Kid Lim captures bronze

Steve Virgen

Kid Lim was one minute away from exacting revenge. Yes, just 60

seconds from recording one of the biggest wrestling wins of his

season for Newport Harbor High.

But a chance at a reversal slipped through his hands and Troy’s

Tyler Adams swung Lim to his back to win by pin with just 32 seconds

left in a 119-pound division semifinal match of the Troy Warrior

Classic, a 20-team tournament, Saturday.

Lim, who is 14-5, earned a third-place medal by scoring a

major-decision victory, 14-3, in his final match of the day.

The exciting semifinal match caused a buzz amid the coaches,

officials and families involved with the two wrestlers. Adams, who

defeated Lim in the championship match of the Andrew Pena tournament

Dec. 14, rallied back from a 10-4 deficit in the final three minutes.

“I should have won,” said Lim, who had 17 takedowns in his four

matches. “I had that guy all day. It was more of just getting

caught.”

Said Newport Coach Dominic Bulone: “It’s a heartbreaker for our

side.”

Lim built his lead by scoring three takedowns in the first period

and two in the second, when he also collected two more points for a

reversal. However, Adams closed to within 10-7 before the third and

scored on a reversal with 1:40 left in the match to trail, 10-9.

Adams continued to ride his momentum, breaking Lim down for the

pin.

“Knowing that I had beat him already, obviously helped a lot,”

Adams said. “Toward the end, I could feel he was out of breath and I

felt like I could get the pin.”

Adams entered the semifinal match with a sizable advantage over

Lim, considering he had defeated him earlier in the season and

because of Adams’ success this season. Adams won the 119-pound

division championship at the Downey and Andrew Pena tournaments. He

took second place Saturday and also at the Rim of the World

tournament.

Meanwhile, Lim, who finished fifth at the Estancia tournament last

week, was driven by the opportunity to exact revenge.

“I really wanted to win this one,” said Lim, who gained confidence

from the match. “I was a lot better than from the last time we

wrestled.”

Lim was also much improved from his first match Saturday. In the

first round, against Dana Hills’ Shane Michinock, Lim was nearly

pinned in the second period, but time ran out. Michinock was awarded

three points for the near fall and led, 11-10, heading into the final

period.

But that’s when Lim stepped up his intensity and collected two

takedowns and a three-point near fall with 15 seconds left to gain an

18-13 win.

Lim, a senior, proved to be much more impressive in his technical

fall victory over Santa Margarita sophomore Eric Lake in a

quarterfinal match. Lim built a 17-6 lead after two periods and then

opened the third with a takedown and a three-point near fall to earn

the technical fall win that requires victory by a 15-point margin.

“He took care of business,” Bulone said.

Lim was the lone wrestler out of 12 Sailors to advance to the

championship semifinals. Eight of 12 Newport wrestlers were pinned in

their first-round matches. Along with Lim, senior Kyle Codey

(140-pound division) also advanced to a quarterfinal match.

Codey earned a 9-6 win over Stewart McFarlane of North Torrance.

Codey led, 5-4, after two periods, and secured the win by starting

off the third with an escape and a takedown. McFarlane scored a

reversal with 25 seconds left but could not complete the comeback.

Codey lost in his quarterfinal by pin and he was also pinned in

his only consolation match.