Quick quiz: what is the most successful sport in the CIF-San Diego Section?
Answer: Although La Jolla boys tennis had a remarkable 40 section championships between 1955-2005, some came before the section was formed in 1960, so the obvious answer is Poway boys wrestling.
It’s hard to argue with a 40-1 section championship record since 1982, as even the “1” has an asterisk as the Titans’ lone blemish was a forfeit in 1986 when a Poway wrestler competed two divisions above his weight class — a recent violation.
What Wayne Branstetter started in 1974, John Meyers has continued and although Meyers is always upbeat, he has plenty of reasons for it this year.
One: Eight wrestlers return who scored in last year’s state championship where the Titans placed second to perennial power Clovis Buchanan.
Two: The potentially finest freshman class in school history arrived.
Three: Just when it looked like the Titans wouldn’t have a returning state champion with the graduation of Luke Condon (170), Brawley’s Robert Platt (195) transferred in.
“We have 85 kids out for wrestling,” said Meyers, “and we go three to four wrestlers deep in each weight class. You always look for those who do well at state to move up a couple of places the next year. We have one weight class, 132, where we could have four wrestlers place at state, so the competition every day in practice is special.”
Poway won’t have four wrestlers at 132 placing at state because only the champion advances but that’s not his point. The point is the team has quality and is very deep.
Returning state placers (top eight) include Edwin Sierra (113), Billy Townson (120), Paul Kelly (138), Laird Root (145), Aleksandr Kikiniou (152), Angelo Posada (160), Platt (195) and Adam Farha (285).
The Titans opened the season at the 42nd Newbury Park Invitational, a 32-team tournament that will never be compared to the Temecula Battle of the Belt or Clovis Invitational, but has the added advantage of allowing up to three wrestlers per weight.
Final result: Poway won 12 of 14 divisions, went 1-2-3 at 126 and 157 as well as 1-2 at 120, 132, 165 and 175.
“While it’s a fairly light tournament, it was a dress rehearsal for our trip to Oklahoma in a couple of weeks and for some of the bigger tournaments as well as the state championships,” Meyers said. “We were able to work on details that become very important at the big meets. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised at how focused we were.
“Even when we had the two finalists, I saw the kids talking to each other like friends do before the match, then they wrestled hard and when it was over, they were back to being friends and teammates again. I mentioned to them the importance of shaking off a loss and coming back in the consolations because at state that’s huge.
“What was especially fun was watching two freshmen, Arseni Kikiniou (106) and Mick Moylan (190), step up and win. It just shows how competitive it will be this year.”
Meyers brings a wealth of experience, not to mention state-of-the-art facilities and enough assistant coaches to focus on each weight class.
His club team, the Poway Regional Training Center, works year-round, not just with Poway wrestlers but with athletes throughout the county.
A graduate wrestler from the University of Minnesota and former head coach at Southern Connecticut State, Meyers learned locally from the likes of Valhalla’s Glen Takahashi before jumping on board at Poway in 2001, taking over for the coaching legend, Branstetter, in 2019.
“I’m not used to being in a position where we’ll be able to fill any holes with quality wrestlers,” said Meyers, who won’t compare this team even to the state championship groups in 1986, 1999, 2005 and 2009.
“We just have to wait and see but I’m upbeat. We will continue to teach things like good character, morals and values. We have a lot of activities to help these kids not only in wrestling, but in their lives.
“You have to look at the big picture — these kids enjoy wrestling and they’ll take that with them, whether they’re state champions or not, the rest of their lives.”
