Quam Can't Get Past His Nemesis, Wins Silver at State Championships

San Clemente High’s Preston Quam had only one thing standing between him and a state championship,  and it was a familiar foe: Morgan McIntosh of Santa Ana Calvary Chapel.

The top-seeded wrestler in the state at 189 pounds dashed Quam's hopes in winning his third consecutive state title upon completing his third consecutive undefeated season Saturday night in the CIF State Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

“He’s a good wrestler,” said a disappointed Quam, who finished fifth at state a year but was runner-up this time around, posting a record of 57-7 along the way. ”I wrestled my heart out and I gave it my all.”

The two wrestlers have a history with McIntosh having beaten Quam twice this season by scores of  21-6, and 13-4 before Saturday.

They put on quite a show in front of a packed arena with McIntosh scoring the first takedown en route to a convincing 16-7 lead byt the end of the second period. Quam battled back, but his run ended with a 26-11 technical fall.

“I watched a lot of video on him [McIntosh],” Quam said. “He usually likes to attack when he brings his right leg forward, so my plan was to go on the offensive when he did, but it didn’t work out.”

Quam, who is headed to Purdue on a wrestling scholarshipl, came into the state championships ranked third in the state at 189 by TheCaliforniaWrestler.com. The senior had little difficulty reaching the finals. After winning by fall and technical fall against both of his opponents on Friday, he won a hard-fought 3-2 semifinal decision over second-ranked Luke Sheridan of Concord De La Salle.

Taking a 1-0 lead on an escape in the first period, Quam extended his lead to 3-0 on a hard takedown midway through the second. Sheridan was able to wriggle loose on back-to-back escapes, including one in the final period, but Quam controlled the match in the waning seconds to hang on for the victory.

“I am relieved,” said Quam, who had been defeated twice by Sheridan this season. “The first time he pinned me and second time he beat me by one, so it felt good to beat him by one this time around."

Quam's Tritons teammate, Zach Fishman, a 145-pounder who was making his first appearance at the state finals, lost his first match, 9-7, to Isiah Morfin of Selma but followed that with an 8-2 victory over Bryant Heagney of Poway and a 4-2 victory over Brodie Chenowith of Ramona before falling, 2-1, to Coleman Hammond of Bakersfield.

For complete CIF State Wrestling Championships results, click on this link and go to bottom of the list.)