Hundreds of high school wrestlers representing 94 high schools from across California, converged on Morro Bay High School Jan. 24-25 for the Annual Sam Boyd Memorial California Invitational Tournament.
The action was rough, tough and quick, as the tournament staged hundreds of matches, in 14 weight classes, narrowing the competition down until only two remained in each weight class.
Those potential champions went head-to-head in the tourney finals, wrestling under the spotlights at center mat with hundreds of fans cheering them on.
Last year’s CIF Central Section Champion, Shea Dawson of Morro Bay, finished in Third Place in the 138-poiund weight class and was the highest finisher for the Pirates at this year’s CIT.
Top-8 finishers took home hardware, they were:
Xavier Garcia of Clovis West, (light gray suit) defeated Makai Van Natta of Hanford H.S. to win the 106-pound title at the California Invitational Tournament. Photos by Neil Farrell
• Boys Varsity 106 pounds: First place went to Xavier Garcia of Clovis West, who defeated runner-up Makai Van Natta of Hanford H.S. in second. Garcia pinned Van Natta in 3-minutes and 27-seconds, which is deep into the second of the three, 3-minute rounds.
Other medalists were: Third Place — Xavier Escamilla of Exeter; Fourth Place — Cadence Harrell of Mayfair; Fifth Place — Caden Herrera of Bakersfield; Sixth Place — Alex Salas of Matilda Torres; Seventh Place — Nathiel Nava of Stockdale; and, Eighth Place — Aiden Talavera of Reedley.
• In the 113s: First Place went to Alex Ramos of Clovis West who defeated Second Place Andrew Gomez of Porterville, 4-3. In Third Place was Kenneth Xiong of El Capitan; Fourth Place — Cole Cronon of Turlock; Fifth Place — Samuel Lee of Crespi; Sixth Place — Ezekiel Hernandez of Oakdale; Seventh Place — Dayle Cailles of Valencia; and, Eighth Place — Dominic Day of St. Joseph/Santa Maria.
• In the 120s: First Place went to Anthony Castillo of Central, who won by technical fall over Second Place Jake Simmons of Oakdale, 17-2. Third Place was Kobe Negrete of Redwood; Fourth Place — Francisco Hernandez of Bullard; Fifth Place — Santana Ugues of Arvin; Sixth Place — Isaac Ronquillo of Bakersfield; Seventh Place — Sergio Valencia of Farmersville; and, Eighth Place — Nathan Kaiser of Monache.
• In the 126s: Slater Hicks of Valencia took First Place defeating Second Place Caleb Rivas of Mission Oak, 4-1. Third Place — Zachary Klarcyk of Porterville; Fourth Place — Silas Varner of Bakersfield; Fifth Place — Isaac Roman of Mayfair; Sixth Place — Cairo Plascencia of Central; Seventh Place — Drake Mello of Paso Robles; and, Eighth Place — Santino Alvaro of Santa Ynez.
• In the 132s Isaac Gonzalez of Western took First Place defeating Caleb Mcelroy of Bakersfield, 4-2. Third Place — Zavier Cerda of Hoover; Fourth Place — Daniel Benevides of Highland; Fifth Place — Diego Escobar of Overfelt; Sixth Place — Jacob Estrada of Monache; Seventh Place — Brakstyn Herrera of Sierra Pacific HS; and. Eighth Place — Johnny Navarrete of Chico.
• In the 138s, Joshua Requena of Camarillo defeated Daniel Reza of South, 11-0. Third Place went to Dawson of Morro Bay, who won by Technical Fall over Fourth Place Alejandro Navarro of Valencia, 16-1. Fifth Place — Edgar Mora of Mayfair; Sixth Place — Cristian Villarreal of Evergreen Valley; Seventh Place — Dawnoven Jimenez of Hanford; and. Eighth Place — Davrius Gutierrez of Selma.
• In the 144s Braden Priest of Bakersfield dominated Atascadero’s Kaden Pryor, 16-1, winning by Tech Fall. Third Place — Isaiah Gonzales of South; Fourth Place — Richard Robles of Liberty of Bakersfield; Fifth Place — Jake Jennings of Clovis West; Sixth Place — Jack Locke of Turlock; Seventh Place — Leonardo Guerrero of Mayfair; and, Eighth Place — Conner Ferreira of Tulare Western.
• In the 150s Roman Jesse Gutierrez of Bullard won by Technical Fall 17-2 over Second Place — Turner Yanagisawa of Mayfair. Third Place — Angelo Adame of Matilda Torres; Fourth Place — Kaileb Cadena of Bakersfield Christian; Fifth Place — Jackson Golding of Bakersfield; Sixth Place — Vincent Hanna of Calvary Chapel; Seventh Place — David Medina of Camarillo; and, Eighth Place — Pedro Coronado of Paso Robles.
• In the 157s, Beau Priest of Bakersfield won in “Sudden Victory” over Chris Creason of El Diamante, 5-2. Third Place — Nick Hernandez of Highland; Fourth Place — Tomas Fulgentes of Royal; Fifth Place — Talan Acain of Chico; Sixth Place — Brandon Velasquez of Dos Pueblos; Seventh Place — Nathan Paul of Bakersfield Christian; and, Eighth Place — Jacob Hernandez of Selma.
Cross Rodriguez of Calvary Chapel (top), wrenches the arm back of Bakersfield’s Ray Juarez in the 165s. Rodriguez pinned his man in 1:46.
• In the 165s, Cross Rodriguez of Calvary Chapel pinned Bakersfield’s Ray Juarez, in 1:46. Third Place — Lewis Saldivar of Bullard; Fourth Place — Brody Preisendorf of Redwood; Fifth Place — Emmanuel Sandoval of Camarillo; Sixth Place — Christian Carchi of Simi Valley; Seventh Place — Daniel Armendarez of Selma; and. Eighth Place — Tirso Jimenez of Sanger.
Anthony Vargas of Central (green leg band) overwhelmed Gideon Gerber of Oakdale, 21-7 for First Place in the 175s.
• In the 175s, Anthony Vargas of Central overwhelmed Gideon Gerber of Oakdale, 21-7 for First Place. Third Place — Efosa Osayande of Peninsula; Fourth Place — Angel Valenzuela of Merced; Fifth Place — Tyler Kipp of Centennial; Sixth Place — Jack Dalling of Chico; Seventh Place — Ronin Davis of Liberty (Bakersfield); and, Eighth Place — Christian Tapia of Porterville.
Richard Vega of Westmont (red leg band), decisively defeated David Rapp Jr. of Central, 7-1 to take First Place in the 190s
• In the 190s, Richard Vega of Westmont decisively defeated David Rapp Jr. of Central, 7-1 to take First Place. Third Place — Noel Ceballos of Monache; Fourth Place — EvanJames Keppler of Edison; Fifth Place — Akhilleus Ornelas of Bullard; Sixth Place — Herby Hinojosa of South; Seventh Place — Brett Williamson of Moorpark; and, Eighth Place — Xander Birakos of Oakdale.
Kayden Cartee of Mayfair (white suit) got to work fast and pinned Andru Balladarez of Edison, in just 44-seconds to win the 215s.
• In the 215s, Kayden Cartee of Mayfair got to work fast and pinned Second Place, Andru Balladarez of Edison, in just 44-seconds. Third Place — Enrique I. Segura of Redwood; Fourth Place — John O`Brien of Bishop Alemany; Fifth Place — James Flores of Western; Sixth Place — Zebediah DeVries of Arroyo Grande; Seventh Place — Jesse Addington of Bakersfield; and, Eighth Place — Edwin Hopkins of Westminster.
Alexander Carmona of Golden West (white suit) pinned Second Place Chad Troxler of Liberty High in Bakersfield, in 4:12.
• In the 285s, the heaviest weight class and filled with giant-sized boys, Alexander Carmona of Golden West pinned Second Place Chad Troxler of Liberty (Bakersfield), in 4:12. Third Place — Gabe Rodriguez of Chico; Fourth Place — Jacob Ruacho of Central; Fifth Place — Matthew Cooley of Oakdale; Sixth Place — Peter Fulgentes of Royal; Seventh Place — Gabriel, V. Kerchner of Tulare Western; and, Eighth Place — Diego Nuno of Hanford.
And in team scoring, Bakersfield was First with 269 points and Second Place went to Mayfair with 235. Third was Central with 217 points, and Fourth Pace went to Clovis West with 170.5.
Bullard was fifth with 165.5 and sixth went to Oakdale with 161.
Seventh Place went to Chico with 157.5 and eighth was Redwood with 126. Ninth was Valencia with 119.5 and 10th was South with 119.
The hiighest finishing local school was Camarillo in 12th with 110 points. Atascadero was 17th with 96; Paso Robles was 23rd with 87.5 points; and, Righetti was 41st with 62. Santa Ynez and Arroyo Grande were 44th and 45th respectively with 58.5 and 57.5 points respectively.
Morro Bay finished in the middle of the pack in 58th Place with 45.5 points. San Luis Obispo was 63rd with 41.5 points; and Santa Maria was 66th with 39.
