Feeley feeling good

Rick Devereux

Brian Feeley has improved incrementally as Corona del Mar High’s

130-pound varsity wrestler, but his soothsaying abilities are still

far from Nostradamus-esque.

He predicted he would finish second in the Troy Invitational last

week and ended up taking third. And he predicted he would win the San

Clemente Invitational Saturday, where he ended up second.

“He is right where he needs to be [in terms of progression],”

Coach Gary Almquist said. “He wrestled a very good match in the

final, but his opponent was real tough.”

Feeley had a 2-0 lead in the third period, but his San Clemente

opponent earned a two-point reversal and a three-point near-fall for

the 5-2 decision.

“I have never won a tournament in my lifetime,” the senior said.

“There is only one more tournament left [CIF Southern Section

individual championships] and I had a goal before the season started

that I was going to win a tournament. I am going to win CIF.”

Feeley was one of five CdM wrestlers to finish in the top four of

his weight class.

Joining him were Issac Inouye (140-pounds) and Robbie Richey

(275), who each earned third place, as well as Jon Dean (152) and

Andrew Keligian (215), who each placed fourth.

Newport Harbor’s Eddie Charcas (119) and Jon Szecesei (275) placed

third, also.

Charcas finished the tournament 4-1 with four pins. Szecesei was

3-2 with two wins by pin.

“Charcas is a tough kid who does his moves very well,” Coach

Dominic Bulone said. “I am extremely pleased that he had four pins in

five matches.”

Charcas pinned his Orange Lutheran opponent in the second period

to earn third place.

“I was preparing all week for tough matches,” Charcas said. “I’m

very proud of how I wrestled [in the tournament].”

Charcas’ lone loss was a decision in the second round of the

16-man bracket.

Szecesei’s rise to prominence has been somewhat surprising for the

Sailors because this is the first year the senior has wrestled, and

yet he pinned two of his opponents.

“I just go out for every match and try my hardest,” he said. “It’s

fun to beat up on people.”

Inouye defeated his Irvine opponent, 6-0, in the third-place

match.

“I knew I was going to win most likely by points because I don’t

pin a lot of guys,” the senior said. Richey pinned two opponents but

lost to the eventual second-place wrestler from San Clemente in the

semifinals. His would-be opponent in the third-place match had

already wrestled more than the maximum five matches, giving Richey

the medal.

Keligian rebounded from a first-round loss to pin his next three

opponents. He held a 4-0 advantage over his Palo Verde opponent in

the third period of the third-place match. But his opponent performed

a two-point reversal, was awarded one point when Keligian was called

for stalling and earned a two-point near fall as time expired for the

5-4 decision.

Dean, the top seed in the 152-pound weight class, dismantled his

first opponent by virtue of a 15-0 technical decision. He pinned his

second foe in the second period, but his Long Beach Poly adversary in

the semifinals attacked Dean’s bandaged left arm. Dean battled

through the pain but lost, 6-4. He went to the hospital to have

X-rays taken.