CHULA VISTA — Imperial High School’s Noah Larios received a birthday present he’ll always remember.
He gave it to himself.
On 17th anniversary of his birth, Larios captured his first San Diego Masters title, pinning Poway’s undersized Lewis Fofanah in 2 minutes, 38 seconds to win the 285-pound title Saturday afternoon semifinal at Olympian High School.
“I got the best present in the world; I love it,” said Larios, a junior currently ranked No. 5 in the state after taking seventh last year in Bakersfield. “Finally, I won Masters. My freshman year, I was third, last year second and now this. It shows how much I progressed.”
Larios (24-3) came into the finals match with a 76-pound weight advantage over Fofanah (16-10), who was only 194 pounds. This past summer Larios won the 16-and-under heavyweight title at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
He used that weight advantage to build up a 7-0 advantage before scoring the second-period fall.
“Every match it’s go to the head first and on from there,” he said. “I did the same with him, except it seemed a bit easier with his size.”
Noah Larios (Noah Larios)
Still, Poway didn’t have a bad tournament. The Titans advanced all 14 wrestlers into the final, winning 10 of them. And their team score of 402.5 was well ahead of second-place Granite Hills, which finished with 240.5.
One of the Titans’ most satisfying wins came at 132 pounds, when Jack Malinconico avenged his 7-6 loss to Central Union’s Gabriel Pacheco at last week’s Division 2 Final with a 9-8 decision this week on a last-minute takedown.
“Not to make excuses for last week, but he beat me no doubt,” said Malinconico (26-3), a junior ranked No 7 in the state. “But I wasn’t feeling my best, but I won’t chalk it (up) to that.”
Pacheco falls to 31-4 on the season.
Another highlight for Poway came at 157, where No. 5 Bailey Holman (26-5) handed Granite Hills’ seventh-ranked Aiden Chur (27-1) his first loss of the season. Holman built up a commanding 15-4 lead in the second period when Chur had to default out because of a knee injury.
“It feels great. I’m starting to wrestle free. I’m getting some confidence back,” said the junior, who was equally proud of talking about his improvement in the classroom as well as on the mat. “I took some losses earlier in the seaso,n which were bothering me. I went 2-2 at Doc Buchanan. But I’m back.”
The Titans ended the finals with a pair of decisions, five tech falls, one major decision. and one pin.
The lone fall came from Carlos Valdiviezo (26-7) at 150. Scoring tech falls were Julius Villamil (113), Matty Orbeta (138), Mason Carnrite (165), Nation’s No. 1 Mario Carini (175) and Dominic Dotson (190). Rene Cordero (120) had the 9-0 major decision and Mick Moylan added the 4-1 decision at 215.
One of the featured matches of the day was the opener in the “Battle of the Freshman” at 106.
Granite Hills’ Cash McClurg impressively opened what could be a four-year battle with Poway’s Wyatt Carnrite. McClurg took control early with a first period tackdown and near fall. He extended the lead to 11-0 with another nearfall. A third-period escape gave him a 12-0 victory.
“There was a lot of talk from their side about who was the best, so I had to prove a point,” said McClurg (32-5), currently ranked ninth in California. “I think I could have done better.”
Granite Hills’ Ames-Michael Hoevker celebrates after defeating Poway’s Diego Valdiviezo during the Masters boys wrestling meet Feb. 21, 2026 in Chula Vista, Calif. (Photo by Denis Poroy)
McClurg’s teammate Ames-Michael Hoevker was another spoiler for Poway. After losing to the currently injured Arseni Kikiniou in the finals, Hoevker got a chance to make up, beating Kikiniou’s replacement No. 4-ranked Diego Valdiviezo (27-8), 5-2
“It was a solid match,” said Hoevker (33-5). “I’ve overcome a lot this year. I had a knee injury and some mental battles expecting so much after getting sixth at State.”
After taking eighth in Bakersfield last year, Brawley’s Ricardo Ortiz (23-1) continued a great senior season, winning the 126-pound title with a 10-4 decision over Poway’s Aaron Klein
“I feel good about myself going into state,” said Ortiz. “I’m confident, especially on my feet. I love to take shots.”
Besides the usual allotment of four advancing per weight from San Diego Section, it was announced that will be getting three additional spots at 113, 138 and 144.