Buchanan claimed the team title at the Doc Buchanan Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Tuesday evening, Buchanan (Calif.) had most things go wrong in a 26-25 dual meet loss to Montini Catholic (Ill.) at the Garlic City Rumble in Gilroy; the Bears went 0-4 in one-point matches and lost an additional two-point match in that upset dual meet defeat. However, over the course of Friday and Saturday, the current national No. 5 (former national No. 3) Buchanan bounced back in spectacular fashion. Competing in the absolutely loaded Doc Buchanan Invitational at Clovis High School, the Bears placed a tournament high nine wrestlers on the way to 185.5 points and a repeat tournament title.
Leading the way for Buchanan was the weight class title earned by Raymond Lopez at 106 pounds, which was keyed by a 15-14 semifinal victory over No. 13 Beau Mantanona (Palm Desert, Calif.). Two additional wrestlers placed in the top three, No. 6 Carlos Negrete (120) lost 4-3 in the final to No. 15 (at 126) Tristan Lujan (Selma, Calif.); while No. 19 Rocco Contino (170) placed third after losing by first period pin in the semifinal to eventual champion No. 5 (at 182) Gavin Kane (Cambridge, Ga.). Placing fourth for the Bears were Logan Gioffre (145) and No. 10 Joseph Martin (182); No. 9 Jack Gioffre (113) finished fifth; No. 8 Maximo Renteria (126) placed in joint sixth, defaulting out of the tournament after losing in the semifinal to No. 9 Jacob Rundell (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.); also placing sixth was Hunter Leake (132), while Kyler Lake (138) earned eighth.
Second place at the Doc Buchanan went to No. 4 Montini Catholic (Ill.) for a second straight season, as the Broncos scored 147 points on the strength of eight placers led by weight class champion No. 7 Dylan Ragusin (126). Ragusin earned a 15-6 major decision over No. 19 Chance Lamer (Crescent Valley, Ore.) in the semifinal before upending Rundell 4-3 in the championship match. No. 16 Fidel Mayora (145) finished third, while the other six placing wrestlers were fifth or below: Joe Fernau (106) and Trevor Swier (182) in fifth, Joe Roberts (152) and Colin Baker (285) in seventh, along with Nain Vazquez (120) and Josh LaBarbera (195) in eighth.
Finishing a close third was No. 11 Lake Highland Prep (Fla.) with 146 points led by weight class champion No. 8 (at 145) Justin Rivera, who upended No. 17 Daniel Cardenas (Pomona, Colo.) 2-1 for gold at 138 pounds. Six other Highlanders ascended on the podium: No. 14 (at 138) Chris Rivera (132) placed third, Danny Nini (120) and Matt Kaplan (220) took fourth, No. 10 Noah Castillo (152) was fifth, Dominic Isola (160) placed sixth, and Bailey Flanagan (170) earned eighth.
Three wrestlers ranked first in the country earned weight class titles at the Doc Buchanan on Saturday night: Richard Figueroa (Selma, Calif.) at 113 pounds, Dominick Serrano (Windsor, Colo.) at 132, and Chase Saldate (Gilroy, Calif.) at 152.
Dominick Serrano gets in on a shot against Bergen Catholic's Dylan Cedeno in the finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Figueroa and Saldate earned two victories over ranked opponents in the event. Figueroa pinned No. 18 Joseph Cangro (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) in 1:47 before upending No. 3 Joey Cruz (Clovis North, Calif.) 3-2 in the final, which came after Cruz earned a 11-3 major decision in the semifinal over Gioffre; Saldate scored a 9-4 semifinal victory over No. 16 Tyler Badgett (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) before knocking off No. 19 (at 160) Matthew Singleton (Woodward Academy, Ga.) 5-1 in the final, which came after Singleton knocked off former national No. 1 Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 9-2 in the semifinal in his first tournament back from injury. Serrano pinned No. 14 Wayne Joint (Lemoore, Calif.) late in the semifinal, before upending Dylan Cedeno (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 3-1 in the final, which was after Cedeno upset Rivera 3-0 in the semifinal.
Three championship matches saw lower ranked opponents earn victories over those ranked higher. At 160 pounds, No. 3 Cael Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) had a four takedown to none advantage in a comprehensive 9-5 victory over No. 2 Padraic Gallagher (St. Edward, Ohio). He was named Outstanding Wrestler of the event. It was No. 9 Isaiah Salazar (Windsor, Colo.) beating No. 6 Nathan Haas (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 9-8 in the tiebreaker, after Salazar beat No. 10 Martin by a 6-2 score in the semifinal; while No. 9 Josiah Hill (Bakersfield, Calif.) won the proverbial rubber match of the season series against No. 8 Nicholas Villarreal (Gilroy, Calif.) by an 8-2 decision.
Rounding out the weight class champions were No. 19 (at 152) Luka Wick (San Marino, Calif.) at 152 pounds, No. 20 Guillermo Escobedo (Los Altos, calif.) at 195, and Justin Darter (Bakersfield, Calif.) at 220.
Team standings:
1. No. 5 Buchanan, Calif. 185.5 (9 placers)
2. No. 4 Montini Catholic, Ill. 147 (8)
3. No. 11 Lake Highland Prep, Fla. 146 (7)
4. No. 14 Delbarton, N.J. 132 (6)
5. No. 6 St. Edward, Ohio 119 (5)
6. No. 18 St. John Bosco, Calif. 117 (5)
7. No. 19 Gilroy, Calif. 110 (5)
8. No. 28 Clovis, Calif. 102 (4)
9. No. 31 Crescent Valley, Ore. 81 (3)
(tie) No. 32 Selma, Calif. (2)
11. Oak Park River Forest, Ill. 80 (2)
12. No. 7 Bergen Catholic, N.J. 76 (4)
13. No. 37 Clovis North, Calif. 73 (2)
14. No. 46 Windsor, Colo. 70 (3)
17. No. 44 Pomona, Colo. 58.5 (2)
Championship matches:
106: Raymond Lopez (Buchanan, Calif.) pin Michael Torres (Oakdale, Calif.) 3:12
113: No. 1 Richard Figueroa (Selma, Calif.) dec. No. 3 Joey Cruz (Clovis North, Calif.) 3-2
120: No. 15 (at 126) Tristan Lujan (Selma, Calif.) dec. No. 6 Carlos Negrete (Buchanan, Calif.) 4-3
126: No. 7 Dylan Ragusin (Montini Catholic, Ill.) dec. No. 9 Jacob Rundell (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.) 4-3
132: No. 1 Dominick Serrano (Windsor, Colo.) dec. Dylan Cedeno (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 3-1
138: No. 8 (at 145) Justin Rivera (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) dec. No. 17 Daniel Cardenas (Pomona, Colo.) 2-1
145: No. 19 (at 152) Luka Wick (San Marino, Calif.) major dec. Luke Geog (St. Edward, Ohio) 8-0
152: No. 1 Chase Saldate (Gilroy, Calif.) dec. No. 19 (at 152) Matthew Singleton (Woodward Academy, Ga.) 5-1
160: No. 3 Cael Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) dec. No. 2 Padraic Gallagher (St. Edward, Ohio) 9-5
170: No. 5 (at 182) Gavin Kane (Cambridge, Ga.) dec. No. 14 Gianno Petrucelli (Clovis, Calif.) 4-1
182: No. 9 Isaiah Salazar (Windsor, Colo.) dec. No. 6 Nathan Haas (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 9-8, tiebreaker
195: No. 20 Guillermo Escobedo (Los Altos, Calif.) dec. Daemyen Middlebrooks (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.) 8-5
220: Justin Darter (Bakersfield, Calif.) dec. P.J. Casale (Delbarton, N.J.) 7-5
285: No. 9 Josiah Hill (Bakersfield, Calif.) dec. No. 8 Nicholas Villarreal (Gilroy, Calif.) 8-2
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