DIVISION III WRESTLING DUAL-MEET TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS : Atascadero Forces Santa Ana to Take Fall

ATASCADERO — Santa Ana took its best shot at the Division III dual-meet team wrestling championships Wednesday night against Atascadero but came up short.

The Saints did manage to throw a scare into the top-seeded Greyhounds before falling, 39-25, at Atascadero High.

“We wrestled so well,” Santa Ana Coach Scott Glabb said, “I’m not disappointed at all. I’m proud of these kids.”

The third-seeded Saints, who were forced to juggle their lineup because of an injury, a disqualification and ineligible wrestlers, built a big lead in the lower weights.

But that advantage vanished with two forfeits and two pins in the final four weight classes.

“They were banking on the forfeits,” Glabb said of Atascadero. “If they didn’t have those, they would have been sweating bullets.”

Atascadero, 23-0, didn’t clinch the championship until David Mauer’s pin at 189 pounds.

In the lower weights, Santa Ana controlled the mat, taking a 19-3 lead.

Sadie Morales, a 119-pound runner-up at the Southern Section Division III championships last Saturday, was one of three Saints to win by a fall. Mike Bravo and Jose Sagrero each recorded pins. Jose Morales and Fernando Seratos won by decision.