VAN NUYS, CA. – Championship culture showed up in full force on Saturday as the powerhouse Birmingham Patriots stormed their way to a sixth consecutive CIF Los Angeles City Section Dual-Meet Championship, overwhelming Palisades High 70–4 in dominant fashion.

The dual began with a brief spark of drama at 106 pounds, where Palisades’ Bladimir Hernandez stunned the crowd by major-decisioning Birmingham’s Michael Ramirez, 10–1, giving the Dolphins their only lead of the night.

That moment proved to be nothing more than a speed bump.

From there, Birmingham unleashed an absolute murderers’ row, rattling off 13 straight victories, most of them in decisive bonus-point fashion. The Patriots flexed their depth, speed, and firepower from top to bottom, turning the dual into a showcase rather than a contest.

The performance of the night belonged to Ali Okenov at 175 pounds, who took on the City Section’s top-ranked wrestler, Matthew Hsu of Palisades. Okenov controlled the bout with timely takedowns in the second and third periods, absorbing only a late reversal before closing out a hard-fought 7–2 decision—a statement win against elite competition.

Pins and technical falls piled up as Birmingham rolled through the lineup, highlighted by lightning-fast falls from Greg Torosian (0:27) and Roman Arakelyan (0:26), as well as dominant tech falls from Maxim Sim, Arkadii Oganisian, and Lum Hasani.

With the title secured, Birmingham now shifts focus to next week’s regional tournament at Monroe High, where the Patriots will look to carry their momentum deeper into the postseason.

Box Score

106 – Bladimir Hernandez (Palisades) maj. Michael Ramirez (Birmingham) 10–1

113 – Deshaun Hypolite (Birmingham) fall over Panyachot Yachara (Palisades) 1:50

120 – Gregory Gyumushyan (Birmingham) maj. Jude Perez (Palisades) 15–3

126 – Henry Asilikyan (Birmingham) fall over Caleb Kim (Palisades) 1:32

132 – Maxim Sim (Birmingham) tech fall over Rocco Falcione (Palisades) 16–0

138 – Arkadii Oganisian (Birmingham) tech fall over Connor Kang (Palisades) 22–6

144 – Arno Vardanyan (Birmingham) fall over Luke DePastino (Palisades) 2:15

150 – Lum Hasani (Birmingham) tech fall over Zane Lazar (Palisades) 16–0

157 – Greg Torosian (Birmingham) fall over Laird Aiden Kelley (Palisades) 0:27

165 – Roman Arakelyan (Birmingham) fall over Gabriel Golub (Palisades) 0:26

175 – Ali Okenov (Birmingham) dec. Matthew Hsu (Palisades) 7–1

190 – Ari Hasani (Birmingham) fall over Leopold Troedsson (Palisades) 1:15

215 – Wyatt Bingham (Birmingham) fall over Panyarat Litmen (Palisades) 3:52

285 – Jareth Saldivar-Rojano (Birmingham) fall over Michael Cahill (Palisades) 1:10

Final: Birmingham 70, Palisades 4