The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The Long Beach Poly wrestling program started Moore League play with a sweep of Lakewood Thursday night in the Tim Sweeney Gymnasium.
On the girls’ side only five matches took place as Lakewood had to forfeit a few matches due to various reasons. Poly’s Riley Pestanas got the dual started with a pin against Andra Kang.
After Poly forfeited the next match, Nicole Comia shook off some pre-match nerves and won her match with a pin against Kailee Muk to give the Jackrabbits a 12-6 lead.
“I actually thought I was gonna lose,” Comia said. “I got really nervous. But, I’m glad I got it. I get nervous but I have my friends around me that can help me.”
That win led to four straight forfeits by Lakewood that extends Poly’s lead to 36-6. However, Lakewood’s Jaslynn Dado pinned Bowie Digregorio to cut the Jackrabbits’ lead to 36-12.
With a pair of pins by Ahandra Ramirez-Andrade (170) and Kristal Solis (235) and a few more Lakewood forfeits, Poly took a 60-18 win.
“We have a few kids out of the lineup,” Lakewood coach Randy Gonzalez said. “But, I think by the league finals we’ll have what we want to do.”
On the boys’ side, Poly got out to a fast start as Ahmad Rawashdeh (106), Martin Ornelas (113) and Kaimana Araquel (120) picked up victories to give the Jackrabbits an early 16-0 lead.
Lakewood’s Jacob Cuevas (126) picked up the Lancers’ first win by decision to cut Poly’s lead to 16-3. Knox Espinoza (132) went right to work with a victory by pin to extend the lead to 22-3.
However, Cameron McCormick (138) had one of Lakewood’s more impressive wins when he pinned Mason Peralta. With four more Lakewood forfeits, Poly took a commanding lead heading into the final four matches.
In one of the more thrilling matches of the night, Lakewood’s Joseph Macias (175) defeated Augustus Brown by decision.
Poly’s Alberto Olague (190), Jordan Dizon (215) and Sammy Timu (285) capped the night with pins as the Jackrabbits took the 61-12 victory. Timu’s win was impressive considering the football star is wrestling for the first time ever his sophomore year and recently finished seventh at the Downey 32 way tournament. After sitting out part of the football season due to injury, Timu is thankful to be able to compete on the mat.
“I think my experience from football helped a lot,” Timu said. “Most of my moves are based on football. I just think it’s a blessing to continue to work right off the field after a bug injury. But I’m just glad to continue to keep going.”
Lakewood takes on Cabrillo and Compton on Wednesday while Poly hosts Jordan.
Wilson
Across town the Bruins started their season with two wins against Cabrillo and Compton.
On the boys side, Wilson defeated Cabrillo 52-24 and Compton 84-0. The girls’ team defeated Cabrillo 60-12 and Compton 72-0. It was solid night for Keanu Kubo who picked up two wins in his 150-pound matches for the Bruins.
Wilson has a big contest next week when they head to Millikan on Wednesday.
