Alemany's Espinosa falls in Coastal wrestling final
By John Wareham, Special to the Daily News
Updated: 02/22/2009 01:42:09 AM PST
Anthony Espinosa of Alemany of Mission Hills, the No. 2 seed at 189 pounds, met the top seed, Nikolai Crouch of
"(Before the match) I was a little scared because he was pinning all the other guys," said Espinosa, who finished the highest of all the Warriors' wrestlers in the two-day event. "But then I just started listening to a song about not being afraid, which got me going."
Espinosa was the only Warrior to wrestle in the finals and had a 7-1 lead until Crouch came back to tie the score at 7-7 in the third period.
"I was beating him 1-7 and then I don't what happened," Espinosa said. "A loss is a loss. I really wanted the CIF ring though - that's what I was trying for."
But like the classic boxing matches, there could be an immediate rematch, with Espinosa and Crouch possibly meeting at the Masters tournament next week in Temecula.
"Now I know what he does, so I know what to expect," Espinosa said.
Alemany had several wrestlers finish in the top five in order to qualify for next weekend's competition.
Gary Espinosa placed third at 130 pounds. He was the No.2 seed, but was upset in his first match 24-8 by
Diego Rabanal (145) placed sixth, as did heavyweight Sergio Figueroa, who lost 2-1 to an opponent 70 pounds heavier…
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