Jarrod Maguire to Represent Valhalla in Bakersfield

Above left - Maguire victorious in 5th place match, Right - Canizales victorious in 5th place match

Masters Brackets, SD Section - 2005

Valhalla Wins D III Title

Valhalla Sends 11 to Masters

 Place Winners and Team Scores

103 lb. Bracket

112 - 275 lb Brackets

Valhalla Gets out the Broom

Adds Conference Title to Grossmont South Dual Title

Saturday, February 12, 2005, El Capitan High School.  Valhalla sent seven wrestlers to the finals, coming away with five champions and the Conference title by a 40 point margin over Granite Hills.  Jarrod Maguire was Lightweight OW, while Garrett Grizzle, Granite Hills and Wes Fenton, El Capitan were middle and heavy weight Outstanding Wrestlers, respectively. 

Valhalla Champions were Jerrod Maguire, 112 lbs., Alan Canizales, 135 lbs., Charles Tonnaer, 140 lbs., Justin Parker, 171 lbs., and Brock Wendborne, 189 lbs.  Tonight's win gives the Norsemen bragging rights over their Tri-League Co-Champions Monte Vista and Granite Hills who finished fourth and second.  Some of the highlights for Valhalla fans included Josue Martinez' repeat performance; he once again pinned Rudy Simmons of Monta Vista,  proving that his victory at the dual meet was no fluke.  Another great moment was Charles Tonnaer's finals victory against Cade Muhlig from Granite Hills.  Charles' loss by fall to Muhlig at the Granite Hills dual contributed to a Granite Hills victory and share of the Grossmont South title. 

Jr. Varsity highlights included a crowd pleasing victory by Sheila McCabe. Sheila dominated her consolation semi-final opponent, pinning on her way to fourth place in the Jr. Varsity bracket.

Valhalla's Jr. Varsity won conference with an approximate ten point advantage over West Hills.

Team Results:

1. Valhalla - 196
2. Granite Hilles 156.5
3. El Capitan
4. Monte Vista

Conference Brackets

Roller Coaster Ride on Upswing

Valhalla Beats Monte Vista at Home to Earn Piece of League Title, VHS 42, MV 31 

February 3, 2005, Valhalla High School - In what has been a roller coaster ride of a season, the rebuilt Valhalla roster has earned a piece of the title in the Grossmont South League.  This win has to be credited to outstanding coaching.  Many teams would have folded up their tents and gone home after losing several prominent wrestlers for a variety of reasons.  Glen Takahashi said after the loss to Vista in the first action of the year, "I will take the core of this team and win with them."  Some doubted.

Above, Charles Tonnaer and Josue Martinez each pinned MV opponents.

This match has been traditionally the best sporting event in east county year in and year out.  This year's dual did not disappoint.  Coach Takahashi's attitude showed through tonight.  In prior years these teams would play their cards close to the vest, making a chess match of the dual.   Coach Takahashi said after the match, "I was not going to play games tonight, we sent our best at each weight to the mat."  Brock Wendborne accepted a forfeit at 189 lbs, some wondered if we could have saved a J.V. wrestler to accept that forfeit, saving Brock for 215, where we lost.  This doubt subsided when the attitude instilled by the master coach showed through.  Unknown Junior, Josue Martinez pinned heavily favored Senior Rudy Simmons in the first round of the final match to seal the deal for the Norsemen.  This is not chess.

Below, Glen Takahashi discusses win with Union Tribune reporter.

Martinez entered the match protecting a Valhalla 36-31 lead.  Simmons was hunting for the pin early but it was Martinez, who instead of running like some thought he might, locked up a head and arm and stuck Simmons in round one.  The noise in the Valhalla gym was deafening;  the Granite Hills Eagles were there adding to the din while rooting for the Orange team.  A Valhalla win combined with a loss to Granite who had an earlier loss to Monte Vista caused a log jam at the top of Grossmont South League.  This will mark the first time in history that a Tri-League Crown will be shared in the South. 

A big factor in tonight's win for Valhalla was the return of Jr. Alan Canizales.  Alan is recovering from knee surgery and looked strong tonight, pinning Monte Vista's Swafford in round one.  Alan was one of five Norsmen to pin along with Martinez (119), Tonnaer (140), Salazar (145) and Parker (171).

Norsemen Finish 6th at Londos

January 8, 2005, Orange Glen High Schoool - Valhalla sent nine varsity regulars and four Varsity B wrestlers to Orange Glen and finished a team 6th.  Place winners included:

Link to Londos Photo Album

152 - Eli Garcia - 2nd

103 - Landon Holmes - 3rd

112 - Jarrod Maguire - 4th

125 -Adrian Canizales - 7th

145 - Bruno Salazar - 5th

189 - Brock Wendborne - 3rd

Team Scores:

1. Laguna Hills 292,
2. Poway 218.5,
3. Mt. Carmel 168,
4. Chaparral 149,
5. Carlsbad 143.5,
6. Valhalla 139.5,
7. Vista 122.5,
8. Centennial 115.5,
9. Escondido 115.5,
10. Orange Glen 110,

Jim Londos day one brackets

El Cajon Invitational Results

ECI JV Place Winners

ECI JV Brackets

Rumors of Programs' Demise Overstated

Brawley 34-Valhalla 33

December 7, 2004 - Valhalla hosted the strongmen from the desert on Tuesday.  Brawley rolled into town not knowing what to expect, even inquiring at the last minute if the Norsemen wanted to go forward with the event.  Neither team was at full strength, with Brawley missing some heavy weight wrestlers due to the success of their football team which will be competing for the Division IV crown at Qualcomm this weekend.  Valhalla was without Sr. Charles Tonnaer who broke his hand while placing 8^th at El Dorado.

 Jerrod Maguire, Jr.

The meet started out at 119 with the best match up of the night.  Jr. Jarrod Maguire bumped up to 119 to meet Corey Caffarrella who was 5^th at Masters in 2004.  Maguire, who lost to Caffarella by fall at Masters last year, won the rematch by a 5-4 decision.  Adrian Canazales then took Alex Pineda to OT before surrendering late in the first OT period to a takedown, 6-4.

Brawley built a lead in the middle weights, winning four decisions and accepting one forfeit while forfeiting one match to the Norsemen, the score stood at 25-9 prior to the 171 lb. match.  Valhalla then picked up four consecutive pins by Sr., Justin Parker; Sr., Brock Wendborne; sophomore, John Paul Tasted; and Sr., Ben Pastore.  The dramatic run gave the Norsemen a 33-25 lead going into the final two matches while raising the volume considerably in the Norse Gym. 

Brawley had to pin at 103 and win at 112 to pull out the 34-33 victory.  They were able to pull of the double with Brawley’s Tyler Sobeleski pinning VHS freshmen Tony Escobar and then Mark Ojeda winning 7-2 decision over Landon Holmes at 112.

The real story of the night was the determination of a coaching staff and the emergence of new leaders on the team.  Order has been restored; the team was focused on business with no milling around the bench or other distractions that were witnessed last week.   During Valhalla's run of pins the Valhalla Boys Soccer team entered the gym and sang a traditional Norse team fight song.  It was a great moment of sportsmanship and tradition.  The soccer team was there to show support for one of the more storied programs at the school after some recent hard times.  The soccer team has also been a source of pride for the school and showed it tonight.

The crowd left, disappointed with a loss (things have not changed so much that the Norse faithful accept losses lightly) but with a renewed sense of satisfaction that the team is moving in the right direction.

El Dorado Brackets

Team Records Updated