Beverly Hills Wrestling Wins on the Road

Beverly Hills went to South Pasadena and won on the road, 44-33 on Dec. 6.

The Normans took an early lead after Nathan Bahk pinned his opponent 30 seconds into the match for the 103-pound weight class. The Tigers had a no-show for the 112-pound class.

In the next match, the Normans' varsity wrestler didn't make weight for the 119-pound match, so coach Mark Mead trotted out junior varsity wrestler Matthew Kohanbash against the Tigers' Sean Ehrlich.

Kohanbash took the lead into the final minute before Ehrlich pinned him to bring the score to 12-6.

"[Kohanbash] fought his best match of the year, right up until the heartbreaking last five seconds," Mead said. "He went for the pin, got turned, and got pinned himself. I give him credit for coming out and nearly pulling out what would've been an upset."

Beverly Hills captain Payton Bakh of the 125-pound weight class came out in the next match and scored a technical pin by beating his opponent by more than 15 points. After another no-show for the 130-pound match by South Pasadena, the Normans led 23-6. But then Chris Nunez scored a technical pin for the Tigers in the 135-pound class to make the score 23-11.

Mead had mentioned before the meet that his middleweights are the strongest group in his squad and they showed it against the Tigers, pinning their next two opponents in the 140- and 145-pound weight classes, making the score 35-11.

"I told the middleweights before the match, if we're going to win, they all had to pin," Mead said. "They didn't all pin, but they came pretty close. And that's what won it for us."

The Normans' Josh Rezvani (152-pound weigh class) defeated his opponent before Ralph Yun (160-pound weight class) scored a technical pin to increase Beverly Hills' lead to 44-11 and secure a victory for the Normans with four matches left.

The Tigers won the remaining four matches, starting with Joaquin Rascon's 171-pound class win with a 22-11 victory. Ned Estrada of the 189-pound weight class then started a string of three straight pins for the Tigers. He was followed by Alex Larrimore (215-pound match), who pinned his opponent in 16 seconds.

In the final match, the Tigers' Max Sanchez, the team's heavyweight, pinned Chris Ford, who stepped up from the 215-pound weight class to wrestle.

"[Ford] should be 215," Mead said. "He took one for the team."

Still, the victory was a sweet one.

"I'm super proud of my veterans for pinning [their opponents] when we needed it," Mead said.  "All my veterans stepped up, and all my new guys fought hard."