HIGH SCHOOLS:

Newport Harbor High’s Josh George is still alive — even if it didn’t turn out the way he wanted it to Saturday.

The senior is the lone Newport-Mesa-District wrestler advancing to the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Carter High in Rialto Friday. George will be making his third straight trip to the event after placing third at the Southern Section Coastal Divisional individual tournament at Marina High Saturday.

“He was bummed when he left,” Newport Harbor Coach Dominic Bulone said after George barely missed the finals by losing, 5-4, to senior Daniel Diaz of John Glenn of Norwalk in the semifinals. “But he doesn’t pout when he loses. He’s just going to get back to work.”

George (40-4) finished 4-1 during the two-day divisional, helping him earn one of the five berths to the Masters Meet, the precursor to the CIF State Championships, where George has never been.

His three teammates weren’t as fortunate, especially 160-pound senior Edgar Guadarrama in advancing to Masters.

Guadarrama went 3-2, fighting his way through the consolation rounds by winning three consecutive matches. He was two matches away from placing when he was pinned by Ryan McLaurin of West Covina.

George will open Masters against freshman Justin Irribarren of Santa Fe. The two missed each other in mid-December at the John Glenn tournament in which George won the 140-pound title and Irribarren competed at 145 pounds. If George wins, he’ll most likely face RJ Pilkington of El Dorado in the next round. Pilkington beat George, 9-8, at the prestigious Five Counties Invitational at Fountain Valley last month.

“All he has to do is win three times on the first day to get to the second day,” Bulone said of the two-day Masters event. “I’m very optimistic he can make it to state.”

All George needs to do is place in the top nine to get his ticket to Bakersfield. Bulone can’t wait to go back, as George would be his second straight wrestler to qualify for state.

HEREDIA WANTS MORE

Everything the Estancia boys’ basketball team accomplished after Friday was just gravy to Coach Agustin Heredia.

In his first year at his alma mater, he brought back respect by turning around a program coming off a 2-24 overall season and 0-9 in the Orange Coast League.

Estancia’s year ended Friday night in a 77-19 loss at top-seeded Renaissance Academy of La Cañada in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs. But the Eagles raised their level of play under Heredia. They finished 14-14, 5-4 for second place in league, earning them a first-round home game, and they beat Santa Fe, 73-64, to advance to the second round for the first time in three years.

Now there’s just one more thing Heredia wants.

“The only thing remaining is me teaching here at Estancia,” said the 1990 graduate, who as a senior led the Eagles to the Division 3-AA title in 1989-90. “I have a great job at TeWinkle [Middle School] and I love it there. Built a new gym there, love the staff over there. What I envision is being here [at Estancia] full-time.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].