First published in the Feb. 17 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
As a La Cañada High School athlete, Justin Luthey witnessed a historic victory when his then-teammate Spencer Tompkins became only the third Spartan to claim a CIF Southern Section wrestling title in 2007.
He watched history unfold yet again for the LCHS wrestling program, but this time as a head coach, as Alex Mykalo pinned Alexander Lovato of Long Beach Millikan in the 145-pound CIF-SS Inland Division championship at Ayala High in Chino Hills on Saturday to claim only the fourth wrestling crown in school history.
“What set him apart is that he was so driven to achieve it,” Luthey said of his senior standout. “Not cocky, but just very confident that it was going to happen. There was no question in his mind and he wasn’t going out there hoping to win. He was planning to win.”
The win didn’t come easy for Mykalo, who needed three overtimes to defeat sophomore Ryder Yoshitake of San Marino, 10-2, to achieve his goal.
“He really gutted that out,” Luthey said. “It’s the third time he’s had to wrestle the guy from San Marino and it’s always been close. When Alex wants to score points, he’s a guy that can do it fast.”
Mykalo automatically qualifies for the prestigious CIF-SS Masters Meet along with two other teammates. Senior Cameron Fernando placed fourth in the 106-pound bracket to earn a spot in the Masters competition and Junya Ishida punched his ticket after finishing as runner-up in the 160-pound division. Junior Jonah Kim was sixth in the 138-pound competition and qualified as an alternate.
“To see what these athletes have done, where they came from, is pretty incredible,” Luthey said. “Cameron started off as a third-string junior varsity wrestler and finished fourth. Junya, in his first year on varsity, only lost by one point in the CIF championship.”
Freshman Mike Manzano also shone in the tournament despite not qualifying for the next big competition, winning his first two matches before dropping the next two in the 120-pound weight class.
Sasha Kleigl was 0-2 in the 106-pound division, Clive Fernando (126-pounder) finished 1-2, Eli Mulheim (132) was 3-2, Nick Wu (152) dropped both of his contests, Miles Johnstone (170) won one of three bouts, Matt Russakow (182) finished 1-2, Adam Ruiz (195) recorded two victories before being eliminated and Bryan Green (285) fell in both of his matches.
La Cañada finished with 118 points as a team and placed fifth overall in the standings.
“Hopefully it’s a signpost of where the program is at and that this is a more regular experience for us,” said Luthey, who credited his assistant coaches for guiding the athletes on the first day of competition. “We’ve been working really hard to develop a program and culture for our athletes.”
The culture has certainly changed with the formation of a girls’ squad, which had seven athletes competing in the CIF-SS Southern Division Girls’ Wrestling championships at San Dimas High last weekend.
Junior standout Kera Finnigan punched her ticket to the Masters Meet by placing second in the 132-pound competition. She won three consecutive matches before falling to San Dimas’ Cameron Ortiz, who was named MVP of the lower weight division, in the championship match.
“She crushed every girl she wrestled,” Luthey said of Finnigan. “She got seventh a few years ago and the word that comes to my mind when I think of her is gutsy. I feel extremely confident for her going into Masters.”
Kira De Brito also had a solid finish, winning three of five contests to place sixth in the 137-pound bracket, but was later ruled out because of weight. Luthey told the Outlook Valley Sun that he was looking to appeal the ruling but expressed pride in her performance.
Emi Seely (101 pounds), Allison Ingrassia (116), Phoebe Cucullu (143) and Iris Rivas (170) each finished 1-2 in their respective weight classes. Freshman Angel Lee qualified for CIF in the 106-pound division but dropped both of her matches.
The boys’ Masters competition will be at Sonora High School in La Habra this weekend and the girls will be competing at Marina High in Huntington Beach.
