For tall quest, it’s Almquist

Rick Devereux

Hard work will eventually pay off. That is the mantra of Corona del

Mar High wrestling coach Gary Almquist.

And it doesn’t necessarily apply to wins for the program, but to

his own hard work in guiding the CdM wrestling program for the past

nine years.

When Almquist started, the wrestling program did not have many

participants, but his hard work has resulted in boom a swelling of

kids on the mat for the Sea Kings.

“God has been good to me,” Almquist said. “We have close to 55

guys wrestling. We didn’t have 30 at the end of last year and it was

23 the year before that. As you establish yourself in the community

things tip over, things matriculate out, things network out. You get

a brother [on the team] because his older brother likes it. You get

friends because their friends like it.”

The Sea Kings have a nice mixture of seniors and freshman,

veterans and rookies, leaders and followers.

“We’ve got nine seniors,” Almquist said. “They have a

competitiveness that the younger guys see.”

Seniors Taylor Alston (119-pound weight class), Brian Feeley

(130), Matt Loeb (135), Issac Inouye (140), Dean Mahemoni (145), Jon

Dean (152), Andrew Keligian (215) and Robbie Richey (heavyweight)

have Almquist relishing the prospects for this year, while juniors

Eston Greub (125) and Ian Hogan (160) as well as freshmen Scott

Feeley (103), Taylor Fanning (112) and Jake Schwartz (171) provided a

rosy outlook for the future.

The squad is currently 3-11 and 0-2 in the Pacific Coast League,

but the record is deceiving. Almquist split the team in half and had

wrestlers miss some duel meets in order to participate in

tournaments.

Individually, the Sea Kings have dominated tournaments.

Alston (119) won the district championship, placed second at the

Magnolia 10-way and seventh at the Estancia tournament.

“When he was a freshman, he couldn’t fight his way out of a wet

paper bag,” Almquist said of the senior co-captain. “Now he is a

technician on the mat. It’s fun to watch him give a clinic when he

dismantles his opponent.”

Alston is one of eight returning wrestlers who finished third or

better in their respective weight classes in the Pacific Coast League

last season.

Dean (152) was second in 140 last year in the league. This year in

the 152 weight class, the senior was crowned District champion,

finished third in the Troy invitational and fifth in the Estancia

tournament.

“Dean is a stud,” Almquist said. “He’s very intelligent and very

gifted. He could learn a move in 45 minutes when it would take other

guys two weeks.”

Another four-year wrestler is heavyweight Richey. Richey won all

nine matches he wrestled en route to claiming the Magnolia 10-way

championship. He also claimed the district championship and was

seventh at the Estancia tournament. He was third in the league as a

junior.

Loeb (135) earned fourth in the Troy invitational and won the

Magnolia 10-way. He also placed third in league last year in 135.

Kaligian (215) finished sixth in CIF Southern Section Inland

Division last year. His season has been slowed because of an injury

he suffered while playing offensive guard for the CdM football team,

but Kaligian is expected to compete for the league title in 215s.

Mahemoni was third in the league last year in the 152-pound weight class, but the senior moved to 145 this year. He was a district

champion in 145 in December.

Also changing weight class is Inouye, who was third in the league

in 135. He moved up to 140 his senior year.

The problem with putting Inouye at 130 is that senior Brian

Feeley, who was third in league and sixth in CIF last year in that

weight class, currently has a strangle hold on the varsity spot.

“Brian has a lot of tenacity,” Almquist said. “He has a singular

focus [on pinning his opponent]. That can get him into trouble in

matches at times.”

Scott Feeley, Brian’s younger brother, is the varsity 103

wrestler. The freshman has benefited from having a senior sibling on

the team.

“When you have an older brother, even if you don’t want to

wrestle, you know you are going to wrestle because they will force

you to,” Almquist said. “Scott has a killer instinct on the mat, and

I think he gets it from hanging around his brother.”

Other freshmen on the varsity squad are Taylor Fanning (112) and

Jake Schwartz (171). Both have already made an impact.

Schwartz also produced victories from the start. Juniors Eston

Greub (125) and Ian Hogan (160) round out the varsity squad. There is

no one currently at the 189-weight class.

Almquist’s joy for wrestling and the wrestlers in his program is

readily apparent to anyone who meets him.

“This team is a fun group to be around,” he said. “They feel like

my sons. I’ve got a lovely wife and two girls at home, but these are

my boys in the wrestling room.”