Starting on Thursday at Mechanic’s Bank Arena in Bakersfield, the 51st CIF Boys Wrestling State Championship and 13th CIF Girls Wrestling State Championship will convene to determine the best teams and individual wrestlers in the Golden State.
Here’s what to watch for:
Buchanan or Poway?
The Buchanan Bears are the seven-time reigning boys wrestling team state champions. The Poway Titans have been the runners-up each of the past three seasons.
Gilroy and St. John Bosco have terrific high-end talent. Clovis and Bakersfield are deep, well-rounded squads.
Make no mistake: the team score will almost certainly come down to Buchanan and Poway.
Over the course of the season, Poway appeared poised to overtake Buchanan as the state’s top team. The Titans had the higher national ranking, had quality in every weight class, and showed off their talent by winning the Doc Buchanan Invitational as well as edging Buchanan in a dual meet in Fresno.
But there are some coaches who believe that Buchanan may emerge Saturday as the champion once more, and point to a Poway injury as a key reason. Poway will be without one of its top wrestlers, as Ben Bomberger is out in the 190-pound division. Poway did qualify a wrestler, Dominic Dotson, in that weight class, and he’s good, but there is a possibility that he will not score as many points as a healthy Bomberger would have.
Buchanan senior Branson John moving to 175 pounds also is significant, as he has the potential, as the third seed, to score more points in that division.
Buchanan coach Troy Tirapelle is excited to see how his team wrestles this weekend.
“We are feeling good and ready at the right time,” he said. “From where we started to where we are now is astronomical. It’ll be fun to see what we can do. It will truly take everyone pulling their weight. We preach it all the time, but it’s never been more true.”
Poway will bring six nationally-ranked wrestlers to Bakersfield. Only Angelo Posada at 175 pounds is favored to win state, though Robert Platt at 215 is probably a co-favorite with JW North sophomore Coby Merrill.
Arseni Kikiniou, Edwin Sierra, Billy Townson, Elias Navida, Paul Kelly, Laird Root, Posada, Platt, and Adam Farha all are wrestlers who have done well against high-level competition and could be difference-makers this weekend.
Buchanan has four wrestlers with a national ranking. Only one, sophomore Joe Toscano at 144, is a top seed.
Still, there is depth up and down the Bear lineup, with Blake Woodward, Rocklin Zinkin, Ashton Besmer, Gavin Bauder, Toscano, Leo Contino, John, Alex Dansby, and Bryson Harrington all threats to score big points.
It’s going to be fun scoreboard watching that’s for sure! Who will come out on top is anyone’s guess, really.
“Winning is never the goal, honestly, Tirapelle stressed. “It always is to be the best we can be. If we did everything in our power to prepare and then to perform when the time comes, that’s the real testament to being a success.”
Who succeeds Marina?
For the past two seasons, Marina of Huntington Beach has emerged as the girls team state champion. But the Vikings will not threepeat. Senior-heavy last year, they sent just three to the Master’s Meet, and none qualified for the state tournament.
Walnut senior Anaya Falcon will try to win a third state title and complete an unbeaten high school career
Walnut finished second a year ago and might be the favorite this year. The Mustangs return two-time state champion Anaya Falcon, another top seed in Deandra Meza, and also have a No. 2 seed at 130 in Jasmine Macias.
Birmingham, from the Los Angeles Section, has the most qualifiers by far with nine. The Patriots will be led by two-time state placer Avy Perez and Adeliada Fernandez, the fourth seed at 145.
Gilroy, which finished second in 2022, has six qualifiers and is a threat; 130-pound Tamara Grace a top seed, and Kauilani Garcia (170) also a favorite to make the podium.
Undefeated returning CIF State Champion Duda Rodrigues of Newport Harbor will be heavily favored to win again at 155 points
Newport Harbor is a dark horse candidate. The Sailors did not finish inside the top 10 last year, but an infusion of youth has Coach Mike Whitt very bullish about his five-wrestler squad. Returning state champion Duda Rodrigues is the overwhelming favorite to win state again, this year at 155. Skyler Gassel, wrestling at 145, is the No. 5 seed, but could easily beat that seed. Of the three freshmen, both Marlee Solomon at 100 and Eva Garcia at 170 are Master’s champions.
Making history?
There have been only 27 three-time boys state champions and only six, three-time girls state champions. Frontier of Bakersfield senior Miguel Estrada and Walnut senior Anaya Falcon will seek to join those exclusive clubs.
Estrada will have a tough task in order to make history. He is seeded second in a 150-pound bracket that is absolutely loaded. Another former state champion, Brock Mantanona of Palm Desert, heads the bracket and is the top-ranked wrestler in the nation. The bracket also includes supreme talents like two-time state placer Laird Root of Poway and Ethan Parco of Los Gatos. Don’t be at all surprised if this is the last boys bout on Saturday night.
Falcon, by contrast, will be heavily favored to win at 105 pounds. She is 114-0 over her three-year career and might have been going for four in a row but for the cancellation of the state tournament in 2021 due to Covid, when all current seniors were freshmen.
“It would mean a lot to Anaya to win her third state title,” said coach Cecil Sebastian. “Her two previous titles were against defending state champs so this one, whoever she sees, will cement her as one of the greatest.”
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Here are the other former state champions seeking to add another to their resume this weekend:
Boys
Ronnie Ramirez, Jr., Walnut, 120 – 113-pound champion last year
Isaiah Quintero, Sr., El Dorado (Placentia), 120 – 106-pound champion in 2022
Isaiah Cortez, Jr., Gilroy, 126 – 120-pound champion last year
Elijah Cortez, Jr., Gilroy, 132 – 126-pound champion last year
Daniel Zepeda, Jr., Gilroy, 138 – 132-pound champion last year
Brock Mantanona. Sr., Palm Desert, 150 – 126-pound champion in 2022
Miguel Estrada, Sr., Frontier (Bakersfield), 150 – two-time champion at 145
Robert Platt, Sr., Poway, 215 – 195-pound champion last year wrestling for Brawley
Cody Merrill, Sr., Gilroy, 285 – 215-pound champion in 2022
Nicholas Sahakian, Jr., St. John Bosco, 285 – 215-pound champion last year
Girls
Anaya Falcon, Sr., Walnut, 105 – two-time champion at 111 (2022) and 106 (2023)
Isabella Marie Gonzalez, Jr., Clovis East, 115 – 116-pound champion last year
Gianna DiBenedetto, Jr., Bella Vista, 140 – 137-pound champion last year
Duda Rodrigues, Sr., Newport Harbor, 155 – 150-pound champion last year
Leilani Lemus, Soph., Clovis, 170 – 160-pound champion last year
Brotherly love?
Cody Merrill won a state title for Gilroy two years ago but missed the 2023 state tournament with an injury. His younger brother, Coby Merrill, was a state runner-up for Gilroy at 195 pounds as a freshman last year.
Both are top seeds this year, Coby Merrill at 215 pounds and Cody Merrill at 285. They are not teammates, however, as Coby Merrill wrestles this year for JW North, his local school.
Though top-seeded, neither is a lock to win state in 2024. Both probably will have to go through returning state champions to prevail, with Poway’s Platt in the 215-pound bracket and Sahakian of St. John Bosco looming at 285.
Put a ring on it! Oh, oh, oh…
There are several wrestlers in the field who are undefeated heading into state tournament competition.
Ramirez, Mantanona, Collin Guffey of Granite Hills, and both Merrill boys have yet to taste defeat on the boys’ side. Sonny Kling of Canyon Springs may also be unbeaten, though that has not been officially reported. The same goes for Jayden Tadeo-Gosal of Kennedy of Fremont, the No. 12 seed at 215.
Besides Falcon on the girls’ side, returning champions Gonzalez and Rodrigues are undefeated. Top seeds Dulcy Martinez of Central Catholic (125) and Delarie Juarez of Brawley (145) have also yet to lose. Junior Mariah Rodriguez of Barstow, unseeded at 155, may also be unbeaten.
Brackets to watch
Besides the 150-pound class, other brackets that should feature barnburners before the finals include 113 pounds, where Sierra and Zinkin (of Poway and Buchanan) face a gauntlet with Sean Willcox (Bosco), Abram Cline (Granite Hills) and Thunder Lewis (Clovis) also in the field. At 120 pounds, Ramirez has his work cut out for him, with the likes of Quintero, Moses Mendoza of Gilroy, and Nathan Carillo of Bosco also in the bracket.
The 138-pound bracket should be interesting with returning state champion Zepeda facing off against the likes of Kelly and Bauder. Also, keep an eye on how the 190-pound bracket develops. Kling is the favorite, but top-five seeds Thomas Sandoval of Vacaville and Khale McDonnell of Fountain Valley could make a push.
For the girls, Gonzales at 115 will have to contend with state placers Kylee Golz of Trabuco Hills and Birta McCaskill of Mira Mesa. The 125-pound bracket also looks spicy with the undefeated Martinez and two top-three placers from last year Lilyana Balderas of Anaheim and Samantha Sachs of Glendora.
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At the end of the day, talk is cheap. It’s time for action! Let’s take it to the mat and see who will write their own headlines!