Lakeside rallies to win program's first section title

The scoreboard indicated Victor Valley was in command of the match. Lakeside boys wrestling coach Steve Glassey wasn’t worried, however.

Lakeside faced a 31-9 deficit with six bouts remaining in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 4 dual-meet championship match Wednesday in Victorville, but the strongest part of the Lancers’ lineup had not yet wrestled.

Lakeside won those final six matches and rallied for a 40-31 victory over Victor Valley to capture the program’s first section title and just the fourth section team championship in the school’s 17year history.

The three previous section championships at Lakeside came in boys soccer (2012), girls basketball (2019) and softball (2021).

This year’s dual-meet championship matches were predetermined to begin at 152 pounds. That favored Victor Valley, which is strongest in the upper weights. And the Jackrabbits took advantage, winning six of the first eight bouts to take that 31-9 advantage following the match at 106 pounds.

Some wrestling coaches prefer to start dual-meet matches with their strongest wrestlers, so their team can establish an early lead and put some pressure on the opponent. Other coaches, however, would rather close out a match with their strongest wrestlers. Glassey definitely favors the latter scenario.

“We knew our wheelhouse was coming up. I felt confident when Victor Valley only had 31 points at that stage of the match,” Glassey said. “We have a strong group of wrestlers there (at the lower and middle weights). All they had to do was go out an take care of business like they usually do.”

Those final six did that. Benjamin Ruiz (113 pounds), Chase Carrasco (120), Ryan Lobato (126) and Axel Esparza (132) pinned their opponents in succession, and that 22-point deficit became a two-point lead for the Lancers. Justin Wells scored a victory by major decision at 138 pounds, and Isaiah Rea capped the closing run with a victory by decision at 145 pounds to clinch the championship for Lakeside.

“In wrestling, when you get on a roll like that, the momentum can be really hard to stop,” Glassey said. “I think we knocked the wind out of them a bit.”

Lakeside’s other victories in the match came from Isaac Rea (decision at 152 pounds) and Mana Ohi (pinfall at 220 pounds).

This is Glassey’s third year at Lakeside, and he has quickly transformed the Lancers into a championship-level program. Glassey previously coached at Santiago and led that program to two section titles (individual tournament) and one Masters team championship.

“I would say the trajectory is quite similar, but I think we’re even further ahead of schedule here at Lakeside,” Glassey said. “There is no substitute for hard work, and nobody, in my opinion, works harder than us. We’re only going to get better. The future is very bright.”