Boys & Girls Wrestling:
The moment has finally arrived for California’s most elite high school wrestlers.
The three-day CIF State Championships begins Thursday morning and runs through Saturday night at the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield.
There are approximately 40 athletes that represent the 210 Prep Sports coverage zone, including a number of CIF-SS Individual and CIF-SS Masters champions.
On a sad note, one of the area’s best, Marcus Tolentino, a 106-pound senior from Northview, won’t compete due to injury.
Tolentino finished second at both CIF and Masters, he’s a terrific and bright kid, and his father, RT, is this site’s primary wrestling photographer.
Placing at state is typically the gold standard, but there are a several that could potentially win state titles, including Walnut’s Ronnie Ramirez and Glendora’s Sam Sachs (125), just to name two.
The area’s top seeds all go to Walnut, including Ronnie Ramirez (120), Anaya Falcon (105), and Deandra Meza (110).
Sachs is seeded third in the girls 125-pound division.
Etiwanda’s Jacob Bell (138) and Evan Manzo (165) are both entering the Mechanics Bank Arena having just secured individual Baseline League, CIF-SS Individual and CIF-SS Masters championships.
Bell is seeded eighth, while Manzo is the four seed.
San Marino’s Ryder Yoshitake (140) and Mikel Davi Uyemura (150) matched Bell and Manzo with Rio Hondo League, Individual and Masters titles.
Yoshitake and Uyemura are seeded ninth and tenth, respectively.
Bonita’s Tristan Fernandez (150) hopes to place in his second trip to Bakersfield.
Fernandez, the 12-seed, won a Palomares League and CIF title, and last week, he finished second in Palm Springs.
Northview’s Faith Bartoszek (140-pound No. 4 seed) and Andrea Mateo (155) both won Masters titles this past Saturday.
Walnut’s Anaya Falcon (105), Deandra Meza (110) and Jasmine Macias (130) are headed in as Masters champs, as as mentioned above, two of the three are the odds-on-favorite to win their weight classes.
First-Round Matches:
BOYS:
106 Pounds:
Zachary Samano (Chino) vs Gabriel De La Rosa (Monterey)
113:
Camilo Rodriguez (Walnut) vs Alex Mangot (Lowell)
Jovanni Evangelista (Northview) vs Gabriel Vargas (Ramona)
120:
Ronnie Ramirez (Walnut) vs Ethan Larsen (Minaretes)
Jonathan Madera (Chino) vs Josiah Sandoval) Elk Grove)
126:
Christian Garcia (Walnut) vs Pablo Adame (Matilda Torres)
132:
Austin McSwain (Etiwanda) vs Paris Ruiz (Buchanan)
Aaron Contreras (Walnut) vs Shea Dawson (Morro Bay)
138:
Jacob Bell (Etiwanda) vs Sonny Lara (South)
144:
Ryder Yoshitake (San Marino) vs Matthew Rangel (Escalon)
Viviano Gutierrez (Northview) vs Santiago Pacheco (Central Union)
150:
Tristan Fernandez (Bonita) vs Giovanni Ruiz (Wasco)
Mikel Davi Uyemura (San Marino) vs Wyatt Alexander (Del Oro)
157:
Xingyu Chen (Los Osos) vs Leo Contino (Buchanan)
165:
Evan Manzo (Etiwanda) vs Levi Hart (Tehachapi)
175:
Michael Vassalle (Chino) vs winner of Jackson Cinfel (Clovis North)-Matin Ghanavat (Capistrano Valley)
190:
Sonny Acuna (Northview) vs Juan Carlos Puga (James Logan)
Nathan Blanco (Chino) vs Mason Walsh (Carlsbad)
GIRLS:
100 Pounds:
Malia Manibog (San Marino) vs Monee Cordero
Destiny Huitron (Arroyo) vs Graciela Caro (Amador Valley)
Ryleigh Hayes (Northview) vs Jennifer Favela (Brawley)
Sienna Montanez (Walnut) vs Aaliyah Jurado (Live Oak)
105:
Anaya Falcon (Walnut) vs Kaelena Ahrens (Vacaville)
Leah Lopez (San Marino) vs Lexie Capote (Pitman)
110:
Deandra Meza (Walnut) vs Patricia Bray (Pitman)
BK Martinez (Ayala) vs Hailee Moreno (San Fernando)
115:
Samantha Rivera (Northview) vs Shiella Paredes-Akimoto (Berkeley)
120:
Tina Takuk (Chino) vs Lastevia Muir (Lowell)
Juelz Taylor (West Covina) vs Maile Nguyen (Granada)
Eliana Garcia (Walnut) vs Addison Bernstein (Orland)
125:
Samantha Sachs (Glendora) vs Jaelyn White (Yuba City)
Mia Hooper (Northview) vs Devin Silva (Roosevelt)
130:
Jasmine Macias (Walnut) vs Joselyn Gutierrez (Watsonville)
135:
Kayla Ganac (Los Osos) vs Danica Kalley (Scotts Valley)
Renice Gonzalez (Colony) vs Priscilla Monson (San Pedro)
140:
Faith Bartoszek (Northview) vs Aliyah Shumaker (Arvin)
145:
Trinity Palumbo (Northview) vs Kyndra Olmos (Lincoln)
155:
Andrea Mateo (Northview) vs Alexandra Keirsey (El Dorado)
170:
Tati Chavarin (Ayala) vs Kauilani Garcia (Gilroy)
190:
Jade Seitz (San Dimas) vs Cecilia Chatman (Pittsburg)
235:
Charlene Smith (San Dimas) vs Yvette Garcia (Sanger)