By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
The top two wrestling teams in the state of California each won tournaments in impressive fashion over the break to solidify their place at the top of the California Wrestler state rankings.
The top-ranked Poway Titans stayed close to home and won the North Torrance Tournament of Champions by 100 points (305.5 to 205) over Mojave while Clovis traveled to Illinois and took first place in the 53rd Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic.
The Titans had 10 placewinners at the Tournament of Champions on Dec. 28 and 29, including Upperweight MVP Ian Daube at 171 pounds. He had five pins, including three in the first period and two in the second, to win his weight class. He is currently ranked No. 4 in the state at 171 by California Wrestler.
Other champions for Poway included Henry Yorba at 130 pounds, Tim Boone at 135 and Sammy Cervantes at 275. Yorba won two matches by pin and topped Sami Syed of Santa Monica 7-2 in the finals. Yorba is ranked No. 2 in the state.
Boone, meanwhile, pinned Andrew Collins of Hesperia in the second round of the 135-pound finals Boone won three matches by technical fall and defeated Kyle West of Oak Ridge 5-2 in the semifinals. West was ranked No. 1 in the state by California Wrestler while Boone was third. Collins was ranked No. 7.
Cervantes won the heavyweight final 5-4 over Jerome Long of Morro Bay. Cervantes entered the tournament ranked No. 7 in the state.
Meanwhile Clovis had five champions at the Berman Classic and defeated second-place Leyden 287.50 to 206 for first place. Madison Gambrell (103), Stephen Weimer (130), Scott Sakaguchi (145), Josh Esparza (160) and Jonathan Zamora (285) all won gold while Brett Sanchez (189) and Alec Dieter (125) both finished second while Tyler Ceremello (152) and Matt Cox (171) both took third. Zamora, who is undefeated on the season at 14-0, is ranked No. 1 in the state at heavyweight while Gambrell (7th), Weimer (3rd), Sakaguchi (2nd), and Sanchez (4th at 215) are all ranked.
Clovis will host the Doc Buchanan Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 4 and 5. A total of 59 teams are scheduled to attend, including Bakersfield (7th in state) , Buchanan (4th), Clovis West (9th), De La Salle (14th), El Diamante (16th), Gilroy (3rd), Liberty of Brentwood (25th), Oakdale (15th), Ponderosa (19th), Selma (5th), Lemoore (17th), Vista (11th), Sultana (12th), and Centennial of Bakersfield (23rd).
One state-ranked team that won't be at the Doc Buchanan is Vacaville, which is headed to The Clash, a national duals tournament in Rochester, Minn. The Bulldogs are one of six teams in the tournament that won state championships last year. The others are Apple Valley of Minnesota, which is ranked No. 6 nationally, Don Bosco of New Jersey, Ponderosa of Colorado, Punahou of Hawaii and Wisconsin Rapids of Wisconsin. Other top-ranked schools in attendance include Montini of Illinois, ranked No. 5 nationally, and Glenbard North of Illinois, which is ranked No. 10 in the country.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 5-0 performance at the Healdsburg Duals. Vacaville won its pool while Red Bluff won pool 2 and Damonte Ranch of Nevada won pool 3. Vacaville demolished Damonte Ranch 78-(-1) while Red Bluff edged Damonte Ranch 52-24. The Bulldogs then defeated Red Bluff 45-21 in the final.
The Bulldogs lost a dual match with visiting Bakersfield on Dec. 21. Kody Klaus, Ben Holmes and Michael Kent were the only winners for the Bulldogs in a 39-28 loss to the Drillers. Bakersfield also wrestled Ponderosa the same weekend, but lost to the Bruins 30-18.
Red Bluff bounced back from its second place finish at Healdsburg to win the Lemoore Bash on Dec. 29. The Spartans edged host Lemoore by three points, 238-235, thanks to the return of Forrest Garner to the lineup. Regularly a 215-pounder, Garner won the heavyweight class with a victory over Elk Grove's Larry Alai. Garner will likely be a 215-pounder by mid-month.
Garner was one of four champions for the Spartans. Dustin Reid topped College Park's Joe Heffelmire at 152 pounds while Travis Schaefer knocked off Tyler Hack of Tehachapi at 160 pounds. Stephan Hampton defeated Montgomery's Fred Duerr at 189 pounds. Kevin Daugherty also placed, finishing second to Livermore's Rodney Neale at 171 pounds.
Northview and Oakdale each had a pair of champions. Anthony Jaramillo won the 119-pound class with a victory over Alex Perez of Lemoore while Frank Martinez won the 130-pound division with a win over Lemoore's Julian Perez.
Meanwhile Trevor Machado-Ching and Rudy Burtschi both won gold for Oakdale. Machado-Ching was barely challenged on his way to the 140-pound championship. He won one match by pin and had three major victories, including a 14-3 win over Lemoore's Nicholas Sierra in the finals.
Rurtschi was even more dominating, winning his first three matches by pin, his semifinal match by technical decision and his championship match over Northview's Robert Alcantar 14-8.
Both Burtschi and Machado-Ching are ranked No. 1 in the state by California Wrestler.
Central Catholic wrestled at the Western Invitational and the Sierra Nevada Tournament, but two-time state champion Louis Bland did not wrestle in either event. Teammate Dominic Galas, who figures to be one of the state's top heavyweights, finished first in both tournaments. The Raiders are scheduled to appear at the Silicon Valley Challenge in San Jose this weekend.
Los Gatos won the Sierra Nevada Classic with 148.5 points, edging Caldwell, Idaho, which had 143.5.
