East County high school wrestling programs turned in one of the region's strongest performances in years at the CIF San Diego Section divisional tournaments last weekend, with Granite Hills capturing the Division I team championship and East County collectively qualifying 50 wrestlers for the San Diego Masters state-qualifying tournament.

Granite Hills won the Division I title at Del Norte High School with 356.5 points — well ahead of runner-up Rancho Bernardo's 239 — and qualified all 14 weight classes for the Masters. Nine Eagles claimed individual division championships: Cash McClurg (106 pounds), Emilio Escobar (120), Uriah Hawkins (132), Ames-Michael Hoevker (144), David Daniels (150), Aiden Chur (157), Jovanni Mansour (190), Steven Gomez (215) and Travin Shahbaz (285).

"Winning CIF was an incredible experience for our program," said head coach Jesse Sheard. "Watching these young men invest countless hours of hard work, dedication and commitment, then seeing it all pay off has been truly rewarding. We preach having Granite grit, and that really showed last weekend."

Valhalla finished runner-up at the Division III tournament, falling 17 points behind champion La Costa Canyon. The Norsemen's individual champions were Ivan Rivers (126), Noor Al Saedi (132) and Marcelino Nona (175), and the team qualified 10 wrestlers for the Masters. Monte Vista sent seven qualifiers from the Division III bracket. Mountain Empire made history at the Division IV tournament with a record seven Masters qualifiers and a runner-up team finish — capping a strong showing for smaller East County programs.

Also competing at Division I: Helix (six Masters qualifiers), Grossmont (three Masters qualifiers) and Steele Canyon (one Masters qualifier).

The San Diego Masters state-qualifying tournament was scheduled for Feb. 20-21 at Olympian High School for boys and Eastlake High School for girls. The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the CIF State Championships, set for Feb. 26-28 in Bakersfield.