Orange County Roundup : Five Counties Wrestling Meet Will Open Today

Four defending state champions are among the entries from 34 high schools scheduled to compete in the Five Counties wrestling tournament beginning at 3 p.m. today at Fountain Valley High School.

Two-time state champion Mark Gerardi of Valhalla highlights the field in the 157-pound division. Other state champions include Todd Tomazic (168 pounds) of El Dorado, Lyndon Campbell (136 pounds) of Santa Fe and John Grubbs (107 pounds) of El Camino.

Gerardi “is the best wrestler in the tournament and one of the top wrestlers in the nation,” said Fountain Valley wrestling Coach John Rosales, who organized the tournament.

Campbell has compiled a 20-0 record with 19 of his victories by pins. He has a 3.96 grade-point average and is being recruited by 30 colleges, including Penn State, Notre Dame and Arizona State.

Other top wrestlers entered include Charles Irick (114 pounds) of Victor Valley; Kyle Iwanaga (108 pounds) of El Dorado; Lupe Jimenez (115 pounds) of Keppel in Alhambra; Tom Henderson (157 pounds) of Victor Valley; Ray Leonard (122 pounds) of Victor Valley; Aaron Cantrall (194 pounds) of Vacaville and Carlos Martinez (147 pounds) of Calexico.

The six Orange County teams participating are Canyon, Capistrano Valley, Edison, El Dorado, Fountain Valley and Loara. Chapparal High of Las Vegas will be the only out-of-state entry. Chapparal features Nevada champion Charlie Larson (126 pounds) and runner-up Robbie Johnson (168 pounds).

Defending tournament champion Poway, Clovis and Clovis West of Fresno, Santa Fe, Victor Valley, Canyon, El Dorado and Loara are among the favorites. Loara is led by brothers Brett and Bryon Schultz, transfers from Illinois. Brett is 20-0 at 122 pounds and Bryon is 15-0 at 129 pounds.

The tournament is scheduled to continue Saturday at 11 a.m. The semifinal round is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. with the finals at 7 p.m.

The Israeli men’s national volleyball team will play USC Saturday night at 7:30 in an exhibition match at Golden West College.

USC lost to Pepperdine in the NCAA final last season and is the top-ranked team in the nation this season.

The Israeli team has already defeated third-ranked UCLA and sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara on this tour.

Wide receiver Bret Mersola, the national community college record holder for receptions in a season, and three other Saddleback College players have signed national letters of intent with four-year schools.

Mersola (5-foot 9-inch, 180 pounds), who caught 91 passes for 1,176 yards and 9 touchdowns in 1986, signed with Rutgers. Wide receiver Craig Ostrander (5-10, 170) signed with Eastern Michigan, offensive tackle Greg Heneghan (6-4, 245) signed with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and defensive end Forrest Shepard (6-4, 235) signed with Idaho State.

Gary Lucas of the Angels, Remi Alvarez and Marvin Gross will be inducted into the Chapman College Hall of Fame during a banquet at the Anaheim Marriott Wednesday.

Lucas pitched at Chapman from 1974 to 1976. He played for the San Diego Padres from 1980 until 1984, when he was traded to the Montreal Expos. He has been with the Angels since 1985 and pitched in the 1986 American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Alvarez, an assistant principal at Santa Ana Valley High School, earned four letters each in basketball, baseball and cross-country and one in track at Chapman in the late 1950s. His career batting average at Chapman was .383, including a .428 mark in 1959. Alvarez was the most valuable player of the Panthers’ 1955-56 basketball team, and was the No. 2 runner on the cross-country team in his sophomore, junior and senior years.

Gross, chairman of social work services at Atascadero State Hospital, set Chapman records in the mile and half-mile in 1958 when he was captain of the Panthers’ track and cross-country teams.

Tennis instructor, commentator and author Vic Braden will be the keynote speaker at the induction ceremonies.

Braden’s speech, “Bridging the Gap Between Science and Sports,” will be related to the research being done at the Coto Research Center, which he co-founded.

Braden, 57, served as assistant director of the Jack Kramer World Championship Tennis Tour and was head pro of the Kramer Tennis Camp from 1961 to 1969. Since 1970, he has served as director of the seven Vic Braden Tennis Colleges, located in Coto de Caza, West Germany and Spain.

Around the Area Harolene Walters of El Toro has qualified for the U.S. Olympic marathon trials to be at Pittsburgh in May, 1988. Walters, 44, was the top woman finisher in the Phoenix marathon last Saturday in 2 hours 47 minutes 33 seconds, beating the second-place finisher by almost four minutes. Women with marathon times under 2:50 qualify for the trials. . . . The fourth Valencia High School baseball card show will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Valencia gym. Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser and Channel 11 sportscaster and former Dodger Rick Monday will sign autographs from 10 to 11 a.m. and Angel outfielder Brian Downing and free-agent catcher Bob Boone will sign autographs from noon to 1 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children.