Featured Photo: Dana Hills wrestlers Zach Harkey and Josh Jacob (center) earned podium placements at the Ed Springs Holiday Classic on Dec. 17-18. Photo Courtesy of Dana Hills Wrestling
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By Zach Cavanagh
Boys Wrestling Places Two at Ed Spring Holiday Classic
Dana Hills officially went into its winter break with a handful of wrestling successes in the Ed Spring Holiday Classic on Dec. 17-18 at Brea Olinda High School.
Josh Jacob claimed a podium position in fourth place at 138 pounds, and Zach Harkey just edged into a podium spot in eighth place at 160 pounds in the two-day tournament. Dana Hills finished 24th as a team out of 42 entries.
Jacob entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed at 138 pounds and had a first-round bye. Jacob then recorded two straight wins by fall to reach the tournament semifinals. Jacob pinned Damon Miranda of La Costa Canyon in 1:35 and Anthony Manno of Newport Harboer in 1:40 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Jacob was bested by eventual runner-up Matthew Ortega of Edison with a fall at 3:30. In the consolation bracket, Jacob picked up another win by fall over Angelo Kim of Brea Olinda in 2:46, but he lost in just 22 seconds in the third-place match to Trevor Wingstaff of Estancia.
Harkey battled through the consolation bracket for most of the tournament. Harkey earned a first-round win with a fall in 1:58 over Elijah Acosta of Cypress, but he was pinned in the second round by Than Winn of Brea Olinda in 2:20.
In the consolation bracket, Harkey picked up three straight wins by fall to make the consolation quarterfinals. Harkey pinned Cody South of Rim of the World in a 4:43 battle, bested Chase Judd of Newport Harbor in 1:11 and got Justin Yim of Diamond Bar in 2:36. However, Harkey then dropped his next match to Jonah Fryer in a 3:35 fall and lost to Winn a second time in the seventh-place match with a fall at 2:05.
Dana Hills gets back to league duals in the new year with a match at Capistrano Valley on Jan. 4 and hosts Tesoro on Jan. 11. The Dolphins will also wrestle in the San Clemente Rotary Tournament on Jan. 8.
Roundup
Dana Hills girls basketball grabbed a win over Laguna Beach, 49-28, on Monday, Dec. 20. The Dolphins are 9-4 going into tournament play on Monday, Dec. 27. Dana Hills opens league play against Aliso Niguel on Jan. 4.
Dana Hills boys basketball had a positive COVID test result early this week, which forced the Dolphins to drop out of the North/South Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 21, and cancel their game against San Clemente on Wednesday, Dec. 23. Dana Hills (11-3) is scheduled to play in the Damien Classic next week, from Dec. 27-30.
Zach Cavanagh
Zach Cavanagh is the sports editor for Picket Fence Media. Zach is multiple California Journalism Award winner and has covered sports in Orange County since 2013. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @ZachCav and follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SouthOCSports. Email at zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com.
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