Valley schools gather for finals today By TIM YANNI, Sports Writer
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 3:46 PM PST
When the Imperial Valley League schools decided to leave the Southern Section of the CIF and join the San Diego Section five years ago, the final league individual tournaments in many sports lost much of their significance.
In the Southern Section, a wrestler had to finish in the top three of his weight class to qualify for the CIF tournaments. But in the San Diego Section, every athlete on every team can compete.
Today, the IVL wrestling schools — Brawley Union, Central Union, Calexico, Holtville, Southwest and Palo Verde high schools — will meet at Southwest High's gym in El Centro to determine the league's best wrestlers, even though many coaches are not planning on bringing their entire teams.
Brawley head coach Tony Leon said he's using the tournament to get some varsity experience for some hard-working junior varsity athletes.
"I'm not taking all my kids," Leon said. "Some of the kids are hurt and we've got some kids who are taking their place because they're so young."
Leon said he will field about half of his regular season varsity team, which won the regular IVL championship with a 5-0 league record.
"The IVL tournament is not what it used to be," Leon said.
However, Leon said the tournament should feature some good competition.
"The kids will want to go out there and get it done," Leon said. "All the kids I'm bringing are going to be competitive."
Leon said practice leading up to today's tournament has been more and more intense because he wants his wrestlers to peak at the end of the season.
"It's not a longer practice but the intensity level is picking up," he said.
Jose Jimenez, head coach at Calexico High, said the finals are not totally meaningless but many wrestlers are not eligible to compete if they want to go to CIF because they are only allowed to wrestle 40 matches a season. Jimenez said many of his wrestlers have already reached their limits, so he will not bring them to the IVL finals.
"It's good and it's bad," Jimenez said. "It's good because it gives our younger kids an opportunity to get a varsity match in at the end of the season. If they win, they're still IVL champions, no matter how you look at it."
He said it also is good because it keeps the wrestlers focused on the CIF tournaments, which will be Feb. 21 at high schools throughout the section.
One down side, Jimenez said, is the Valley's better wrestlers will not win the IVL individual championships their regular season records may indicate they deserve.
Jimenez said he expects to see good wrestling, even though the top-tier athletes may not compete.
"The kids will give the fans their money's worth," Jimenez said.
Holtville High head coach C.J. Johnston said he will not field an entire varsity team today, either.
"We had a few guys who came out late because of injury or ineligibility," Johnston said, explaining those wrestlers will likely hit the mat in the finals.
"It's good for them to get a final match in before the CIF."
Johnston said he wouldn't call the tournament meaningless, but he said it doesn't mean nearly as much as it used to.
"Of course we want to go and do well," Johnston said. "You wish it would be a little more meaningful. But that's just how it is, I guess."
Johnston said he expects good wrestling in the finals because the level of competition should be relatively equal.
Joe Evangelist, principal at Southwest High, said he's excited the tournament will be in the Eagles' gym this year. The tournament rotates from school to school every year, he said.
"Our gym is the ideal venue for a league event like this because of the size of the gym itself," Evangelist said. "It just gives the fans easy access to the gym and to parking."
Evangelist said he's excited about seeing all the schools together on the same floor and he's expecting a fun tournament, even though most teams are not bringing their A teams.
"If you ask the winner what he thinks, I'm sure he will tell you it's pretty big," Evangelist said. "I think it's still neat and I hope we still do it."
He said he likes the rotating format because every school deserves a chance to host the event.
"I think every school should take that responsibility," Evangelist said. "It's good for your school staff to put on the event."
He added it will be good practice for the staff at Southwest because the El Centro school will host the CIF-SDS Masters tournament in 2005.
Weigh-ins begin at noon, seeding meetings will be at 1 today and preliminary matches will begin at 2. The finals should start at 6:30 tonight.
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