Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
The Poway Titans have been impressive in their first two tournaments of the season, easily capturing first place at the Bash at the Beach at Edison on Dec. 8 and also claiming the El Dorado Invitational on Dec. 1.
The Titans, ranked No. 1 in the state by The California Wrestler, racked up 241 points at El Dorado to fend off second-place Sultana, which had 204.5 points. The Titans had nine placewinners and five champions, led by lower weight MVP Tim Boone, who had four teach falls, one match and one first-period pin in winning the 135-pound weight class.
Ryan Nasseri captured first place at 103 pounds with a 9-6 win over Poterville's Shane Yacota while Henry Yorba won the 130-pound class with a 3-2 win over Daniel Gudino. Ian Daube captured the 171-pound class with an 11-4 win over Josh Pearson of South Hills while Chris Crosthwaite won the 215-pound class 3-2 over Calvary Chapel's Tank Knowles.
Boone and Yorba are both ranked No. 3 in the state by CW while Daube is ranked No. 2. Nasseri is ranked No. 6 while Crosthwaite is unranked.
At the Bash at the Beach, Poway won by nearly 100 points over Bakersfield, scoring 289 points to the Drillers' 196.5. Ten Titans were placewinners with Anthony Alvarez (112), Yorba (130), Boone (135), Ian Roy (160) and Daube (171) all winning their weight classes.
Bakersfield had two champions in Brad Carls (189) and Jona Cruz (145).
The tournament saw the state's No. 1 ranked 125-pound wrestler, Angel Garcia of San Dimas, fall to Timmy Box of Bakersfield 7-5 in the quarterfinals. Garcia came back to take third place, including a 3-1 win over Box for third place.
Meanwhile Vinny Maraj of Yucca Valley, currently ranked No. 2 in the state at 160 pounds behind Jason Welch of Las Lomas, made a good case for a No. 1 ranking at 152 pounds after being named the tournament's most valuable upperweight with a second-round pin of Travis Rasmussen of Bakersfield. Rasmussen is currently ranked No. 2 at 152 pounds behind Vista's Anthony Meza.
Jeremy Gerendeau of St. John Bosco earned lightweight MVP honors. He pinned Nasseri in the semifinals and then pinned Stevie Elizalde of Brawley in the finals.
Clovis West Shootout
Clovis and Selma both finished 7-0 at the Clovis West Shootout dual meet tournament with Clovis gaining the win on the total points tiebreaker. The tournament featured eight of the top 20 teams in the state, according to the California Wrestler.
Jesse Delgado of Gilroy and Jon Zamora of Clovis were the only No. 1 ranked wrestlers to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Delgado was 7-0 with two pints while Zamora was 6-0 with four pints. Selma's Jose Mendoza was named the most outstanding lower weight after going 6-0 at 132 pounds with six pins. Brock Gutches of Crater was named the outstanding upper weight with a 7-0 record at 154 pounds with four pins.
Buchanan finished third at 6-1 while Laguna Hills was 5-1 and Gilroy and Vacaville were each 4-3. Crater and El Dorado were 3-4, Turlock was 2-4, Madera and Vista were both 2-5, Firebaugh was 0-6 and Del Oro was 0-7.
Gilroy had the most all-tournament wrestlers with five, led by Delgado, Martin Gonzales at 121 (7-0, 3 pins), Vincen Aboyles at 142 (7-0), Hunter Collins at 191 (7-0, 5 pins) and Jesse Rogers at 217 (7-0, 3 pins).
Vacaville, last year's state champion, lost to Selma (48-24), Buchanan (43-21) and Clovis (52-17). Aaron Hendricks was 5-0 for the Bulldogs at 145 pounds while Michael Kent was 6-1 at 152 pounds.
Clovis got unbeaten performances by Brett Sanchez at 189 pounds (4-0), Stephen Weimer at 135 pounds (6-0, 3 pins), Josh Esparza at 160 pounds (7-0) and Zamora.
Ponderosa Duals
The Ponderosa Bruins easily captured first place in their own dual meet tournament over the weekend, downing Woodcreek 53-18 in the championship match with seven pins.
Tyson Escobar's team had six players on the all-tournament squad, including Ryan Meniketti (135) ,Jace Miller (145), Brett Blubaugh (160), Nick Gill (171), Brad Pace (189) and Dominic DeMarco (285).
Ponderosa defeated Colfax 50-21, Vallejo 63-12, Pioneer 72-6, Bella Vista 40-26 and Woodcreek.
Curt Mettler Tournament
Elk Grove edged Folsom 107-100 to capture first place in its own Curt Mettler Tournament. The Thundering Herd had three champions while Folsom also had three. Sophan Mey of Elk Grove, who was the top ranked wrestler at the tournament, finished first at 112 pounds. Mey is ranked No. 3 in the weight class.
Peninsula Invitational
Los Gatos captured first place with 213.5 points at the Peninsula Invitational in Half Moon Bay. Palma finished a distant second with 168.5 points and Serra was third at 157.5.
The Wildcats had four wrestler finish in first place, led by Marcel Schwager (125), Calvin Hawkes (135), Victor Gonzalez (145) and Geoff Doss (152). Doss is the highest-ranked wrestler at Los Gatos, sitting at No. 4 in the state rankings.
Walsh Ironman
Only a couple of California teams attended the Walsh Ironman Tournament in Ohio. Foothill of Palo Cedro had one placewinner in 125-pounder Caleb Vallotton, who advanced to the semifinals before falling to Cody Kelly of Reynolds, PA by pin. Vallotton bounced back to take fifth place, defeating Drew Partain of Broken Arrow 7-6 in the fifth-place match.
Vallotton is ranked third in the state at 125 pounds.
Coyote Classic
Tehachapi edged East of Bakersfield 155-152 to claim first place at the Coyote Classic in Kern County. Among the state-ranked wrestlers who won gold were Edgar Diaz of Arvin, first at 104 pounds (ranked No. 4 in the state), Marc Collier of East at 112 pounds (No. 7), and Dalton Endes of Centennial at 160 pounds (No. 7).