The champion Bears placed ten wrestlers in nine weight classes on the way to 216 points. Four wrestlers won their respective weight classes: No. 17 (at 120) Matthew Olguin earned gold at 113, No. 15 (at 126 Ethan Leake was on top the podium at 120, Brett Villarreal won the title at 138, while Anthony Montalvo emerged victorious at 182. Both Olguin and Leake, state champions last year, upended a nationally ranked wrestler in their championship bout; Olguin won 7-1 over No. 9 Jesse Vasquez (St. John Bosco), while Leake beat No. 20 Ian Timmins (Wooster, Nev.) 4-2.
Leading the other placers for Buchanan was a runner-up finish from Joel Romero (152); Cade Belshay (220) placed third, including a 5-2 win over No. 16 Darryl Aiello (De La Salle) in the consolation final); Chris Gaxiola (145) was fourth; Tyler Deen (126) was fifth; while Tristan Zamilpa (145) and Jake Levatino (170) placed seventh.
For the runner-up Cougars, No. 4 Justin Mejia (126) and No. 2 Seth Nevills (285) both made strong statements in winning championships at their home gym. In his season debut, Mejia beat three-time state placer Robert Garcia (Selma) 12-2 in the semifinal, before a 6-0 victory over returning state runner-up Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo) in the final; Abas had beaten No. 12 Andrew Alirez (Greeley Central, Colo.) 1-0 in the other semifinal bout.
Seven wrestlers in all placed for Clovis. Headlining the other medalists were runner-up finishes from Brandon Martino (160) and Victor Vargas (170). Giano Petrucelli (106) placed third, including a pair of wins over No. 13 Brendon Garcia (Pueblo County, Colo.); Brandon Paulson (113) was sixth; and Ruger Wyneken (195) placed seventh.
The only other team with multiple champions was No. 21 Pueblo County, Colo. They finished third in the team standings with 117.5 points. No. 14 Grant (132) and No. 9 Hunter (152) Willits each earned gold; Grant had a 3-2 win in the championship match over No. 12 Theorius Robison (Pomona, Colo.), after Robison beat No. 15 Gary Joint (Lemoore) 5-4 in the semifinal. Additional placers were No. 13 Brendon Garcia (106) in fourth and Nathan Bonham (120) in sixth.
Also over 100 points for the tournament was No. 50 Roseburg, Ore. They were anchored by weight class champion No. 3 Layne Van Anrooy (160). Three other wrestlers earned podium spots on the way to 110 team points. Those podium finishers were Haydn Maley (220) in second, Austin Harris (182) in fourth, and Bennett Mesa (138) in sixth.
Four additional nationally ranked wrestlers struck gold on Saturday night. No. 3 Antonio Lorenzo (Del Oro) at 106, No. 4 Navonte Demison (Bakersfield) at 145, No. 7 Anthony Mantanona (Palm Desert) at 170, and No. 2 Cohlton Schultz (Ponderosa, Colo.) at 220. Schultz pinned No. 16 Darryl Aiello (De La Salle) in the semifinal before replicating his Reno TOC semifinal victory over Hadyn Maley (Roseburg, Ore.) by 8-5 decision in the championship bout.
The tournament's other weight class champion was two-time state placer Chasen Blair (Rancho Bernardo), who won the 195 pound weight class.
No. 22 Pomona, Colo. finished sixth in the tournament standings despite having the third most placers in the tournament. All six wrestlers that they entered in the event earned spots on the podium. Leading the way was No. 12 Theorius Robison (132), who finished second; Coltan Yapoujian (120) was third, Nolan Krone (170) placed fourth, Jason Romero (152) earned fifth, Wyatt Yapoujian (106) finished sixth, while Justin Pacheco (113) was seventh.
The other nationally ranked team in the tournament, No. 30 Gilroy, finished tied for ninth with 92.5 points. However, they placed five wrestlers, which was joint fourth most for any team. Leading their effort was No. 3 Nico Aguilar (113), who placed third despite losing to a wrestler in the quarterfinals that he would out-place. Other podium finishers were Tony Andrade (220) in fifth, Joe Barnes (160) in sixth, Alex Felix (138) in seventh, and Chase Saldate (120) in eighth.
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