Tars’ Beaudette seizes title

COSTA MESA — By the time he finished off the wrestler to whom he gave a cut near his left eye, Newport Harbor High heavyweight Brian Beaudette knew who he wanted a piece of next.

That wrestler grappled with someone else, two mats away, trying to reach the finals of the 27th annual New Year Classic at Estancia High Saturday.

Beaudette qualified, so as soon as he let go of his headgear, he moved toward his potential opponent. He got a close look at El Toro’s Matt Murphy.

“I want a rematch pretty bad,” said Beaudette, eyeing the semifinal match between Esperanza’s Casey Kiesling and Murphy, the latter wrestler beat him at a tournament in early December. “I’m wrestling the Esperanza guy on Thursday.”

That date changed with Kiesling winning. Like an unexpected cancellation, the timing affected Beaudette in the championship.

Beaudette and Kiesling held each other during regulation, rather than wrestle, and ran when they could, taking a second overtime to decide the champ.

Beaudette finally escaped during the first of two 30-second extra-time sessions, putting an end to a lackluster match by winning, 2-1, to give the Sailors four wrestlers who placed in the top eight. The team feat was Newport Harbor’s first under Dominic Bulone’s eight years as coach.

Impressed by 135-pounder Josh George’s third-place showing, followed by the success of Bruce Hartshorn (seventh, 189) and Bryan Bennett (fourth, 215) at the competitive two-day tournament, Bulone could care less if the day’s final match didn’t live up to expectations.

Bulone smiled and laughed that the three points recorded in the match came on escapes. He understood Beaudette’s approach in the 30-plus team tournament, in which Newport Harbor finished 12th.

Irvine won with 233 points, finishing ahead of Santa Ana (226.5) and Calvary Chapel (213.5).

“It was a little preview,” he said, referring to Beaudette and Kiesling not showcasing everything, as the two will get together again Thursday in a Sunset League dual meet. “Big guys don’t shoot, because when the guy lands on them, it [doesn’t] feel so good.”

What does feel good is having a referee lift your arm at the end, and that’s all that matters to Beaudette.

Beaudette (16-4) pinned his previous three opponents in the tournament, giving him a dozen for the season. One of those came against Santa Ana’s Josh Ortega, ranked second in the the Orange County Wrestling Coaches Assn. Beaudette couldn’t afford to not wrestle Ortega in the semifinals.

Appearing to have the upper hand, Ortega kept Beaudette at bay. Then, after getting struck by Beaudette, blood started coming out above Ortega’s eye, halting action for almost five minutes in the second period. The break paid off for Beaudette, even though a bandaged-up Ortega briefly put him on his back to start the third.

A concerned Bulone looked on as his wrestler trailed, 4-1. That’s until Beaudette pulled through and put Ortega on his back, recording a fall 25 seconds into the period.

“I got some rest, talked to my coach about what I needed to work on,” said Beaudette of how he utilized the break. “I just rolled him over … I thought it was over.”

It was time for Beaudette to look forward to the final, something he couldn’t fathom doing last season. He wasn’t ready to wrestle then. The football season carried into December, when he helped Newport Harbor win the CIF Southern Section Division VI championship.

Winning the heavyweight title at the New Year Classic doesn’t compare to a section football title ring.

But the medal dangling off his neck does mean something to the lineman.

“I’ve never won a tournament like this before,” Beaudette, who earned All-Newport-Mesa honors as a senior, said. “This is what I’ve wanted all year. Now [making the] CIF [Southern Section individual meet], hopefully Masters, and maybe, I don’t know, [state].

“But there are still a couple of more tournaments.”

Making for more of opportunities in Beaudette’s senior year to seek revenge.

Estancia 189-pounder Efren Alvarez finished fourth.