Buchanan won the state title and had three champions and 10 state medalists (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Ten years prior to this one was the only other state title for Buchanan, they won in 2006 amassing 134 points on the strength of one champion and three other medalists. This past weekend they scored 274.5 points, which is just short of the state tournament record, on the back of three state champions (a program record) and ten overall medalists (also a program record).
Those titles were won by Matthew Olguin (106), Ethan Leake (113), and Zach Levatino (220), none of whom were favored to win state titles; Olguin was ranked second, Leake third, and Levatino came from total left field in eleventh. In a bit of irony, their lone state favorite failed to win; No. 11 Durbin Lloren (132) was upset in the state final, 3-2 by Trence Gillem (Helix). The two other runner-up finishers were Abner Romero (160) and Anthony Montalvo (182). Additional medalists were Joel Romero (138) placing third, Brett Villarreal (126) and Greg Gaxiola (145) placing fourth, along with Cade Belshay (170) placing fifth.
From their ten placers, six finished above their ranking (three significantly), one was at his ranking exactly, while three were below ranking (though within one or two spots). Three wrestlers that placed were not projected to place, while one wrestler projected to place failed to do so. In all, the story of the tournament weekend for Buchanan was rising to the occasion, and it ultimately showed in a team gold finish.
Despite four state champions, Clovis was unable to win its sixth consecutive state championship. The Cougars placed just eight wrestlers (at least "just" in relation to Buchanan) to amass 232.5 points in its runner-up finish. Winning state gold were No. 2 Justin Mejia (120), No. 7 Josh Hokit (182), No. 12 A.J. Nevills (195), and No. 7 Seth Nevills (285); the junior Mejia won his third title, the sophomore Seth Nevills earned a second straight title, while seniors Hokit and A.J. Nevills improved upon last year's runner-up finishes.
Other wrestlers placing on the podium for Clovis were Tyler Collier (220) in third, Brandon Betancourt (106) in fourth, Brandon Martino (152) in fifth, and Wyatt Cornelison (113) in eighth.
Third in the standings went to No. 13 Poway, which had five medalists - third most in the tournament - in totaling 113 points. The Titans were led by a runner-up finish from Chris Bailey (195), Chase Zollmann (113) placing third, Scott Kiyono (132) and Luis Enloe (145) placing seventh, along with an eighth place finish from Hampton Boyd (160).
A look at California's 14 individual state champions from this past weekend (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Julian Flores (San Marino), ranked No. 12 nationally at 138 pounds, placed fourth; losses came 3-2 to Jacob Wright (Dinuba) in the semifinal and then 10-2 to Joel Romero in the consolation final. Luke Troy (Martin Luther King), ranked No. 5 nationally at 152 pounds, was condemned to just a third place finish after losing 5-4 to eventual runner-up Jett Moy (San Marcos) in the round of 16. Finally, No. 18 Jesus Madrigal (Oak Hills) finished fourth at 220 pounds lost 2-1 to Kyle Jennings (Ponderosa) in the semifinal and then 5-4 to Tyler Collier in the consolation final.
Other notable champions included No. 13 Navonte Demison (Bakersfield) at 138 pounds, No. 5 Zander Wick (San Marino) at 145, No. 4 Evan Wick (San Marino) at 152, No. 8 Justin Thomas (Calvary Chapel) at 160, and No. 15 Jeremy Thomas (Calvary Chapel) at 170. Justin Thomas beat No. 17 Abner Romero 5-3 in his championship match, while Jeremy Thomas pinned No. 14 Anthony Mantanona (Palm Desert) to avenge a loss from last week's Masters final.
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