Sailors’ George finishes third, advances to Masters

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Newport Harbor High senior 140-pounder Josh George earned third place at the CIF Southern Section Coastal Divisional tournament Saturday at Marina High.

He improved to 40-4 and will make his third straight trip to the CIF Masters Meet, which begins Friday at Carter High in Rialto. George finished sixth as a sophomore and fourth last year.

He nearly reached the final, but lost, 5-4, to Danny Diaz of John Glenn High in a semifinal.

After losing to Diaz, George then won two matches to take third. George was 4-1 in the tournament. He collected a pin just before the final buzzer, in 5 minutes, 59 seconds, in the third-place semifinal.

He then scored a 10-6 victory over South Hill’s Eddie Franco in the third-place match.

Edgar Guadarrama, the Sailors’ senior in the 160-pound division, went 3-2 in the tournament.

Next week at Carter High, George hopes to place in the top nine to advance to the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield.

— From staff reports