Fountain Valley

Marina senior wrestler Colin Navickas has qualified for the CIF State Tournament at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. Navickas finished second at 160 pounds at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet to qualify for the state meet. He reached his weight-class final which was won by Bradley Christensen of Temecula Chaparral. Navickas, ranked seventh in the state in his weight class, won the 160-pound division title at the CIF Southern Section Eastern Division Individuals on Feb. 16 for his third-consecutive section individual championship.

The 2012-13 girls' soccer season ended Tuesday for Edison and Ocean View. The host Chargers were eliminated, 1-0, in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 second-round game by defending champion Aliso Niguel, while the Seahawks also fell by a 1-0 score to Oxnard Pacifica (Pacific View League No. 2) in a Division 6 second-round game at Ocean View. Edison, the second-place team from the Sunset League, concluded a 16-4-4 season. Aliso Niguel is the second-place team from the South Coast League.

Seniors Colin Navickas of Marina and Steele Escobedo of Fountain Valley claimed Eastern Division titles in their respective weight classes Saturday at the CIF Southern Section Wrestling Individuals Championships at Oak Hills High in Oak Hills. Navickas won his third-consecutive Southern Section title by taking the 160-pound weight class. Escobedo captured the 145 weight class. The two are among 10 local athletes to earn a spot in the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet. The two-day event is Friday and Saturday at Temecula Valley High.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY - Roger Holmes figured his Fountain Valley High boys' basketball team would face, as the veteran coach put it Monday, a "monumental task," when the Barons faced Inglewood Friday. What awaited the Sunset League champions in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA playoffs was a seasoned Inglewood team. The Sentinels won the Division 2AA title a year ago before moving up two divisions for the 2012-13 season. They also returned all five starters from that title-winning team.

Gus Ayer, the former mayor of Fountain Valley and an avid environmentalist, died Wednesday night. He was 63. According to his oldest son, Ethan, the cause of his death is still pending, but he was found at his Fountain Valley home by his youngest son, Eliot. Ayer's recent endeavors included helping the residents of Fullerton save Coyote Hills, striking down Measure Z in Huntington Beach and campaigning for numerous council members for the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Westminster.

The road to the Anaheim Convention Center, site of several CIF Southern Section divisional championship games, begins Saturday for four local girls' prep basketball teams. Edison, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Ocean View all have earned a spot in postseason play. The 2012-13 season came to an end for Marina and Brethren Christian on Feb. 6. First-round games start at 7 p.m. Saturday. The winners in each division advance to second-round action at 7 p.m. Wednesday. * Edison: The Chargers head into the Division 1-AA playoffs as the second-place team from the Sunset League.

It's been a long time since Fountain Valley has entered the CIF Southern Section boys' basketball playoffs as the first-place team from the Sunset League. Eighteen years, to be exact. Friday on their home floor, the Barons will wear that banner for the first time since 1995, and will play host to a talented Inglewood team in the opening round of the Division 1-AA playoffs. Fountain Valley is one of three Sunset League teams to open postseason play at 7 p.m. Friday. In other first-round games, Edison plays at home against Walnut and Huntington Beach travels to Pico Rivera to take on El Rancho.

Several local boys' and' girls' soccer and girls' water polo teams earned berths earlier this week to the CIF Southern Section playoffs. The girls' water polo playoffs started Tuesday. First-round girls' soccer games begin Thursday and first-round boys' soccer playoffs open Friday. The CIF Southern Section Individual Wrestling Divisional Championships run Friday and Saturday. * Girls' Soccer Edison: The Chargers enter the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs Thursday and play host to Redlands East Valley at 5 p.m. Edison finished in second place in the Sunset League after scoring a 2-1 victory Feb. 7 at Huntington Beach.

Turn around was fair play, indeed, in this rivalry game between Edison High and Fountain Valley. When the teams met in the opening round of the Sunset League boys' basketball race, Fountain Valley scored the final 13 points of the Jan. 16 game to pull out a 63-58 road victory. That win helped solidify the Barons as keepers of first place in the league standings. Tuesday at Fountain Valley, it was Edison who had the final say, as the Chargers scored the game's final 12 points to wipe out a four-point deficit to emerge with a 57-49 triumph.

Like several other races in other league sports, the Sunset League girls' soccer title chase is going down to the final game on the final day of the regular season. Edison stayed within one-half game of league leader Los Alamitos Tuesday by taking down Fountain Valley, 4-1. The Griffins maintained their slight edge over the Chargers by surviving Huntington Beach Tuesday, 2-1. Mackenzie Cerda, Sydney Stout, Brooke Lillywhite and Nicole St. Laurent scored for Edison on senior night as the Chargers improved to 6-0-3 in league.