106: The pair of nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight, No. 11 Gionn Peralta (Vacaville) and No. 17 Matt Gamble (Monache) are featured in opposite halves of this bracket. If weight class favorite Peralta is to win the title, he will for sure have to earn it. His path to the title would involve a potential round of 16 match against Junior Greco All-American Joey Cisneros (Redwood), a quarterfinal against 2011 state placer Alfredo Espinoza (Otay Ranch), and then Reno TOC champion Tirso Lara (Poway) in the semifinal. Similarly the path for Gamble is not easy either, with a possible quarterfinal against returning state placer Julian Gayton (Clovis) and semifinal against another returning state placer in Adrian Camposano (Central).
113: Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco) is the number one ranked wrestler nationally in this weight class, and has yet to lose a match in two seasons of high school. By virtue of those credentials, he enters this weekend as a prohibitive favorite. All that said, the winner of a quarterfinal bout between returning state placer Matt Smull (Shasta) and the formidable Sean Williams (Lemoore), who beat Reno TOC champion Sean Cannon in the Battle for the Belt semis, could provide a nominal test for Valencia in the semifinal round. The other nationally ranked wrestler here is freshman Israel Saavedra (Modesto), who is ranked No. 18 having placed at the Super 32 Challenge this fall and FloNationals last spring. Saavedra is in the opposite half of the draw from Valencia, and his primary challenge before the final would come in the form of a semifinal bout against returning state placer Isaiah Hokit (Wasco).
120: Four nationally ranked wrestlers are present in this weight class, and each is in separate quarter-brackets of the draw. No. 9 Mason Pengilly (Porterville) is a two-time state placer, FloNationals runner-up, and Junior National freestyle All-American; No. 11 Isaiah Locsin (Live Oak) is a two-time state finalist and was champion of the weight class that all four of these young men competed in at the state tournament last year; No. 13 Jonas Gayton (Clovis) is also a two-time state placer, was second at state last year, and fifth at the FloNationals; while No. 15 Micah Perez (Central Union) has twice finished third at state and was third in freestyle at the 2011 Junior Nationals.
Bracketing would establish semifinal matchups of Perez vs. Pengilly, along with a rematch of last year's state final between Locsin and Gayton. Each opponent has at least one nominal stumbling block prior to the semifinal round: Perez could face Ricky Coster (Freedom) in the quarterfinal, Pengilly could face freshman notable Jeremy Thomas (Santiago Corona) in the quarterfinal, Locsin could face returning two-time state placer Arulfo Olea (Exexter) in the round of 16 and then Kasey Klaus (Vacaville) in the quarterfinal, while Gayon is looking at a quarterfinal match against state placer Jordan Gurrola (North Torrence).
126: For a lower-to-middle weight in the Golden State, things appear extremely shallow with no nationally ranked wrestlers and only two returning state placers. Those returning state placers would be Vincent Gomez (Bakersfield Frontier) and Victor Trujillo (Bella Vista), who have each placed sixth at a prior state tournament. A third contender for the championship would come in the form of Reno TOC champion Michael Knoblauch (Clovis West), a junior who is making his third state tournament appearance. Based on the bracket, Knoblauch is in the same half as Trujillo, and project to the semifinal round; while Gomez is alone in the bottom half of the draw.
132: Freshman sensation Aaron Pico (St. John Bosco) has been the dominant story in this weight class all season, as he has been dominant, and is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in all the land at this weight class. There are four returning/previous state placers in this weight class, and all are on the opposite half of the draw from Pico. Two-time state placer Paul Fox (Gilroy), last year a state runner-up, is looking at a preliminary round bout against returning state placer Adrian Panduro (Corcoran); however, the winner of that bout should clear to the semifinal in the lower half bracket. The other quarter of the lower half should yield a quarterfinal between No. 10 Javier Gasca (Kingsburg), who was third at state last year, and Ali Naser (El Camino Real), seventh at state in 2011.
138: The story of last year's state finals in California was the late-match heroics from Nikko Villarreal (Gilroy) to block Alex Cisneros from becoming a four-time state champion. This year, Villarreal is ranked No. 12 nationally in the weight class and a strong favorite to clear a weight class with limited challengers. The lone other placer in this weight class is Chris Garcia (Clovis West), who placed eighth at state last year. Some other challengers include Mike Longo (Santiago Corona), a Junior Greco All-American last summer; Elijah Davis (Riordan), a 2011 Cadet Greco-Roman national champion; and Sergio Enloe (Poway), who has been excellent in this his junior season. In terms of bracketing, the top semifinal would project to Garcia facing the winner of an Enloe/Davis quarterfinal; while the bottom semifinal lends itself to a Villarreal vs. Longo matchup.
145: Though no wrestler in this bracket appears in the national weight class rankings, there are four excellent talents here that can viably contend for the state championship. Each is in a separate quarter of the draw, which should make for excellent semifinal bouts. The top semifinal should place Anthony Valencia (St. John Bosco), last year's state champion at 126 pounds, and returning state fifth place finisher Jason Ladd (Clovis) against one another; while the bottom half features returning fifth place finisher Christian Pagdilao (Santiago Corona) against two-time state placer Victor Lopez (Poway), who was second at state last year. Lopez enters the tournament a slight favorite, as he beat Valencia by 15-6 major decision in the mid-January Battle for the Belt final and was a Super 32 Challenge placer.
152: The lone nationally ranked wrestler in this weight is No. 12 Shayne Tucker (Bella Vista), a two-time state placer who was runner-up at state last season. In addition, Tucker was fourth at the Ironman and a Reno TOC champion this season, and is a two-time Super 32 Challenge placer. However, there are four other returning state placers, all whom have also proven it on the national state, with legitimate chances of knocking off Tucker for the state title: Coleman Hammond (Bakersfield), Kyle Perreault (Clovis East), Luke Wilson (Righetti), and Blayne Briceno (Crespi). In terms of the draw, Southern section champion Wilson and Central section runner-up Hammond should meet in the top semifinal; San Joaquin section champion Tucker should advance to the bottom semifinal against the winner of a round of 16 match between Central section champion Perreault and Southern section runner-up Briceno.
160: If it wasn't for Ironman finals matches against Bo Jordan the last two years, Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore) could be looking at a third straight undefeated state championship season. Ranked No. 2 in the nation, he has run rough-shod through virtually all of his competition on the way to being prohibitively favored for a third California state title. During the last off-season, he was champion at the FloNationals, Junior National freestyle championships, and Super 32 Challenge. In terms of a true challenger this weekend, the most plausible hope would be returning state placer Ray Lomas (Central Catholic). It is however unfortunate that these two wrestlers project to meet in the state semifinal round. It is likely that the other finals opponent will be Cadet Greco-Roman runner-up Nick Fiegener (Folsom) or Bradley Christensen (Chapparral).
170: This is just a stacked weight class with four nationally ranked wrestlers, all who placed at state last year, being joined by a fifth returning state medalist. The draw places No. 14 Keaton Subjeck (Oak Ridge), runner-up of the San Joaquin section, in the top quarter of the draw; the second quarter of the bracket features both No. 13 Corey Griego (Sultana), who took a surprising sixth in the Southern section, and Steve Cervantes (Poway); No. 9 Peter Santos (Oakmont), champion of the San Joaquin section, is in the third quarter; while No. 16 Bryan Salinas (Northview), champion of the Southern section, appears in the bottom quarter bracket. Any one of these five young men could win the state title come Saturday evening in Bakersfield.
182: Adrian Salas (Clovis), a two-time state placer ranked No. 19 nationally, enters the weekend a slight favorite coming off his Central section finals victory over returning state runner-up Kyle Pope (Bakersfield). Other wrestlers to watch in this weight include returning state third place finisher Immanuel Barber (Canyon Springs) and Sohrab Movahedi (Granada Hills). The bracket sets up for semifinal matches placing Barber against Pope, and Movahedi against Salas.
195: This weight class features no nationally ranked wrestlers and only a pair of returning state placers in Jeramy Sweany (Vacaville) and Trevor Smith (Ripon). The junior Sweany enters as favorite coming into the weekend, as his only loss on the season was a tight one to two-time state champion Broc Berge (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.), who is ranked No. 6 nationally. During the course of the season he won major titles at the Reno TOC and Battle for the Belt. On paper, he appears a strong favorite to advance to the final, though a Battle for the Belt finals rematch against Matt Weiss (Clovis) -- one that he won 8-3 -- is possible in the round of 16. The other half of the draw features a likely state semifinal against returning state placer Trevor Smith (Ripon) and Junior Greco All-American Mason Kumashiro (Los Alamitos).
220: The lone returning state placer is No. 12 Sean Medley (Wasco), who finished fourth at state last year and was a FloNationals placer. His likely finals opponent will be either Jordan Sepeda (Natomas) or Derrick Jones (Bloomington), who meet in the bottom bracket semifinal.
285: Two returning state placers are featured among the field at this weight class, No. 3 Nick Nevills (Clovis) and Nour Abdullatif (Eleanor Roosevelt). Nevills won state as a freshman in 2011 at this weight class, and was third last year, while fellow junior Abdullatif placed sixth in this weight class last year. These two wrestlers are in opposite half-brackets, so they're likely to meet in the state final. It would be a rematch of the Battle for the Belt final, won by Nevills with a first period fall.
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