HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING PREVIEW:Almquist ready to instruct

Aching to get back into action, Corona del Mar wrestling coach Gary Almquist has to wait until the new year.

A shoulder surgery on Nov. 4 sidelined Almquist, limiting him to watching his Sea Kings prepare for matches without him. Almquist usually wrestles with every CdM wrestler, from 112 pounds to the heavyweights.

“I would with a 103-pound guy, but we don’t have one,” said Almquist, adding that his doctor cleared him to start light workouts today. “It’s been hard. I can’t wait to show them a couple of tricks.”

The junior-oriented Sea Kings will need some pointers from the former St. Cloud State University wrestler come Pacific Coast League meets. Eight juniors are in the starting lineup, led by heavyweight Max Prescott.

Prescott was an offensive lineman for the Sea Kings’ football team, which reached the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs this past season.

Prescott qualified for last year’s CIF Southern Section individual tournament, so did CdM’s other heavyweight, Felipe Almarez. This gives the team two solid heavyweights, but there’s only one spot. That means someone is going to have to sit out, or drop and wrestle sophomore Kendall Pick for the starting 215-pound position.

“That’s the beauty of wrestling, there’s no coach playing favorites because the toughest guy gets to wrestle,” Almquist said. “Felipe’s tough, he’s the one who just about ripped off my left shoulder.”

Almarez is going to have to do more than that to crack the lineup. So far Prescott has wrestled 19 times, winning 14 times, compared to Almarez wrestling only once.

Another junior beside Prescott Almquist is counting on to produce is Scott Eskew, a 152-pounder.

“He just wrestles and battles throughout,” said Almquist of Eskew, who finished fourth at the Western Invitational on Dec. 16. “I know it doesn’t get him a medal, but he also won five of nine matches at the Magnolia, nine-team meet tournament earlier in the month.

“He, like the rest of the juniors, is knocking on the door.”

Eskew wil try to pick up where last year’s 152-pounder, Bijan Ahmadi left off. As a senior, Ahmadi took sixth at the CIF Southern Section meet, making it three consecutive years a CdM wrestler placed at the event.

Almquist said Eskew has Ahmadi’s determination, and he showed such while picking up a one-point victory at last week’s Battle of the Bay, which Newport Harbor beat Corona del Mar, 50-18.

“We’re pushing for next year, when I believe we could place in the top 5 as a team at [the] CIF [Southern Section meet],” said Almquist, adding that CdM will most likely finish behind Laguna Hills, Irvine and University in the Pacific Coast League. “We will have a lot of experience coming back, most of them will be seniors, and I’m looking forward to further developing their skills by teaching them hands on.”

Almquist will get his chance in the new year.