By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
The usual suspects will contend for the state team title this week when the CIF state wrestling tournament convenes at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
Clovis is the defending champion after edging Gilroy last year 118.5 to 113 for the team title. Clovis captured the Central Section championship by half a point over Buchanan, which finished fifth at the state meet last year.
Clovis, Buchanan and Gilroy, which won the Central Coast Section championship for the seventh year in a row, figure to challenge favorite Poway for the team title. The Titans, who finished fourth last year with 106 points, had the highest number of qualifiers with 11. Vacaville, which finished sixth last year, also figures into the mix after running away with the Sac-Joaquin Section title.
From the Southern Section, Sultana, Calvary Chapel, Northview and Laguna Hills all finished within 5.5 points of each other and figure to be among the top 10 teams at the state meet.
Returning champions this year include David Klingsheim of Liberty (112 champion in 2008), Vlad Dombroski of Natomas (140), and Roger McCovey of Del Norte (275).
Click here for the brackets for the CIF meet. Click here for state rankings by the California Wrestler.
Here’s a look at the results from each of the section tournaments.
San Diego Section
Poway placed nine wrestlers in the finals and had eight champions to completely annihilate the field at the San Diego Section masters tournament. Poway finished with 307 points while Brawley finished second with 120. Ian Daube, ranked No. 1 in the state at 189 pounds, led the way for Poway while Henry Yorba, ranked No. 2 at 130 pounds also won. The Titans qualified 11 to the state meet.
Southern Section
A total of 5.5 points separated the top four teams at the Southern Section Masters with Sultana holding off Northview, Calvary Chapel and Laguna Hills for the team title. Sultana received a default win at 145 pounds for Cody Bollinger to finish with 17.5 points. Northview was second with 106.5 while Calvary Chapel had 106 and Laguna Hills 102. Bollinger and Ryan Fillingame were the only champions for Sultana. Northview had one champion in Steven Salinas. Ranked No. 2 in the state at 119 pounds, Salinas topped Bobby Morales of Laguna Hills 7-2 for the gold. At heavyweight, Jose Lopez of Glenn remained undefeated on the season at 44-0 with a 3-2 win over M.L. King’s Jose Lee. Riverside County fared well with four champions in J.T. Felix of Corona Centennial, Daniel Horcasistas of M.L. King, Estevan Cabanas of Moreno Valley Canyon Springs and Andrew Hudson of Redlands East Valley. At 103-pounds, Kevin Mai of North Torrance grabbed the crown. From Orange County, Tigran Adzhemyan (152) and Morgan McIntosh (171) won titles for Calvary Chapel while Mitch Newcomer of Laguna Hills won the 135-pound class and Kyle Chene won the 140-pound division.
Central Section
The defending state champion Clovis Cougars won the Central Section title by the slimmest of margins, edging rival Buchanan 138-137.5 for the title. Tommy Burriel, one of two champions for Clovis, gave the Cougars the lead with an 8-1 win over Central’s Rodolfo Juarez in the 189-pound match. Buchanan had a chance to win the team title in the heavyweight match, but Lemoore’s Loren Baize surprised Buchanan’s Kyle Papendorf 1-0 in the finals. Papendorf was the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the section and No. 7 in the state. Scott Sakaguchi also won a title, pinning Bakersfield’s Adam Fierro in the 145-pound final. The Cougars will send eight wrestlers to the state meet in Bakersfield next week. Buchanan, which had one champion in Stephen West, will send 10 wrestlers to the state meet. West, ranked No. 1 in the state at 160 pounds, topped Madera’s James Cook for the gold.
Central Coast Section
The Gilroy Mustangs won their seventh straight Central Coast Section championship on Feb. 22, edging St. Francis 172-161 for the crown. Gilroy had two champions in Martin Gonzalez (125), a returning state champion, and Jesse Delgado (112). Both Gonzalez and Delgado are ranked No. 1 in the state in their respective weight classes. St. Francis had three champions in Jorge Barajas (119), Dominic Kastl (160) and Drew Meulman (215).
Sac-Joaquin Section
Vacaville had little trouble defending its Sac-Joaquin Section championship, accumulating 190 points to easily surpass second-place Elk Grove with 128.5. Oakdale was third with 125 points and Central Catholic of Modesto finished with 119. Tyler Johnson (135) and Adam Delagarza (160) each won their weight classes for the Bulldogs while Taylor Hodel (145) and Hudson Buck (171) each reached the finals. Vlad Dombroski of Natomas, the defending state champion and the top-ranked 140-pounder in the state, edged past Nalan Ludwig of Elk Grove 5-3 in the finals. Ryan Loder of Granite Bay, meanwhile, remained undefeated on the season with a 15-0 win over Turlock’s Taylor Mobley at 189 pounds. Loder is ranked No. 1 in the state by the California Wrestler. Chris Urquizo of Merced edged Central Catholic’s TJ Belton, 3-0, to win the 152-pound weight class. Urquizo is ranked No. 1 in the state while Belton is ranked No. 2.
North Coast Section
De La Salle had nine placewinners, including three champions, to capture the North Coast Section championship with 232 points. The title is the first in school history for the Spartans. Vinny Moita (103), Tyler Sheridan (152) and Luke Sheridan (160) all won titles for the Spartans. Liberty finished second with 211.5 points and tied De La Salle with three champions. David Klingsheim, ranked No. 1 in the state at 119 pounds, won his first four matches by fall and defeated Chase Aura of Foothill 18-5 in the finals. Meanwhile Nick Pica of Concord, the top-ranked 215-pounder in the state, won with a pin in the finals. Defending state champion Roger McCovey of Del Norte won with a 10-3 victory in the finals over Bud Guinn of Rancho.
Northern Section
Chico won the team title for the first time since 1977, but the real story was the 215-pound final where Sutter’s Austin Morehead, ranked No. 6 in the state, defeated Modoc’s Josh Wood, ranked No. 3, 8-7 in the finals. Wood wasn’t the only state-ranked wrestler to suffer disappointment. For the second straight year, Quincy’s Cody Pack will miss the state meet after falling ill on the second day of the meet. Pack won his first two matches on Friday, but forfeited the next three to finish sixth. Last year Pack missed the section meet entirely after becoming ill. Pack was ranked No. 6 in the state. Kevin Maelfeyt of Trinity, ranked No. 7 at 135 pounds, won his weight class with a victory over Red Bluff’s Nick Foushee, while Travis Gallegos of Foothill, ranked No. 5 at 145-pounds, won the 154-pound weight class. Jesse Hellinger of Winters, ranked No. 2 in the state, won the 171-pound class and was the named the wrestler of the year. Here a match-by-match breakdown of the finals and here’s the list of placewinners.
Los Angeles Section
San Fernando captured first place in the Los Angeles City Section championship with 282 points, topping second-place Bell (216.5) and El Camino Real (213.5). San Fernando had four champions, including Benito Mendez (119), Mike Le (125), Rashaad Reynolds (171) and Adolfo Medina (189). Click here for complete results.
San Francisco Section
Washington captured the San Francisco Section championship for the second straight year behind the performance of De’Mon Jones, who won the 160-pound weight class for his third straight section title. Two-time champions Andy Lam (119), Jason Liao (152) and Jesse Grimes (215) also won for the Eagles. Alvin Tran of Washington was the most valuable lightweight wrestler while Liao was the most valuable middleweight and Sam Berry of Lowell was the most valuable heavyweight.
Click here to see results from state tournaments across the country.