of his four opponents in no more than 1 minute 10 seconds, heavyweight Rene Marmolejo was the most dominant San Jacinto wrestler last weekend. Considering how well the Tigers performed at the Western Invitational, that’s saying a lot.

San Jacinto crushed the 16-team field, accumulating 203.5 team points. The host Pioneers were a distant second with 131 points. The Tigers took first place in half of the weight classes, including the first four -- Daniel Tapia at 103, Nathaniel Barnes at 112, Chad Thornock at 119 and Adrian Salas at 125. And the final two -- Charlie Shogren at 215 and Marmolejo -- with a 160-pound triumph by Carter Hust in the middle.

Marmolejo’s last match, against Justin Waller of Cypress, was his quickest, lasting only 32 seconds. He also got pins in 37 seconds, 1:00 and 1:10. All of the San Jacinto champions, except Salas, pinned their opponents in the championship match. Barnes, Thornock, Hust and Shogren each had two pins.

The Tigers, ranked No. 3 in the Southern Section Division VI preseason dual meet coaches’ poll, will host No. 9 Beaumont in a Mountain Pass League showdown at 6 p.m. on Dec. 19. They will also take part in the huge North Torrance Tournament of Champions at Cerritos College on Dec. 28 and 29.

-- Chuck Schilken, guest blogger

-- Image from http://www.bigcatrescue.org