Knights top Cougars for SCAC crown

| January 29, 2007 8:00 PM

WARDEN — The Royal Knights defeated Warden 51-12 to lock up the SCAC dual meet championship Saturday.

Royal, which a week ago beat Warden 47-12 to claim the 1A Dream Duals championship, once again downed their SCAC rival in commanding fashion. Royal won 11 of 14 matches wrestled on the night, including four by fall.

In one of the most anticipated matches of the night, Warden's Robert Pruneda faced off with Royal's Arturo Barajas at 125 pounds. Barajas, defending his state title from a year ago, was upset by Pruneda at the Dream Duals, losing last week's match by fall.

This time around, the Royal wrestler would control the action, winning a 19-8 major decision victory. It won't likely be the last time these two wrestlers face off against each other with the post-season just around the corner.

Another exciting contest occurred at 103 pounds, where Royal's Hernon Cortez defeated Warden's Franky Jimenez with a 6-3 decision. In the closest match of the night, Royal's Chencho Lopez pulled out a 13-12 victory over Warden's Freddie Flores.

Royal 51, Warden 12

103 - Hernon Cortez (R) dec Franky Jimenez, 6-3; 112 - Jerry Villa (R) pin Alex Rangel, 1:39; 119 - Chencho Lopez (R) dec Freddie Flores, 13-12; 125 - Arturo Barajas (R) m.d. Robert Prundea, 19-8; 130 - Omar Avelar (R) pin Juan Reyes, 3:15; 135 - Chris Kalous (W) dec Luke Tonnemaker, 9-3; 140 - Sam Villegas (R) t.f. Lupe Landeros, 15-0; 145 - Angel Ledezma (R) dec. Alan Martinez, 7-1; 152 - Josh Mathis (R) dec Arturo Martinez, 7-0; 160 - Jordan Thomas (R) pin Spencer Graham, 3:07; 171 - Joel Martinez (W) dec Ernesto Deras, 7-1; 189 - Hector Ledezma (R) pin Kenny Guerra, 1:35; 215 - Drew Jesse (W) pin Jacob Christensen, 3:36; 285 - Edgar Montoya (R) won by inj. def. over Tony Martinez.

— Staff report