The Granite Hills High School wrestling team continues to soar to face off the 2023-24 winter sports season. Just how high the Eagles dare to climb will be determined by how successful they are in some of the state’s and nation’s top high school tournaments.
The Eagles competed at last weekend’s Doc Buchanan Invitational, Jan. 5-6, at Clovis High School. The tournament is ranked among the nation’s toughest; national rankings are likely forthcoming for top place-finishers.
Granite Hills entered the massive 115-team tournament ranked seventh among teams in California while senior Collin Guffey was ranked first in his 165-pound weight class in the state.
A national ranking could be forthcoming for Guffey after he won his weight class at the Doc B with a 5-0 mark against grapplers from De La Salle, Calvary Chapel, Palm Desert, Clovis and St. John Bosco.
Senior Abram Cline also earned recognition after advancing as far as the championship quarterfinals at 116 pounds before ending the tournament in the consolation wrestle-backs.
Granite Hills placed 15th in the elite field with 53 points, sandwiched between 14th-place Toppenish, Wash. (58 points) and 16th-place Pleasant Grove, Utah (52 points).
The tournament attracted wrestlers from as far away as Georgia, Ohio, Utah, Oklahoma, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Illinois, Alaska, Nebraska, Colorado, Oregon, Florida, Missouri, Arizona, Wyoming and Virginia.
In a show of force, Poway won this year’s Doc B with 223 points to out-pace St. Edward (second, 206 points), California power Buchanan (third, 173 points), Gilroy (fourth, 171.5 points), St. John Bosco (fifth, 151.5 points) and Clovis (sixth, 116 points).
Poway loaded up with eight medalists, including two champions (Paul Kelly at 141 pounds and Angelo Posada at 178 pounds) and three silver medal-winners (Arseni Kikinou at 109 pounds, Edwin Sierra at 116 pounds an Robert Platt at 218 pounds) while Gilroy led the field with three champions. Eighth-place Palm Desert had two champions.
Poway’s Laird Root (153 pounds) placed third, Billy Townson (129 pounds) placed fourth and Elias Navida (135 pounds) placed fifth.
Man of the match
Guffey was the Eagles’ lone finalist, lone gold medalist and lone top-eight place-finisher in this year’s national-rated Doc B field.
Competing at 168 pounds, Guffey opened with pins in his opening two matches (Round of 32 and Round of 16), both in the
second period. His trek continued with gritty victories.
Guffey doubled up Palm Desert’s David Alonso by a 4-2 score in the quarterfinals and then topped Adrien Reyes of Clovis by a 3-0 shutout decision in the semifinals.
Guffey recorded a 5-4 decision over St. John Bosco’s Joseph Antonio to cap one of the biggest wins in his career, the biggest this season.
The Granite Hills wrestler placed runner-up at last year’s Doc B tournament. Weight class winners receive oversize cowboy hats, the tournament’s top prize.
Cline opened the mat extravaganza with a 57-second pin before recording a 4-1 decision over an opponent from Idaho. He advanced to the championship quarterfinals, dropping an 8-4 match to Ethan Timar from St. Edward, Ohio, the eventual fourth-place finisher, before continuing in the consolation bracket with a loss to Canyon Springs’ Max Murillo.
It’s that hard-nose mettle that excites Granite Hills head coach Jesse Sheard.
“The kids are determined to learn every day, to push themselves harder than they would in a match to get better,” Sheard said. “Their progress is so much fun to watch.”
The Eagles are indeed formidable this season. The reigning Division II section champions came away with six gold medalists and two silver medalists at December’s El Cajon Invitational.
Gold medalists included Emilio Escobar (106 pounds), Cline (113 pounds), Sergio Porras (138 pounds), Devon Wells (144 pounds), Ryan Carroll (157 pounds) and Guffey.
Overall, Granite Hills had nine wrestlers listed in the state rankings at the end of the 2023 calendar year: Guffey (first), Cline (second), J.J. Suetos (10th), Wells (11th), Carroll (13th), Geo Fraser (15th), Porras (17th), Junior Bumanglag (21st) and Escobar (39th).
Guffey is once again the face of East County wrestling in 2023-24, and rightly so.
He placed fifth in the state in 2022 and second last season; he has been nationally ranked each year: No. 21 at 113 pounds as a freshman, No. 17 at 132 pounds as a sophomore, No. 5 at 152 pounds as junior, and currently No. 6 at 165 pounds as a senior.
Guffey pinned his opponent in 2:26 in the Eagles’ 72-3 dual meet victory at Helix Charter High School on Dec. 21.
Granite Hills won five of the seven matches contested on the mat by pins (two in the first period) and another by technical fall.
The Eagles won the junior varsity boys dual 52-24 on the strength of seven pins.
Helix had two finalists at the season-opening at Carlsbad Invitational: Ja’Kar Carter (first at 190 pounds) and Ahlijah Davis (second at 215 pounds). Kingsley Frank finished third at 165 pounds.
Steele Canyon had three finalists: Johnathan Kaiser (first at 165 pounds), Esteban Medina (second at 132 pounds) and Jacob Vazquez (second at 150 pounds).
Steele Canyon finished fourth in the team standings while Helix was fifth.
Next up
The Eagles will not shy away from the competition by participating in this weekend’s Battle for the Belt tournament, Jan. 12-13, in Temecula.
Granite Hills will host North County power Rancho Bernardo in a high-profile non-league dual meet on Jan. 17.
The annual Holtville Invitational is Jan. 26-27. The Eagles will close out their league schedule with a dual meet at West Hills on Jan. 25 and by hosting Steele Canyon on Feb. 1.
The San Diego Section girls divisional championship meet is scheduled Feb. 3 while the boys CIF divisionals are Feb. 10.
The combined boys/girls San Diego Section Masters tournament is Feb. 16-17, followed by the state championship meet for both genders Feb. 22-24.
“I think it will be a very good year if we wrestle our best,” Sheard said. “We want to perform well at CIF, Masters and state.”
Foothiller pride
Grossmont finished in fifth place in last Saturday’s 11th annual dual meet tournament at Hilltop High School to cap a 3-2 showing on the mat in the 10-team field.
The Foothillers opened the tournament with a 51-25 setback to Olympian, then came up on the short end of a 50-12 score to Mt. Carmel. The East County squad won its last three matchups to finish with a winning record on the day: 39-34 over host Hilltop, 63-6 over San Ysidro and 54-28 over Eastlake.
Jacob Barnes (134 pounds), Mason Emmerson (146 pounds) and Luke Freeman (217 pounds) all finished undefeated on the day.
Emmerson and Freeman were both 5-0 while Barnes was 3-0.
Three wrestlers finished with one loss: Caleb Osegueda (4-1 at 115 pounds), Sam Adame (4-1 at 287 pounds) and Alex Risico (3-1 at 140 pounds).
Foothiller head coach Aaron Armstrong believes the remainder of the season holds much promise for his Grossmont Valley League team.
“I think we’ll be competing for the league championship,” he said. “It will probably come down to us and El Capitan, and we meet in the final dual meet on Feb. 1. It should be a great match.”
Granite Hills Invitational Wrestling Tournament
106 POUNDS
Championship: Emilio Escobar (Granite Hills) pinned Abraham Villarreal (Calexico), 1:42
Third place: Noah Steele (St. Augustine) won by 1-0 decision over Madrid Ladines (Lakeside)
113 POUNDS
Championship: Xamian Munoz (Brawley) won by 16-8 major decision over Gavin Hunter (Granite Hills)
Third place: Emilio Cordova (Imperial) pinned Anthony Martinez (Lakeside), 2:27
120 POUNDS
Championship: Abram Cline (Granite Hills) pinned Damian Jones (Christian), 5:44
Third place: Zubair Robinson (Monte Vista) won by 4-3 decision over David Garcia (Brawley)
126 POUNDS
Championship: Chase Carrasco (Lakeside) pinned Ethan Vinoray (Patrick Henry), 2:24
Third place: Donjoon Gin (Mira Mesa) won in sudden-victory overtime 5-3 over Damian Arreola (Granite Hills)
132 POUNDS
Championship: Ethan Velez (Brawley) won by 10-0 major decision over Braedon Steele (St. Augustine)
Third place: Christopher Tran (Mira Mesa) pinned Alijah Wardrobe (Otay Ranch), 2:04
138 POUNDS
Championship: Jayson Suetos (Granite Hills) pinned Diego Arias (Brawley), 4:46
Third place: Aiden Chur (Granite Hills B) won by 8-3 decision over Byron Cunningham (St. Augustine)
144 POUNDS
Championship: Sergio Porras (Granite Hills) won by forfeit over Layronz Fraser (Granite Hills)
Third place: Noah Calderon (Brawley) won by 9-2 decision over Dylan Blackwood (West Hills)
150 POUNDS
Championship: Devon Wells (Granite Hills) won by 2-0 decision over Daryn Leon (Brawley)
Third place: Cooper Fields (Granite Hills) pinned Lelyn Mesina (West Hills), 4:20
157 POUNDS
Championship: Ryan Carroll (Granite Hills) pinned Isaac Rea (Lakeside), 3:33
Third place: Weston Druckerman (West Hills) pinned Gabriel Estrada (St. Augustine), 2:13
165 POUNDS
Championship: Collin Guffey (Granite Hills) pinned Isaiah Rea (Lakeside), 0:34
Third place: Nathan Torres (Brawley) won by 7-3 decision over Giancarlo Tolentino (Coastal Academy)
175 POUNDS
Championship: Junior Bumanglang (Granite Hills) pinned Porfino Nino (Otay Ranch), 0:41
Third place: Luis Alcala (Calexico) pinned Caleb Aldrete (Mountain Empire) 0:50
190 POUNDS
Championship: Mathew Gutierrez (Brawley) won by 5-3 decision over Joseph Smith (Granite Hills)
Third place: Victor Haimovitch-Gore (Mira Mesa) won by 17-6 major decision over Danny Esquivez (Imperial)
215 POUNDS
Championship: Levi Mincher (Imperial) pinned Robert Grohman (St. Augustine), 2:23
Third place: Marlon Sanchez (Calexico) pinned Drew Reed (Mountain Empire), 2:44
285 POUNDS
Championship: Adam Ballesteros (Mira Mesa) won by 10-4 decision over Enrique Hernandez (El Cajon Valley)
Third place: Alejandro Cota (Brawley) pinned Ethan Nguyen (St. Augustine), 4:16
TOP TEAMS
1. Granite Hills 280.5, 2. Brawley 211.5, 3. St. Augustine 136.5, 4. Mira Mesa 132, 5. Lakeside 101.5, 6. Granite Hills B 101, 7. Imperial 92, 8. Calexico 91.0,
