Prep wrestling: Sailors’ Lim captures second

COSTA MESA - Newport Harbor High senior wrestler Bruce Lim came

excruciatingly close to the 119-pound championship, but had to settle for

second place at the 37-school Estancia Tournament, completed Saturday at

the Eagles’ gym.

Lim, who earned a 15-3 win over an opponent from Katella in the

semifinals, battled Centennial of Corona’s Matt Schuum valiantly into

overtime, before falling, 10-8, in the title match.

Estancia senior Nathan Thaler finished third at 215 pounds, while sophomore teammate Victor Carmona was fourth at 125.

But Lim, who went 4-1 in the tournament to improve to 17-2, was the

only finalist. He built a 5-0 lead with a takedown and near-fall in the

first period, but Schumm outscored him, 6-1, in the second to forge a

deadlock. Both scored twice in the third period, before Schuum earned the

decisive takedown less than a minute into the first two-minute overtime

period, according to Newport Coach Dominic Bulone.

“It was a heartbreaker,” Bulone said.

Corona del Mar senior 160-pounder Blake Hacker defaulted his matches

Saturday because of a swollen knee, an existing injury he aggravated

Friday while earning a berth in the semifinals.

“If it would’ve been for CIF,” CdM Coach Gary Almquist said, “we

would’ve taped his legs together for him to wrestle. But, (Hacker) is a

tough kid. He’ll rebound. We want to get him in the state tournament.”

After sitting out the first round with a bye on Friday, Hacker waited

nearly seven hours before wrestling his first match. He defeated Ryan

Whelan of Huntington Beach, 5-1, but Hacker injured his knee.

Hacker had built an 18-1 record before defaulting Saturday.

The Estancia tournament featured 335 wrestlers, competing on six mats.

Centennial won the team title, while Payson of Arizona, last year’s

champion, finished second. El Dorado was third.

OCC tops Chargers

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College men’s basketball team led by as

many as 22 points, but Orange Empire Conference visitor Cypress cut the

lead to three in the second half, before the Pirates claimed an 88-78

triumph Saturday night.

Cypress, trailing at halftime, 44-26, hit 19 of 41 second-half

field-goal attempts, while OCC was connecting on just 7 of 18, to make

things more interesting than the Pirates would have liked.

OCC got 17 points from Nick Burwell and Ryan Webster, each of whom

sank a trio of three-pointers.

Ryan Earl added 16 points and Rich Oliver 10 for the winners, who

improved to 11-6, 2-0 in conference. Oliver also collected a game-high 11

rebounds. Cypress fell to 7-11, 0-2.

VU men toppled

FRESNO - Host Fresno Pacific had eight of its 11 three-pointers by

halftime, then survived a mild Vanguard comeback to claim a 74-62 men’s

basketball victory in Golden State Athletic Conference action Saturday

night.

Uly Sanchez sank 6 of 7 from three-point range to lead the Sunbirds

(5-10, 1-2 in conference) with 18 points.

Ian Boys (16), Dennis Keane (13) and Kemmy Burgess (10) scored in

double figures for the Lions (4-10, 0-3), who hit just 2 of 9 from

three-point range. Keane led VU with six rebounds.

OCC women fall

COSTA MESA - Orange Coast College was within two points at halftime,

but visiting Cypress pulled away for a 48-37 Orange Empire Conference

women’s basketball victory Saturday night.

Cypress (7-11, 1-1 in conference) held the Pirates (10-9, 0-2) to 13 second-half points, as OCC hit just 5 of 28 field-goal attempts (17.9%)

after intermission.

Newport Harbor High product Kristen Urban paced the hosts with 13

points, including a pair of three-pointers and Nadia Mojica had a

team-high 10 rebounds for OCC.

Lauren Shinto led the Chargers with 14 points.

Lion women lose

FRESNO - Visiting Vanguard University was handled, 77-55, by Fresno

Pacific in a Golden State Athletic Conference women’s basketball game

Saturday night.

Vanguard (9-4, 1-2 in conference) trailed only 33-28 at halftime, but

the Sunbirds (10-6, 1-2) pulled away from there, behind Teresa Kamps, who

had 14 points, nine rebounds, hit 4 of 5 from the field and 6 of 7 from

the line.

Kelly Boeke paced Vanguard with 12 points, while Erin Edmiston had a

double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

El Toro beats CdM

CORONA DEL MAR - The Corona del Mar High girls basketball team

completed a forgettable preleague campaign Saturday with a 48-35

nonleague loss to visiting El Toro.

Kristin McCoy (12 points) and Andrea Gruber (11) paced the Sea Kings,

who take a 5-10 record into Tuesday’s Pacific Coast League opener at

Laguna Beach.

El Toro (9-3) was led by Carrie Twaddell, who had 16 points and 21 rebounds.