Better late than never

The Sultana wrestling team was crowned the CIF-Southern Section Individual Northern Division team champions on Wednesday.

The Sultans left the two-day tournament when it ended Saturday in second place, finishing six points behind original champion Northview, 262-256.

But a recalculation of the team scoring found that Sultana had actually won the tournament 257-254. The team received the winning plaque on Wednesday.

In between posing for photos with the just-acquired plaque and a rousing game of dodgeball to begin practice on Wednesday night, 145-pound senior Cody Bollinger kept things in perspective.

“If that’s your main goal, that’s cool and all,” said Bollinger about not getting to celebrate the title on Saturday night. “But we’ve got more important things to worry about.”

Sultana, which also took home a CIF Individual title in 2006, won the tournament with a team-record 10 placers, nine masters qualifiers and five individual champions.

Humphrey discovered the scoring mistake while checking the results on tmi.150m.com — which is contracted by CIF to run the tournaments — on Sunday morning.

What first alarmed him was that 112-pounder Rod Keaster was listed on the site as losing 8-0 despite actually losing 1-0. The wrong score gave Northview an extra point. Humphrey also found discrepancies in some other matches in which Northview decisions turned into eight-point major decisions, including a 3-1 loss for Apple Valley’s Michael Esparza that was reported on the site as 9-1.

“I found a discrepancy in the scoring,” Humphrey said. “And I researched it because not only did I remember the outcome of three or four matches posted differently on TMI, I also backed it up by calling the coaches that the Northview kids wrestled and got confirmation on a few of those.”

Humphrey then called the tournament director to see if he could review the bout cards with TMI. The tournament director had to dig through the dumpster and sort through the trash. After a review, it was found that the Vikings had eight extra points added to their team score.

“You know what, call it coincidence, call it an accident, call it what you want,” Humphrey said. “That’s quite a few errors for Northview. None of them against Northview.”

There was one mistake for Sultana, Humphrey said, but it was a referee’s error. One of the people working the main score table and recording the information was reportedly a Northview wrestler’s parent.

“I feel bad for (Northview),” Humphrey said. “That’s got to be devastating news for the kids who had worked so hard and thought they had won. By the same token I feel bad for my kids (who didn't get to celebrate winning on Saturday). It’s kind of a lose-lose situation for both schools.”

Sultana and the rest of the High Desert’s Masters qualifiers compete in that tournament beginning on Friday at 10 a.m. at Temecula Valley. The top nine in each weight class go on to state.

C.J. Daft can be reached at christiand@vvdailypress.com or at 951-6275.