BAKERSFIELD — It wasn’t a bad “rebuilding year” for Poway High School’s boys wrestling team.
The Titans entered Saturday’s California state wrestling championships at Mechanics Bank Arena constantly facing an uphill battle against higher-seeded wrestlers. Still, they came away with a pair of state champions and a second-place team finish.
“I never expected us to fight for a state title this year when it started,” said Poway coach John Meyers. “For a rebuilding team, I’m really happy with all the kids.
“I normally don’t look at those things, but I saw the rankings before coming up here and what we were facing. To win here, I think you have to have six or seven finalists.”
The Titans had four, winning half of them.
Top-ranked Clovis Buchanan came away with its seventh state championship in eight years with 247.5 points. Poway was second with 240 points.
With the boys’ starting weight at 157 pounds, Poway made one last run after a difficult final day, losing three of the six “blood-round” matches to reach the medals.
Sophomore Mario Carini came out at 165 pounds and scored a 5-4 decision over Bellfower St. John Bosco’s Joseph Antonio, avenging an early season loss.
“I’m feeling great,” said Carini after his victory. “As a sophomore to win state it’s very hard. Every year, I can get better.”
Carini’s biggest accomplishment may have been his semifinal against Gilroy’s Travis Grace. He was trailing Grace 4-3 going into the last minute when Carini took advantage of an opportunity when Grace rolled to his back and he covered him for the pin in 5:18.
At 215 pounds, teammate Angelo Posada posted a second shutout of the season against No. 2 Khale McDonnell of Fountain Valley. His 7-0 decision gave him his second state title in a row and cut the Buchanan lead to under four points.
“We go out and fight, no matter what the score is or what the standings are,” said Posada, who is heading to Stanford next year. “I love Poway. I did it for my team and for my family. Poway will always have a place in my heart.”
The win gave Posada a 41-0 record for the year. He is 81-0 over the last two years. That’s good for the second longest winning streak in section history, behind three-time state champion Mark Girardi of Valhalla. His last loss was in the state final his sophomore year.
Posada and Poway teammate and fellow Stanford commit Edwin Sierra are now just the third and fourth San Diego Section wrestlers to become four-time state medalists.
Sierra and Billy Townson were the other two finalists. Sierra fell to Buchanan’s Rocklin Zinkin for the second year in a row 7-2 at 120 and Townson lost to Gilroy’s Moses Mendoza 3-1.
Besides the four finalists, another five Titans earned spots on the medal stand.
Despite being a very small heavyweight at 210 pounds, sophomore Daniel Moylan took third at 285. Moylan is expected to drop down to 190 next year.
Sophomore Arseni Kikiniou, a finalist last year at 106, jumped all the way up to 144 pounds this season. He was able to overcome a tough semifinals loss to take fifth with a 7-2 decision over Central Catholic’s Victor Gutierrez.
Also chipping in for the Titans were seventh-place medalists in freshman Julius Villamil (106), along with sophomores Matthew Orbeta (138), and Bailey Holman (157).
Granite Hills finished 14th in the tournament with 48 1/2 points and a pair of medalists. Junior Ames-Michael Hoevker took sixth at 138, while Junior Bumanglag, a senior, took seventh at 175.
Other San Diego Section medalists were Imperial’s Noah Larios, seventh at 285, and Brawley’s Ricardo Ortiz, who took eighth at 120.
CIF state wrestling championships
At Mechanics Bank Arena, Bakersfield
Boys
Team: 1. Buchanan 247.5, 2. Poway 240, 3. Gilroy 239, 4. St. John Bosco 229.5, 5. Clovis 211; Others: 14. Granite Hills 48.5, 20. Brawley 38.5.
Finals
106 – Sanchez (Esperanza) tf Garza (Clovis) 20-0 (5:04); 113 – Aslikyan (Birmingham) dec Paul Ruis (Buchanan) 5-2; 120 – Zinkin (Buchanan) dec. Sierra (Poway) 7-2; 126 – Cortez (Gilroy) md Paris Ruis (Buchanan) 9-0; 132 – Mendoza (Gilroy) dec Townson (Poway) 3-1; 138 – Cortez (Gilroy) dec Grajeda (St. John Bosco) 3-2 UTB; 144 – Zinkin (Clovis) dec. Toscano (Buchanan) 4-1;150 – Zapeda (Gilroy) dec Raby (Anderson) 5-3; 157 – Creason (El Diamonte) dec Contino (Buchanan) 4-1; 165 – Carini (Poway) dec Antonio (St. John Bosco); 175 – Eise (Gilroy) md Ontiverios (Pitman) 13-4; 190 – Bussey (Granite Bay) dec Rocha (Clovis North) 4-3; 215 – Posada (Poway) dec McDonnell (Fountain Valley) 7-0; 285 – Merrill (JW North) dec Marin (Clovis) 8-2.
Third-place matches
285 – Moylan (Poway) md Alarcon (Clovis North) 10-2.
Fifth-place matches
138 – Gutierrez (Fountain Valley) pin Hoevker (Granite Hills) 4:34; 144 – Kikiniou (Poway) dec Gutierrez (Central Catholic) 7-2.
Seventh-place matches
106 – Villamil (Poway) dec Butler (Northview) 4:04; 120 – Rivas (Mission Oaks) md Ortiz (Brawley) 12-2; 138 – Orbeta (Poway) pin Reza (South) 4:30; 157 – Holman (Poway) dec Manno (Newport Harbor) 5-3; 175 – Fernandez (St. John Bosco) dec Bumanglag (Granite Hills) 7-1; Larios (Imperial) dec Ceja (Pittman) 4-2 .
