Burbank Wrestling Has Solid Outing Against Marshall Fundamental

By Rick Assad

For roughly two hours, Burbank High hosted Marshall Fundamental in a nonleague wrestling match and came away with a split decision as the girls’ were victorious 30-12 over the Eagles and the boys’ fell 42-31 on Tuesday night before a large and supportive crowd at the small gymnasium.

The girls’ took five of the seven matches and all five resulted in their opponent being pinned, including three in the first round as the 145-pounder, senior Kendall Chapman defeated Amireth Guevara in the opening round, while 170-pounder, junior Isabelle Ruiz beat Bella Pera in the same frame, as did 235-pounder senior Erin Sarkasian beat Olivia Knight.

At 125 pounds, senior Leilah Hernandez captured a second-round stoppage over Parisa Vazira while 155-pounder, junior Heidi Palacios pinned Arianna Solis in the second round.

“All praise and hype should be directed at the girls’ team who won all five of their matches via pin,” Burbank coach Jonathon O’Brien said.

The boys’ claimed six of the first seven matches, but lost the final seven matches including a forfeit.

“Our boys’ lineup is really young, only two seniors, which is pretty rare for a varsity sport, let alone wrestling,” O’Brien explained. “We are going through short-term development pains with a youthful upper weight lineup for boys [average age is 14 and 15], but because of their dedication and consistency, it’s only a matter of time before they turn things around.”

At 120 pounds, junior Nathan Hinojosa knocked off Mauricio Moreno Jones with a first round stoppage.

Sophomore Tyler Huo defeated Joziah Diaz at 126 pounds with a second-round pin as did 150-pounder Arnold Tarverdyan over Joseph Montoya in the second round.

The Bulldogs scored points when 132-pounder, sophomore Jayden De La Rosa outpointed Zach Venable across three rounds.

Freshman Sevak Araklyen held off Isaac Benevides at 138 pounds over three rounds.

Junior Richard Kalajyan defeated Chris Murillo by a decision in a 144-pound bout.

Burbank senior Vahagn Ghazaryan outpointed Marshall Fundamental’s Diego McDonald in a 157-pound match.

At 165 pounds, Burbank freshman David Antansyen lost to Xavier Velasquez in a first round stoppage as did 175-pounder, Bulldog junior Harut Perloshyan to Abraham Simon in the same frame.

Burbank sophomore Albert Airapetian was pinned in the first round in a 190-pound clash with Simon Shin and Bulldog senior Vladislav Pak lost in the second round versus Rudy Ramos in a 215-pound tussle.

At 285 pounds, Burbank sophomore Edgar Tovmasyan was pinned in the opening frame to Andrew Velez.

Burbank junior Daniel Hambardzumyan was sidetracked via a decision by Marshall Fundamental’s Keen Velasco in a 113-pound match.

The Eagles’ picked up points by Jacob Garcia at 106 pounds, Fernanda Jimenez at 120 pounds and Betsy Meriam at 190 pounds through forfeits.