Santa Ana wrestlers and coaches with the CIF championship plaque. (Photo courtesy Santa Ana Athletics).
It was a big night for Santa Ana High School’s boys wrestling team Thursday night.
The Saints, coached by Pablo Cunningham, captured the CIF Division 2 dual meet championship in front of their home fans in the Santa Ana gymnasium.
It’s the eight dual meet championship for the program.
Top-seeded Santa Ana defeated Peninsula 44-24 to capture the title. Santa Ana defeated Hamilton 53-15, Santa Margarita 51-13 and Coachella Valley 44-30 to reach the final.
The Saints were led by Jose Molina, 113-pound division; Erik Lopez, 120; Sebastian Cardona, 126; Jayden Palomino, 138; Oscar Farias, 157; and Jasper Garcia, 190.
“This is the hardest working team that I’ve ever been a part in my 27 seasons as a coach,” Cunningham said. “It’s attributed to their discipline and imagination. They had the discipline to achieve the goals that they imagined for themselves. This community is a goldmine for tough, passionate and intelligent kids with the blue collar working-class ethos to dream big, and do even bigger.
“They’re my sons. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to contribute a little bit to their lives as they all have contributed an immense amount to mine. I’ve learned significantly more from them then they could ever learn from me. Our goal this year was to win our CIF dual division.”
The Saints also won CIF dual meet titles in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
“This is an amazing accomplishment for the boys and Coach Cunningham has done an incredible job building this program back to its tradition of winning,” said Santa Ana Athletic Director Brian Lillie.
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