Winning titles for Bergen Catholic were No. 6 Robert Howard (120), Gerard Angelo (152), and No. 3 Shane Griffith (160); Howard beat No. 4 Nico Aguilar (Gilroy, Calif.) 7-6 in the championship match. Finishing as runners-up were No. 8 Nick Kayal (106), Carmen Ferrante (132), and No. 16 Jacob Cardenas (182). No. 5 Chris Foca finished third at 170, as did reserve 152 pound wrestler Tony Astarian.
Tournament runners-up were No. 2 Buchanan (Calif.) with 199.5 points on the strength of eight placers despite the absence of state medalist and Junior freestyle All-American Tyler Deen at 132 pounds. The Bears had a pair of champions in No. 11 Anthony Montalvo (182) and Trevor Ervin (220), who each beat nationally ranked opposition in their championship bout; Montalvo 7-3 over Cardenas, while Ervin knocked off No. 15 Joey Daniel (Santa Ana, Calif.) 3-1 in his final.
Finishing as runner-up was No. 13 Ethan Leake (126). Three other Buchanan wrestlers placed top four - Max Renteria (113) and No. 18 Matthew Olguin (138) placed third, while No. 15 Joel Romero (160) placed fourth.
Third place in the team standings was No. 24 Selma (Calif.), who also put eight wrestlers on the podium in finishing with 148 points. Four Bears made the finals, including weight class champion No. 4 Richard Figueroa (106), who beat No. 5 Joey Prata (Downey, Calif.) 5-2 in the semifinal and then Kayal 5-0 in the final. Runner-up finishers were Tristan Lujan (113), Tony Mendoza (145), and Christian Rodriguez (170).
No. 13 Gilroy (Calif.) and No. 26 Clovis (Calif.) rounded out the top five. Gilroy scored 132.5 points with five placers, led by No. 4 Nico Aguilar, runner-up at 120 pounds; while Clovis scored 113 points with four placers, led by weight class champion Giano Petrucelli at 113 pounds.
From the individual perspective, the main event came at 285 pounds, where No. 3 Cohlton Schultz (Ponderosa, Colo.) upended No. 2 Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) 3-2 in the championship match. Each wrestler had accrued four first period pins from four bouts prior to their finals bout. Schultz is a Cadet World champion and the nation's top overall junior, while Nevills is a three-time state champion headed for Penn State.
The other two nationally ranked teams finished tied for ninth with 80.5 points. No. 19 Oakdale (Calif.) had four placers and were led by No. 7 Colbey Harlan, champion at 195 pounds with a 3-1 finals victory over No. 16 Ryan Reyes (Clovis West); however, they were without a state qualifier and a state placer this weekend. No. 44 Pomona (Colo.) only brought their five best wrestlers to the tournament, and were led by weight class champion No. 9 Theorius Robison at 132 pounds.
Rounding out the weight class champions were Cleveland Belton (St. John Bosco, Calif.) at 126 pounds, No. 3 Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) at 138, No. 5 (at 138) Andrew Alirez (Greeley Central, Colo.) at 145, and Cole Moody (Bingham, Utah) at 170.
Belton pinned No. 13 Leake in his championship match, Abas beat No. 4 Alex Felix (Gilroy, Calif.) 5-2 in the semifinal, while Moody upset No. 5 Foca 7-5 in the semifinal.
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