Buchanan bears down at Five Counties
Many of the best boys’ teams in the state were at the Five Counties Invitational hosted by Fountain Valley.
Five teams that placed among the top 10 at last year’s state meet finished among the top eight, led by Buchanan, which had its run of seven straight state championships snapped last year by Poway. The Bears won by 6.5 points over St. John Bosco, which is considered by some to be the state favorite this year. Gilroy, which was third last year at state, finished third overall, while the host school also compiled more than 200 points in placing fourth. Those four schools accounted for 10 of the 14 individual champions.
Buchanan had two champions – Rocklin Zinkin and Leo Contino. Zinkin won at 120 over rival Sean Willcox of Bosco. Contino repeated his championship at the Doc. B by edging Mikel David Uyemora, 2-0, to win at 157. The Bears had eight others finish in fourth place or better, including four who lost in the championship bout.
“We wrestled alright,” said Buchanan head coach Troy Tirapelle. “Just looking to develop more consistency from week to week and even match to match.”
Despite wrestling without two standouts, St. John Bosco had three champions, four second-place finishers, a third-place finisher, and three more who wound up finishing seventh or better. Jorge Rios (106), Nathan Carillo (126), and Michael Romero (144) took home titles for the Braves.
Gilroy had the most champions with four. Moses Mendoza (132), Elijah Cortez (138), Daniel Zepeda (150), and Travis Grace (165) took home titles for the Mustangs, who had five more place sixth or better. Mendoza’s 16-1 tech fall over Buchanan’s Ashton Besmer avenged a 22-15 semifinal loss at the Doc Buchanan.
Khale McDonnell of the host school won at 215 by major decision over Wes Burford of Oakdale in a matchup of wrestlers ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the state. McDonnell was the only champion from Orange County, where the meet took place.
Sixth-place Pitman finished with two champions, Mason Ontiveros at 175 and Carter Vannest at 190. Carlos Melgoza of Kingsburg won at 113 with a 2-1 decision over Reno TOC champion Aaron Meza of Bosco.
Finally, at 285 pounds, undefeated junior Coby Merrill of J.W. North won by medical forfeit over Bosco senior Nicholas Sahakian.
Merrill makes most of opportunity
The most highly anticipated bout of the tournament came at 285 pounds between Merrill, champion at Reno and Doc B.; and Sahakian, the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in the country making his first tournament appearance since hurting a knee in the fall.
Sahakian had been on form in his four wins leading to the final, registering three tech falls and a pin; and scored the first point on Merrill in the final with a second-period escape. Sahakian would not score again. Merrill countered almost immediately with a single-leg takedown that had Sahakian clutching at his knee. Merrill controlled the match the rest of the way and led, 7-1, after a third-period takedown, when Sahakian decided to medically forfeit with 14 seconds remaining.
“The match was significant,” said J.W. North coach Harlan Kistler. “I think we all felt it was finally an opportunity for Coby to showcase how good he is. The match itself was a great display of Coby's mat awareness and tactfulness. He was able to secure some crucial takedowns that ultimately secured the win.”
St. John Bosco head coach Jenaro Santillan informed CIF State yesterday that Sahakian tore his ACL in the match. He will require surgery, ending his distinguished prep wrestling career. Sahakian has signed to continue his career collegiately at the University of Michigan.
Poway belts competition in Temecula
An hour southeast of Fountain Valley, defending state champion Poway was imposing its will on a strong field at the Battle for the Belt hosted by Fountain Valley. The Titans scored 330 points, almost the same total as second-place Del Oro and third-place Bakersfield combined. Vacaville, Central East of Fresno, the host school, and Esperanza rounded out the top seven.
Poway finished with five champions: Matthew Orebta (138), Areseni Kikiniou (144), Mario Carini (175), Angelo Posada (215) and Daniel Moylan (285).
Kikiniou pinned three of his five opponents. The sophomore lost in the state final last year at 106 pounds.
Carini, another sophomore, wrestled up four weight classes from last year’s state meet, where he placed third at 144 pounds.
Posada’s first-period fall makes the 2024 state champion at 175 pounds 64-0 over the past two seasons.
Poway coach John Meyers said that it will be a challenge to defend at State given the strength of the top three finishers at Five Counties plus always-powerful Clovis.
“Those four teams are all so good this year and they are all very well coached,” he explained. “Simply put, we have to focus on what we do well and continue to fix our issues. The kids need to make sure they take care of the off-the-mat facets such as getting good sleep, eating well, and keeping outside stressors at a minimum.”
No other school had more than one champion in Temecula. Although a Nevada wrestler won at 106 pounds, Golden State schools won the remaining brackets.
Zack Samano of Chino defeated the top two seeds at 113 to win as the third seed. The sophomore trailed top-seeded Jadyn Wren of Clovis East, 1-0, entering the final period but he knotted the match with an escape then won on a takedown with less than 20 seconds remaining in the bout.
Christian Perez of Del Oro won at 120, while Slater Hicks of Valencia won, 9-3, over more highly-ranked Siraj Sidhu of Del Oro.
Sultana’s Cael Humphrey surprised by knocking off state-placed Robert Jones of Poway, 11-7, to prevail at 132 pounds. Senior Matthew Luna of Saint Francis of Mountain View became the first Lancer to win a belt by dominating at 150 pounds.
Beau Priest of Bakersfield won a national top 20 showdown with Alias Raby of Anderson, 9-6, to take the 157-pound bracket. Slava Shahbazyan of Birmingham won by second-period fall at 165.
Doc B champ Levi Bussey of Granite Bay continued to excel. The senior, who is committed to Cal Poly SLO, won by technical fall (21-5) at 190 pounds.
Vacaville placed fourth overall despite not having any wrestlers compete for a belt. Two Bulldogs, Eli Almarinez (120) and Ryan Espiritu (144), finished third in their respective brackets.
“We were pretty pleased with our wrestling at the Battle for the Belt,” said Bulldog assistant coach Clint Birch. “As always there are matches you hope your kids would have won, but we have an inexperienced team that is still learning to perform at the big events. Ryan Espiritu is really on the cusp of joining the elites of California. Three of his losses this year have been in overtime and all of them are against the very best in our state or even the nation”
Birch added that Vacaville can contend for a Sac-Joaquin Section title if they “believe.” That will help Bulldog wrestlers ignore rankings and projections and stay aggressive from start to finish in their matches.
Go “Big” or go home
“The Big One,” the annual wrestling dual between Clovis and Buchanan, the two winningest programs in CIF State Championship history, took place yesterday afternoon at Buchanan. The Bears, who prevailed, 38-18, in 2023 and 35-15 last year, won again, this time by a score of 45-17.
Clovis won two of the first three bouts, but Buchanan surged into the lead on the strength of three straight wins, starting with Cooper Rodgers winning by decision at 285. The Bears did not trail again and got a big win from Rocklin Zinkin over Thunder Lewis, 13-7, at 126 pounds.
Nikade Zinkin supplied a Clovis highlight at 144 by defeating two-time state runner-up Joseph Toscano for the third time this year.
Realm crown fits Rancho Bernardo to a T-iara
The best girls’ teams in the San Diego Section convened last weekend at San Marcos HS for the Queen of the Realm Tournament, with Rancho Bernardo prevailing by a slim margin over the host school. Mira Mesa, Ramona, and Granite Hills finished 3-4-5, with all scoring more than 100 points.
The champion Broncos had a lightweight champion in freshman Savannah Choi at 107 pounds and two champions in the middleweights.
Mary Snider bested Lucia Ledezma of Granite Hills, 10-4, at 140 pounds. Ledezma was the fourth-place finisher at State last year at 140 pounds as a freshman. Senior Maisen Vesco followed by taking the 147-pound bracket. Vesco won by fall in one minute flat and pinned all four of her opponents.
Maisen Vesco of Queen of the Realm champion Rancho Bernardo pinned her way through her bracket in San Marcos
Eight of the nine Rancho Bernardo wrestlers entered in the event finished among the top four in their brackets.
Coach Joe Terriblini was impressed by his team’s performance, Snider in particular, as she gave up the first takedown of the championship bout before rolling to the six-point win.
Terriblini said that his team could make some noise at the state tournament should things go well in the Section.
“These girls are talented and can compete with most girls they wrestle against,” he said. “But I know there are some studs at other parts of the state.”
San Marcos had five individual champions: Brianna Ross (117), Chloe Hervas (127), Jaala Degannes (132), Nirvanna Tapia (172), and Diana Duarte (192). Only two other Knights placed, however.
Carlsbad junior Caroline Collins won at Queen of the Realm for a third straight year
Other champions included sophomore Alethia Tolentino of Coastal Academy at 102, junior Caroline Collins of Carlsbad at 112, Ana Armenta of El Capitan (Lakeside) at 122, senior Roxanne Raab of Clairemont at 137, senior Alexandria Perez of La Costa Canyon at 157 and senior Angel Hill of Mira Mesa at 237.
Raab placed seventh at State last year at 135 and Perez was runner-up to two-time state champion Leilani Lemus of Clovis at 170 pounds.
Collins won at the Realm for the third straight year. The state qualifier at 110 pounds last year is 25-4 on the season with 24 wins by fall or tech fall.
Undefeateds
In this recurring category, we list wrestlers with 20 or more wins who are currently undefeated on the season.
28-0 – Cookie Serratos, Fr., Santa Ana, 100
24-0 – Angelo Posada, Sr., Poway, 215
24-0 – Roxanne Raab, Sr., Clairemont, 135
22-0 – Mary Snider, Jr., Rancho Bernardo, 140
21-0 – Isabella Marie Gonzales, Sr., Clovis East, 120
21-0 – Coby Merrill, Jr., J.W. North, 285
20-0 – Sammy Sanchez, Fr., Esperanza, 106
Coaches only may add to this list. Email jtawa@cifstate.org
Blazing blades
In this section, we list wrestlers recording pins this season in 12 or fewer seconds.
7 seconds
Hunter Mathiesen, Soph., Rio Americano, 132 (Dec. 7)
8 seconds
Mauricio Escobedo, Soph., Granite Hills (El Cajon), 132 (Jan. 10)
10 seconds
Michael Poindexter, Jr., Granite Hills (El Cajon), 150 (Nov. 20)
12 seconds
Emily Keltgen, Jr., Rio Americano, 110 (Dec. 22)
Rio Americano junior Emily Keltgen has recorded one of the fastest pins in the state this year
Coaches only may add to this list. Email jtawa@cifstate.org
100 % COMMITTED!
In this section, we identify those wrestling high school this year who have made commitments to wrestle in college.
Sonny Acuna, Sr., Northview, 197 – Cal Baptist
Eli Almarinez, Sr., Vacaville, 125 -- Vanguard
Joseph Antonio, Sr., St. John Bosco, 165 -- Army
Curtis Bartley, Sr., Del Norte (Crescent City), 149/157 – Northern Idaho
Ben Bomberger, Sr., Poway, 184/197 – Cal Poly SLO
Brokton Borelli, Sr., Los Banos, 197 -- Maryland
Levi Bussey, Sr., Granite Bay, 197 – Cal Poly SLO
Primo Catalano, Sr., Chaminade, 197 – Army
Bailey Cathey, Sr., Galt, 131 – Minot State
Leo Contino, Sr., Buchanan, 165/174 – West Virginia
Elijah Cortez, Sr., Gilroy, 141/149 -- Cornell
Isaiah Cortez, Sr., Gilroy, 133/141 -- Cornell
Olivia Davis, Sr., Monte Vista (Danville), 145 – William Jewell
Justice El-Sayad, Sr., Temecula Valley, 285 – Cal Poly SLO
Jacob Estrada, Sr., Monache, 133/141 – University of Providence (Montana)
Ryan Espiritu, Sr., Vacaville, 149 – Colorado School of Mines
Christian Garcia, Sr., Walnut, 125/133 – Cal Poly SLO
James Gensaw, Jr., Sr. -- Del Norte (Crescent City), 142/133 – Cal Poly Humboldt
Mackenzie Gilbert, Sr., Modesto, 103 – Waldorf
Isabella Marie Gonzales , Sr., Clovis East, 117/124 – Iowa
Christian Herrera, Sr., Bakersfield, 157 -- Wyoming
Robert Jones, Sr., Poway, 125 – Cal Poly SLO
Kaiya Lopes, Sr., Rancho Bernardo, 103 – Minot State
Jeff Lopez, Sr., Clovis, 141 – Oregon State
Leo Maestas, Sr., Clovis West, 133 – American University
Khale McDonnell, Sr., Fountain Valley, 285 – Oregon State
Dylan Pile, Sr., Los Gatos, 174 -- Stanford
Angelo Posada, Sr., Poway, 197/285 -- Stanford
Beau Priest, Sr., Bakersfield, 157/165 – Oregon State
Braden Priest, Sr., Bakersfield, 149 – North Carolina
Ronnie Ramirez, Sr., Walnut, 133 – Oklahoma State
Adrien Reyes, Sr., Clovis, 184 – Oregon State
Samantha Sachs, Sr., Glendora, 131 – Iowa
Nicholas Sahakian, Sr., St. John Bosco, 285 -- Michigan
Jaelynn Serna, Sr., Apple Valley, 110 – Missouri Valley College
Edwin Sierra, Sr., Poway, 125/133 -- Stanford
Aiden Simmons, Sr., Bakersfield, 141 – Cal Poly SLO
Billy Townson, Sr., Poway, 133 -- Rutgers
Evelyn Vargas, Sr., Merced, 180/207 – Dickinson State
Daniel Zepeda, Sr., Gilroy, 149 – North Carolina State
Nikade Zinkin, Sr., Clovis, 149/157 -- Nebraska
Commitments to add? Email jtawa@cifstate.org