MASTERS MEET: ROYAL WRESTLER GETS IT DUNN.

Byline: ERIK BOAL

Special to the Daily News

RIALTO -- On a day in which the wrestlers' haircuts, styles and dye jobs resembled the crowd at a punk-rock concert, Kevin Dunn didn't have any difficulty backing up his eccentric hairdo Saturday with a star-studded performance on the mat.

The Royal of Simi Valley senior, who had black stars and stripes dyed into his shaved blond hair, capped an unbeaten two-day run at the Southern Section Masters Meet with a pin at the 3-minute, 54-second mark over Santa Ana's Humberto Barrera in the 125-pound championship match at Carter High to continue his march toward a potential state title.

"The whole team dyes their hair half blond and half black, so I just decided to put stars in mine," said Dunn, who recorded his second pin in consecutive weeks over Barrera, following his victory at last week's Southern Section Inland Division final.

Dunn, the second seed in the 30-wrestler bracket, benefited from a bye in Friday's opening round. He followed it up with three pins in four matches and added a 9-3 semifinal victory over Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley's Robert Wetzel to atone for last year's sixth-place finish at 119, when a shoulder injury limited his performance on the mat.

"It was pretty important to me to win the title," Dunn said. "I don't know the last time someone from Royal has won the Masters, so it's kind of cool."

Dunn was one of three area qualifiers from the Southern Section to compete at last year's state meet. Although he was the lone champion Saturday, he'll be joined Friday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield by five other area qualifiers who placed among the top eight in their weight class.

Simi Valley's Mikey Murphy (135) and Matt Bruno (160), Agoura's Dayne Santoro (135), La Canada's Spencer Tompkins (160) and Quart Hills' Russell (171) also qualified for the state championships. Murphy lost to Vinny Pisani of ElModena of Orange in the 135-pound final.

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