Wes Woody
Special to the Sun

Twelve members of the the Bronc wrestling team recently traveled to Chaparral High School in Temecula to compete in the CIF Southern Division individual championships.

Kern Valley had two competitors, Ed Rich (189) and Eli Kamisher (171) make it to the second day of the event. Rich took home the sixth place medal and first alternate for the Masters Meet. As a team, Kern Valley was tied for 32nd place at the tournament. Kern Valley was the only High Desert League team to have a competitor make it to the second day.

Rich had a record of 5-3 at the tournament. Things started off tough as he took on the No. 4 seed of the tournament and fell by pin. Rich ripped off five straight wins, three on Friday and two on Saturday to get into the medal round. His fifth win was one of the fastest pins at the tournament in a time of 24 seconds.

In the match to see who competes for 3-4th and 5-6th, Rich found himself in a rematch of his opening opponent. Rich was winning going into the third period and had his opponent in a pinning combination when he fell forward and the official called him pinned.

The 5th-6th match saw Rich lose by one point 6-5. Woody said, “It was a great run for Rich as he proved why he was the HDL upper weight MVP,” said Coach Wes Woody.

The second best finisher was Kamisher. He had to face the No. 1 seed to open and fell by pin at the end of the second round. He was able to rebound and win his next three matches to make it to the second day. He lost by points in his opening match on Saturday.

Others to win were Kurt Evans (160) who won his opening round match and was the lone winner of the opening round for our league. Kyle Smith (140) finished with a record of 1-2, as the other match winner.

The rest of the wrestlers would go 0-2 but gain valuable experience for the future. They were John Smith (103), Weston William (119), Jordan Lacher (125), John Stevens (130), Camron Lanterman (135), Ben Foster (152), Robert Ochoa (215) and Sundy Scott (285).

Woody said, “It was a great year for the Broncs. We were able to take home the league championship as a team. We were also able to place a wrestler at CIF which hasn’t happened in the new format they started around 2004.”