The 2022 California high school state wrestling championships wrapped up Feb. 24-26 in Bakersfield. The San Diego Section posted some encouraging results: 13 medalists in the boys field and 10 medalists and one champion in the girls field.
Broken down:
Perennial section champion Poway finished runner-up in the
team standings in the boys tournament with 256.5 points and 11 place-winners – 13.5 points behind team champion Buchanan — while Rancho Bernardo finished 20th with 42 points and one place-winner. The section did not advance
a wrestler to the championship round but did flood the third-place matches with seven mat men — all from Poway. Brock Bobzien (132), Johnny Lopez (138), Noah Tolentino (145),
Laird Root (1520 and Lucas Condon (170) all placed third in their respective weight classes while Titans Edwin Sierra (106) and Angelo Posada (160) were fourth.
There was a bit more diversity in the fifth-place matches. Granite Hills sophomore Collin Guffey placed fifth in his 132-pound division while Poway’s Braden Pease (195) and Jamikael Lytle (285) also placed fifth. Poway’s Elias Navida (113) placed sixth. Seventh-place medals went to Poway’s Paul Kelly (126) and Rancho Bernardo’s Ryan Badgett (160).
Guffey, seeded sixth, advanced as far as the quarterfinals
through the championship bracket before suffering his first loss. He started the tournament by pinning Rocklin’s Evan Tablada in 4:32 in the Round of 64 before advancing to pin Granada’s Jayson Victoris in 4:23 in the Round of 32.
Guffey recorded a 5-2 decision over Calvary Chapel Santa Ana’s Joaquin Arroyo in the Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals where he lost by a narrow 2-1 decision to Del Oro’s Damian Elliot to stall his drive to the semifinals.
The Eagles had three state qualifiers. Besides Guffey, the runnerup in his weight class at the San Diego Masters, Devon Wells (126) and Jayson Suetos (138) also represented Granite Hills at this year’s state tournament. Suetos lost in the Round of 32 by an 18-5 major decision to Los Gatos’ Ethan Parco while Wells lost by a 1:00 pin to Sobrato’s Aidan Valencia in the Round of 64.
Overall, East County had six state qualifiers.
West Hills’ Ryder Dearborn (160) dropped an 8-4 decision to
Oakmont’s Danny Myles in the Round of 32 while Mountain
Empire’s Larry Clark lost by a 5:40 pin to Bakersfield’s Michael
Murrillo. Mount Miguel’s Seamus Boyle (285) lost by a 4-2 decision to Clovis’ Christian Smith in the Round of 32.
Girl power
Valley Center paced the section with an 18th place finish in the
girls team standings while Brawley tied for 20th place. Brawley’s Savannah Gomez was the section’s lone champion
with a fall over Downey’s Stephanie Chavez at 137 pounds.
Calexico’s Karen Salais (106) and Valley Center’s Desiree
Jones (150) both placed third while El Cajon Valley’s Valeria
Rocha (235) was fourth. Poway’s Alejandra Valdiviezo
(121), Mt. Carmel’s Milana Sims (131) and Olympian’s Angelina
Leal (235) all finished sixth. Mira Mesa’s Birta McCaskill (106) placed seventh while eighth-place medalists included
Crawford’s Foshay Mallard (170) and La Costa Canyon’s Alexandria Perez (189).
Salais, Gomez, Leal and Rocha all advanced to the semifinals, though only Gomez won her match (4-0 over Paloma Valley’s
Reyna Montenegro). Salais lost by a 3-0 decision to Arroyo’s Emilie Gonzalez while Leal dropped a 3-2 decision to Elk Grove’s Annika Miles. Rocha, the San Diego Section Division II (and Masters) champion, lost by a 5-0 decision to Capistrano Valley’s Neila Fritts.
Six section qualifiers advanced to the quarterfinals. Joining the
quartet of aforementioned semifinal qualifiers were Brawley’s Delaire Juarez (116) and Valley Center’s Kyrra Young (143).
Rocha recorded a 4-2 decision over Canyon Springs’ Janiah Carr while Olympian’s Leal pinned Alisal’s Illana Serrano in 2:45.
Of East County’s six qualifiers, only Rocha advanced past the
Round of 32 in the championship bracket.
Grossmont’s Chloe Tolentino (116) lost by a 1:15 pin to Portola’s Carissa Quereshi in the Round of 32 while Grossmont’s Kyli Stanley (143) lost by a 4:30 pin to Valley View’s Alexis Jimenez. Mount Miguel’s Emma Contreras (150)
lost by a 1:21 pin to Evergreen Valley’s An Nguyen in the Round of 32 while West Hills Marina Morales (160) lost by a 3:19 pin to Buhach Colony’s Najeh Russo. Steele Canyon’s Faith Manis (189) lost by a 1:49 pin to Lodi’s Elora Parises in the Round of 32.
