Morro Bay High School hosted 80 schools in the largest high school wrestling tournament in California, according to their athletic director. Santa Ynez junior wrestler Santino Alvaro carried his squad into the finals match against Paso's Dominic Marquez at 126 lbs.
Alvaro went a perfect 3-0 on Friday and came into the tournament ranked sixth. After winning his match in the quarterfinals Saturday morning and coming away with a win after a medical forfeit in the semifinals, he met a familiar foe in Marquez for that top stop. Securing first place Saturday night topped off how well the Pirates have remained steady amid adversity.
“Whenever we go to a tournament we say, 'Hey, whatever they rank you, you got to finish higher'," said Raul-Omar Sandoval, Santa Ynez boys wrestling head coach. "So he was rated sixth this weekend, which means he's supposed to finish sixth, so it's already bonus points here.”
“It's kind of funny, actually, because I grew up wrestling with him," Alvaro smiled. "But yeah, out of the amount of teams that are here, it's kind of funny that we end up wrestling each other.”
Santa Ynez was forced to forfeit seven weight classes last season due to keeping wrestlers in lower weight classes in junior varsity to develop. This caused the Pirates to ultimately succumb to second in Ocean League behind Santa Maria. Since then, the Pirates have proved that they’re a team to beat, remaining undefeated in Ocean League this season despite missing three weight classes. Alvaro went the furthest, and proved that Central Coast teams can top the best wrestlers in California.
“It’s proof that California is the best place to wrestle," Sandoval said. "Nine hundred-plus schools [in the state] just, just to be a state champion. [We're] one of the only states in all of the nation that still has one true state champ.”
