LJ wrestling: Keegan cooks

Keegan Leonard, 140-pound
star for La Jolla, waits in line
outside the Holtville High
gym for his next bout
Sat. in the consolation
bracket.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Junior Keegan Leonard, after losing his initial match, won three matches in a row to reach the quarterfinals of the Consolation Bracket in the prestigious Holtville Rotary Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in Imperial Valley.

That means that the Viking 140-pounder came within a step of reaching the bout that would have given him a chance to place in the top four of his weight division in the 463-wrestler tourney, a major tournament each year.

Leonard, with fair features and considerable muscle development in his third year of wrestling for La Jolla, placed sixth at 134 pounds in last year's CIF Division 4 finals.

In his weight class at Holtville over the weekend, there were 40 entrants at 140 pounds.

After receiving a bye in the first round Friday, Keegan lost a 12-1 decision ("major" if by eight points or more) to Richard Garcia of the host school, Holtville High.

Dropping into the consolation bracket, Leonard then went on a tear, winning a 17-3 major decision over Daniel Demara of Central Union (El Centro). He next pinned Bennett Myers of Mission Hills in 3:30. Finally, he overcame Stryder Prather of El Cajon Valley, 8-6, in consolation round five.

A medical forfeit in the next round catapulted the Viking star into the consolation seventh round, where he lost to Ricardo Castillo of Bonita Vista, 12-0.

That didn't diminish Leonard's achievement at all. The annual Holtville tournament is rated a seven-point tournament when wrestlers are assessed at season's end to determine seeding for the CIF brackets. Seven points is one of the highest rankings a tournament can receive.

More telling of the wrestler's ability, at the coaches' seeding meeting just prior to the opening of tournament bouts Friday afternoon, Viking head coach Kellen Delaney put up Leonard's name as a possible top seed. Keegan wasn't included in the final eight seedings used to draw up competition brackets. But the fact his name could even be mentioned at that level shows how high he has risen in the wrestling world.

The first through eighth seedings entitle those athletes to favorable matchups to begin the tournament, even byes to pass to the next round if numbers make that possible. Without the protection of the seeding (only Viking 197-pounder Joshua Jasso received a seeding, landing eighth in his class), Leonard was thrown open to the vagaries of the computer, which pitted him against Garcia, another capable wrestler competing on his home mat. He lost that match by a wide margin.

Keegan was one of 10 Viking wrestlers who made the 250-mile round-trip trek to the Imperial Valley for the tourney. Only varsity wrestlers are entitled to participate.