Hey Churchboyz Wrestling fans…..C’mon out and support the Churchboyz as we battle Servite tomorrow night at the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa gymnasium at 6pm (JV wrestles at 5pm). Join us for our lightshow, pumpin’ sound system, and awards and recognition for the many helping hands that make Churchboyz Wrestling possible. We are also planning to have our alumni mixer afterwards in the drama room. Come reconnect with former Churchboyz and Coach John Azevedo for some food, fun, and fellowship this Tuesday, January 12th 2010 at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, Cal.

The Churchboyz lone home dual against Santa Ana High School was everything that it was anticipated to be. There was a one of a kind light show and great live music from our Calvary Chapel pep Band. It was an opportunity for us to honor our sponsors and wrestle in our school. It was a great victory for our team but bittersweet for our seniors who competed for our school for the last time. Calvary Chapel edged Santa Ana 35-24, beating Santa Ana for the first time in three years.

In the second annual Temecula Tournament, the Churchboyz had a good showing with six placers: Gavin took 4^th, Mike took 7^th and Andrew took 5^th Morgan took 1^st. and Tigran took 6th. Half of the team took time off for their training after five counties. Morgan and Tigran wrestled up a weight class, the weight change did not seem to faze either one of them, as Tigran took 6^th in a tough weight class. Morgan M wrestling at 189 pounds took first place and won the tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler.

The Churchboyz won our first League Tournament winning five dual matches in a row at Estancia High School. This qualifies them for the CIF Dual Tournament.

In the Five Counties tournament, the most prestigious tournament in the State of California, considered a preview of the State Championships, the Churchboyz had a strong showing placing fourth in the tournament, led by lone champion Morgan McIntosh. In the most anticipated match of the finals, Morgan beat Powway’s Ian Daube , final score 9-6 . Churchboyz had three wrestlers that took third place. Freshmen Dean O’Bourke entered the tournament as the no. 12 seed and finished third place. 152 pound Tigran Adzhemian took third place. 215 pound Tank Knowles also finished in third place.

Competing in what is known as one of the toughest tournaments in the nation, Calvary Chapel had a great performance with their best finish of the tournament since 2001, finishing 6^th place out of 80 teams. Calvary was led by our lone champion sophomore Morgan McIntosh at 171lbs with 3 pins, 1 tech fall, and 2 decisions, including a convincing 7-2 victory in the finals against the number 6 ranked wrestler in the nation. Sophomore William ‘Tank’ Knowles won 2^nd place at 215lbs, dominating his weight class until loosing a close decision against California’s #1 ranked wrestler in the finals. Placing 3^rd in this tournament were two seniors, Tigrin Adzemian at 152lbs and Taylor Warden at 189lbs. Adzemian battled his way through an extremely tough weight class, showing that he is adapting well to folkstyle wrestling, this being his first year competing in this style. At 189lbs Warden won a major decision, avenging his lone loss in the tournament, to win the 3^rd place. Congratulations to these four wrestlers who earned All-American status by placing Top 3 in this prestigious national tournament.

We also had a great showing at our three lighter weight classes. At 112lbs, Gavin McDonald wrestled hard and won some tight matches, showing lots of heart including a grueling overtime victory. Two of our freshman phenoms, Dean O’Bourke and Peter Palacios also wrestled excellent tournaments, both coming within one victory of placing at one of the toughest tournaments in the nation.

In the first year of what hopes to become an annual event, the Central coast dual tournament hosts college and high school teams at the same time. Calvary Chapel had convincing victories against Tesoro and Liberty high school, and in the most anticipated dual of the tournament, Calvary Chapel won 6 matches but went down to a red hot Poway team, who brought 6 falls to the mat, confirming their victory. To dual a team like Poway was a good measuring stick helping us to see where we stand with one of the best teams in the state, and encouraging us to work harder and showing us areas where we need to improve.

Amazing dual between two great teams. The dual was split down the middle seven matches per team. The dual started at the traditional weight class 103lbs, with freshman Dean O’Bourke winning a close but convincing victory 8-3. One of the most exciting performances of the night was Gavin McDonald bumping up to wrestle at 112lbs. The lead went back and forth with Gavin scoring a reversal with 30 seconds left at the end of the match to be up by 1, but with 7 seconds left he got reversed to lose the match. It was a tough loss, but an exciting match which is what makes this rivalry so great. Freshman phenom Peter Palacios had his biggest challenge of the year so far, wrestling the 5^th ranked wrestler in the state. Peter won in overtime, when his relentless attack gained him two stalling points against his opponent. At 125lbs Temecula won by a fall. At 130lbs Josh Werdell lost by decision. At 140 Temecula won by fall. At 145lbs Temecula won by forfeit. At 152lbs Tigran Adzhemyan had a dominating performance against a state ranked wrestler. Showing a variety of different attacks,he won by technical fall. At 160 Temecula won by default. At 171lbs in perhaps one of the most anticipated matches of the night between two all-americans, Morgan McIntosh had a dominating performance 11-4 over Patrick Martinez. At 189lbs Michael Manighalam lost by close decision, which secured the team victory for Temecula. At 215lbs Taylor Wardan had the most convincing victory over the night with a pin under a minute. Tank Knowles bumped up to wrestle heavyweight and won by decision. Overall Temecula did a great job of hosting the dual and competing and we look forward to having them at our house next year.

This is the morning practice one hour before weigh-ins. Three hours before the Calvary Chapel Churchboyz commence their first competition of the 2008-2009 wrestling season. Hearts on fire, lungs gasping, muscles cramping and sweat dripping as the team drills and sprints into championship form.

New Head Coach, Arsen Aleksanyan, and Coach Jake Harman leave nothing to chance. Each team member makes weight. Although, strict dieting before vigorous training is a sacrifice, it is expected. This is wrestling. This is the easy part.

Three hours later the team will compete in one of the toughest tournaments in Orange County against 40 other highly trained and disciplined athletes at the El Dorado Invitational. Exactly thirty hours later, four Churchboyz are champions and one is the tournament upper weight MVP. Others place 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th. The Churchboyz team places 2nd out of 40 teams, behind perennial power house Poway High School.

The coaches see room for improvement, but like the potential they see. This will be a special season. The team is loaded with talent and the new team members have proven that not only can they survive the rigorous workouts, but are willing to go to the next level. The team looks ready.

Two weeks prior to their first competition the team members joined in fellowship for bible studies, prayer and goal setting at the team retreat center. Wrestling not only builds stamina, it builds character through practice, prayer and perseverance.

Please support and cheer for the team. You can find forthcoming scheduled events, roster and tournament placing information at the Churchboyz Wrestling website at ChurchboyzWrestling.com. Go Churchboyz!

Freshman Phenoms Morgan McIntosh and William “Tank” Knowles stunned onlookers as they displayed unmatched intensity and maturity for such young wrestlers.   McIntosh battled past two very tough returning state qualifiers in the quarterfinals and semifinals before demolishing his final opponent—McIntosh pinned him in the third period after accumulating a 13 point lead—to take home the Championship at 160 lbs.  Tank, on the other hand, pinned his first four opponents before grinding out a hard fought and well deserved victory versus his El Dorado opponent.  In one of the most exciting matches of the two day tournament, Tank lost a very close match to his Poway opponent in the finals, placing him second overall.

Although he lost early, Senior Bryce Wilson led by example as he battled back all the way through the consolation bracket to the finals, ending up with a fourth place finish at 171 lbs.  Junior Taylor Warden showed vast improvement and displayed his limitless potential, finishing in sixth place at 189 lbs.  Fellow Junior Joey Normandeau managed to win three matches in the 125 lbs consolation bracket after being upset early in the tournament.  However, his final loss put him just out of contention for a medal.

Click here to see more photos from the El Dorado Tournament