Victor Valley tops South Torrance for the CIF-SS Division 3 Dual Meet Championship

Avian Singh stepped on the wrestling mat Wednesday with his team up 14 points in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 Dual Meet Championships laser-focused on the prize.

Singh, a senior at Victor Valley High School and one of the wrestling team’s captains, remembered the feeling of his team falling short in the championship match the previous two seasons.

This time around, Singh knew that history would not be repeating itself.

Sure enough, Singh needed just 47 seconds to beat Daniel Hernandez in the 144-pound match to give the Jackrabbits a 20-point lead with two matches left on the bout sheet.

“It’s an indescribable feeling,” Singh said about the moment he pinned Hernandez. “I manifested that. Every day, coming in here, working hard, I just knew we deserved this. We won before we even stepped on the mat today. We won this a long time ago. We lost the past two years, always getting in the finals and we knew that this was it for us. So we just all worked hard and earned this. It’s such a great feeling.”

With the title already secured, Cruz Duardo scored a 12-0 major decision at 152 pounds while Jose Rodriguez (157 pounds) ended the night by pinning his opponent in 41 seconds, as the crowd in the Keith Gunn gymnasium erupted in cheers.

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Victor Valley captured the program’s eighth CIF-SS wrestling title — the first since 2019 — with a 49-19 victory.

“Those three are my horses there,” Victor Valley head coach CT Campbell said after the victory. “I knew we were going to be fine with them ending, no matter what the score was.”

The road to the finals

Getting to the championship round was a breeze for the Jackrabbits, the No. 1 seed in the division.

At Redondo Union High School on Jan. 27, Victor Valley beat Torrance (83-0), Garden Grove (68-6) and La Canada (50-12) to get to the finals.

On the other side of the bracket, South Torrance, the No. 6 seed, pulled off a 37-31 victory in the semifinals against Lakeside. The Spartans also beat Arroyo (55-15) and Redondo Union (39-27).

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‘Their time’

Victor Valley’s David Camacho began the action with a pinfall in the first match of the night at 165 pounds.

In the following match, Jesse Cardona (175) pinned his opponent, giving Victor Valley a quick 12-0 advantage.

But South Torrance won the next three, to even the score 12-12 after five matches.

Daniel Mendoza (106) and Cesar Sandoval (113) won their matches by pinfall, giving the Jackrabbits a commanding 24-12 lead.

Jose Guillen pinned his opponent in 30 seconds for a 30-15 lead, essentially setting the stage for Singh’s pinfall to seal the deal.

“This was their time,” Campbell said. “We’ve had to fight for this. A lot of these seniors were sophomores when we got our butts kicked a couple of seasons ago. So these seniors deserve this. We worked hard all summer long.”

Victor Valley 49, South Torrance 19

• 106 — Mendoza (VV) pinned Luna (ST), 3:09

• 113 — Sandoval (VV) pinned Ross (ST), 1:28

• 120 — Garriot (SH) dec. Castro (VV), 5-1

• 126 — Guillen (VV) pinned Patti (ST), :30

• 132 — Sanchez (VV) dec. Lee (ST), 6-4

• 138 — DaNobrega (ST) dec. Flores (VV), 14-6

• 144 — Singh (VV) pinned Hernandez (ST), :47

• 150 — Duardo (VV) dec. Feldman (ST), 12-0

• 157 — Rodriguez (VV) pinned Khun (ST), :41

• 165 — Camacho (VV) pinned Blevins (ST), 1:50

• 175 — Cardona (VV) pinned Banipal (ST), 1:38

• 190 — Ormsby (ST) dec. Venegas (VV), 7-1

• 215 — Battulga (ST) pinned Morales (VV), 3:30

• 285 — Kerekes (ST) dec. Morales (VV), 4-3

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Victor Valley beats South Torrance for the CIF-SS Div. 3 wrestling title