TOHS building momentum
Wrestlers shake off loss to Royal
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers HITTING THEIR STRIDE- Thousand Oaks High sophomore Miguel Arce, left, circles and dodges senior Jack Hoskinson during wrestling practice Tuesday afternoon at TOHS. The Lancers are 13-1.

The Thousand Oaks High wrestling team may be in second place in the Marmonte League standings, but the Lancers are hardly a second-rate squad.

Last month TOHS lost 55-7 to Royal High, who shared the league championship with the Lancers a year ago.

Although Thousand Oaks was blown away by the Highlanders, it was a rare occurrence. The loss was the lone blemish on the team's record this season. Thousand Oaks entered the week 13-1 overall and 2-1 in league.

"We've responded well since the loss to Royal," Thousand Oaks head coach Kerry Lyne said. "Nobody is hanging their heads since the Royal defeat. It's not shocking we lost to Royal, since they're a very good team. But we've got a good team as well."

Senior Behrod Katebian said TOHS is doing just fine.

"We just decided to keep working hard after the loss to Royal," Katebian said. "Nobody was putting anyone down after we lost. How could they? All of us lost."

At the Shark Tank Invitational last week, the Lancers placed fourth out of 50 teams. In the Brea Olinda Tournament in December, TOHS took sixth place out of 45 squads.

Leading the way for the Lancer grapplers has been Dillon Brockert. The senior is now competing in the 215-pound weight class after wrestling as a heavyweight last year. The change has been well-served, as evidenced by Brockert's 23-4 record.

"Two hundred and fifteen pounds is the perfect weight class for (Brockert)," Lyne said. "He was a heavyweight, but he lost some pounds this fall when he played football. He's very quick and tall for his weight."

Brockert said he's getting used to the change.

"It's been a lot easier for me this year because I was a pretty light heavyweight," Brockert said. "I was 220 pounds and fighting guys that were close to 60 pounds heavier than me. The hardest part about the change has been trying to cut my weight and keep it at the 215 level."

The Lancers' new heavyweight is Clint Abraham who, like Brockert, is also considered a light heavyweight at 220 pounds. Abraham hasn't let the bigger guys bother him, however, as the senior has posted a 20-5 mark. Abraham took first place at the Newbury Park Tournament in early December.

According to Lyne, a lot of Abraham's success comes from Brandon Hammond, the backup heavyweight who often tests Abraham in practice.

Katebian said he's been impressed with the team's balance, especially in the upper weight classes.

"Last year our wrestlers were great from the 103-to-152 weight classes, but we struggled everywhere else," Katebian said. "This year we're much stronger everywhere. Our wrestlers above 152 pounds have been getting the job done, too."

Wrestling in the 112pound division for Thousand Oaks is senior Colin Sasaki. Sasaki won the Marmonte League championship last year and is 22-5 this season. Sasaki's highlights this season include second-place finishes at both the Shark Tank Invitational and the Brea Olinda Tournaments.

"Sasaki is very quick and is an intense wrestler," Lyne said. "He's shown a great ability to come from behind in his matches. He's a very good wrestler on his feet."

Katebian competes at 135 pounds. He is 23-2 on the year after winning the league championship for his respective weight class last year.

"Katebian hasn't stopped wrestling hard since last February," Lyne said. "He's a very talented, hard worker, and it shows in his results.

"He's probably our best technical wrestler, and he has a very unorthodox style of wrestling. It will look like he's losing, but actually he's in total control. On the mat, he just ties people into knots."

Gilbert Olivas is a senior cocaptain who competes in the 130pound weight class. Olivas is 218 on the year and, according to Lyne, is "long and lanky for that weight class."

Also contributing for the Lancers is senior Chris Gideon. Gideon, who wrestles at 152 pounds, is a reigning league champion, but he's been limited this season with a separated shoulder.

"Gideon has shown a lot of courage," Lyne said. "He's 6-2, but I'm just glad he's been able to wrestle at all for us. If he was healthy, he'd definitely be one of our big guns."

Lyne said the team needs to be better conditioned to hit their peak at league finals. The coach, who's in his eighth year at the helm for the Lancers, said the team's chemistry is great and the work ethic is there to continue to succeed.

"This is a darn good team," Lyne said. "The kids really support each other well, and they make it easy for me to come to campus every day and go to battle with them."

Thousand Oaks faces off against Moorpark today before traveling to compete in the Highland Tournament this weekend.