Local wrestlers mixing it up in various league finals

Two of the four local high wrestling programs already know which of their wrestlers have advanced to their respective CIF Southern Section individual tournament.

Costa Mesa and Estancia, both programs with low numbers this year, had three and two wrestlers, respectively, qualifying out of the Garden Grove League championships Thursday to the Eastern Divisional at La Quinta High in La Quinta on Feb. 15-16.

For Costa Mesa, 189-pound senior Cody De La Mater and 215-pound senior Tamas Gyorfi each won league titles, a first under second-year coach Jesse Franco. The third Mustang advancing was 171-pounder Juan Garces, who’s wrestled at the junior varsity level for most of the year.

“There were only two wrestlers in that class,” Franco said, “but [Garces is] going to CIF. That’s all that matters.”

Estancia’s Pedro Lopez, a 103-pound senior, David Phan, a 160-pound junior, advanced.

Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar will find out today which wrestlers will move on to CIF. The Sailors are at the Sunset League finals at Los Alamitos and the Sea Kings at the Pacific Coast League finals at Irvine. The PCL finals start at 9 a.m. and the Sunset League finals begin at 10 a.m.

Newport Harbor 140-pound senior Josh George (34-3) will be a No. 1 seed. CdM’s Max Prescott, a 215-pound senior, has a solid chance of finishing in the top two.

The top three placers at the Sunset League event will compete at the CIF Southern Section Coastal Divisional at Marina High on Feb. 15-16. The top three at the Pacific Coast League will compete at the CIF Southern Section Northern Divisional at Pacific High in Oxnard on Feb. 15-16.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza