Jesus Preciado, Sergio Preciado, Coach Bart Roper, Rickie Touch, Richie Touch. Photo By Brett Alexander
10:00pm | No sport creates a family environment quite like wrestling, and at Poly it’s both literal and figurative with the talented combo of Rickie and Richie Touch and Jesus and Sergio Preciado.
The Touch and Preciado brothers have been the core of second-year Jackrabbits coach Bart Roper’s dramatic rise from last year’s irrelevance to become a legitimate force to be reckoned with during this 2009-10 season.
The seniors have combined to go 87-16 this season and as Moore League champion coach Marshall Thompson acknowledged on Thursday, the Rams 42-31 victory over Poly was their toughest dual all year.
The set of brothers went 4-0 against Millikan and with a victory by 103-pound freshman Oscar Preciado on Tuesday, the Preciados and Touchs’ won all five matches in a convincing victory over Wilson.
Roper recalls taking over the Poly program in April of 2008 and it didn’t take long to realize he had inherited some quality kids. The coach was told early on that it would be hard to get the Cambodian families to embrace wrestling, but thanks to a special family, which includes an American hero, the Touch brothers have changed the atmosphere at Poly.
Sophieak Touch, the boys’ father, has served two tours of duty for our country in Iraq for the United States Army and is currently working at Guantanamo Bay.
“Mr. Touch and his wife have supported wrestling and my program 110-percent,” Roper said. “My first greeting from Mr. Touch was when he called me from Iraq when he found out I would be coaching their sons and he just wanted to thank me for looking after his boys.”
It’s that kind of character that has rubbed off on his sons, both of whom will serve in the U.S. Army after their graduation from Poly.
Roper himself can’t tell the Touch brothers apart, because they not only look identical, but they have a special bond that unites them as one. Richie (130 pounds) is 25-5 and finished second at the Norwalk Tournament and third at the Jackrabbit Invitational. Richie has been very versatile and has wrestled at several different weights over the past two seasons, but feels his strength is taking his opponent down from a neutral position. His goals are to win Saturday’s Moore League Individual and to place at CIF.
“I am so thankful to have wrestled alongside my brother and really want to thank Coach Roper, because he has been like a father to me (while mine was away) and provided me with everything I needed to succeed.”
He wants his legacy to be simple. Said Richie: “I would hope for people to remember me as a small freshman thrown into the varsity with no experience and successfully dominating at the varsity level.”
Rickie (119) is also 25-5 with a Norwalk Tournament title and MVP to his name. The senior is undefeated in Moore League action and attributes that to being quick on his feet and being able to anticipate what his opponent’s next move will be.
His time with his brother at Poly has been nothing short of amazing and emotional. Said Rickie Touch: ” It has been an honor wrestling alongside my twin brother, who every single day for four years put up and went through the same pain I did. Wrestling brought us closer together. I would cry for him and feel his pain when he wrestles as he does for me. At one point I saw him crying when he was wrestling, because he knew it was his last dual meet (versus Millikan on Thursday) and wanted to give all he had, and I felt his pain and all I could do is scream and cheered for him with tears falling down my face.”
For Roper, he has nothing but pride and joy when reflecting on his time with the Touch brothers.
“Both Rickie and Richie have meant so much to this program and to me,” Roper said. “The emotion they brought was what sparked us as a team against Millikan Thursday night. During his fifth-period class, Rickie’s teacher called me to see if something was wrong with him because he was crying in class. He was emotional because he didn’t want to lose his last match at home in the Poly gym.”
It’s that heart and soul that will be sorely missed when the Touch brothers move on from Poly, but they will seek a higher calling by following in their father’s footsteps to protect our country.
Sergio Preciado (125) is 25-5, is a two-time Moore League Individual champion and a three-time CIF placer. He won the Norwalk Tournament, placed second at the Jackrabbit Invitational and at Damien. Sergio believes his top qualities on the mat include his quickness, technique and his ability to anticipate a move before it happens. His time with Jesus have been a comforting feeling, because he knows someone “always has my back and I believe he feels the same way.”
He hopes to be remembered as someone who worked hard to earn everything he’s accomplished and will miss the “true family bond at Poly and how much we love one another.”
As solid as the Touch brothers and Sergio Preciado are, and they are very solid, Jesus Preciado (145) is the best wrestler of the group, and along with Nick Pena (152, Millikan) and Kimo Napohaku (130, Lakewood) make up the three best wrestlers in the Moore League.
Jesus Preciado is 13-0, because he’s had to fight through serious injuries that would have kept many others out much longer. To this writer, he’s as likeable a kid and as solid a wrestler as anyone in the area. He is a defending Moore League Individual champion from a year ago and a CIF placer. He also went 2-2 at Masters.
Preciado’s inner strength is what gets him through tough matches as much as his on-the-mat prowess.
“I’m able to stay strong and just seem able to always find a way to win matches, even when I am losing,” Preciado said. “I never stop wrestling until it’s over.”
Preciado believes his teammates will hold lifetime bonds with one another, because they’ve been with each other through thick and thin and grown from young boys into young men through the joy and agony of wrestling.
Along with the other three wrestlers, Jesus Preciado holds a special place in his heart for the support, sacrifice and love coach Bart Roper has shown over the last two years.
Said Jesus Preciado: “He has been there for me when i was down and wanted to quit. Bart pushed me through my hardest times and never let me down and I will always love him for that.”
Roper has a very special bond with the Preciado brothers.
“I have watched these boys grow up through wrestling,” he said. “Their father has done a great job with them. Sergio is the technician and Jesus is the bruiser. The credit for the success this year should go to these four brothers for it is their combination of talents that have brought us to where we need to be.”
Poly did finish third in the Moore League behind Millikan and Lakewood, but they made arguably the largest strides this season and have gained the respect of even their rivals.
“I respect both pairs of brothers very much,” Millikan 152-pound standout Nick Pena said. “I know all of them have high hopes to do something great and I know they’ll all get there.
What happens at CIF is unknown, but one thing is for certain; with the help of Bart Roper, the Preciado and Touch brothers have left the Poly wrestling program much better off than they found it.