Recap of first day of wrestling

The High Desert brought a strong contingent, but was largely left licking its wounds after the first day of the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield.

Sultana brought five wrestlers, and had two make it to Saturday, both ranked third in their weight classes. And there was some tough luck involved, as Ryan Fillingame (125) was forced to default his quarterfinal match because of a migraine. Coach Rocky Humphrey said the first priority is to get him hydrated and feeling better. Then, with more water in his system, the issue might be whether Fillingame can make weight Saturday morning.

The news is better for Cody Bollinger (145), who will wrestle second-ranked Alex Rodriguez of Fresno Washington Union in the semifinals Saturday morning.

Sultana, the CIF-SS Masters team champion last week, is only 20th in the team standings, but could be 12th if Fillingame had won his quarterfinal match by just a minor decision.

Hesperia’s two qualifiers both were eliminated, including 189-pounder Danny Reyes, who was eighth last year.

Silverado’s two wrestlers didn’t make it to day 2, same as Victor Valley.

Barstow 112-pounder Sean Silva (who also qualified last year) lost in the quarterfinals, but remains alive Saturday. He’ll need to win his first match Saturday to secure a spot in the top eight.

Redlands East Valley’s Andrew Hudson wrestled well, but was pinned by the top-ranked wrestler at 215 pounds in the quarterfinals and like Silva, will have to win his first match today to secure a medal. He did much better than the Citrus Belt League’s other two qualifiers: Miller’s Alfredo Velazquez and Carter’s Kenny Breaux, who each lost their first two matches.

San Gorgonio’s Richie Cascante won his first match, but lost his next two.

As for those in the West End of San Bernardino County, in the Inland Valley, it was a rough day. Rancho Cucamonga’s Joey Lemond lost in the final round of consolation on Friday and was eliminated. Ontario’s Jaime Jimenez did not make it that far.

It marks the first year since 2001 the Inland Valley will not have a state placer.

third round state wrestling update

Barstow’s Sean Silva (112), and Sultana’s Ryan Fillingame (125) and Cody Bollinger (145) and REV’s Andrew Hudson won their third round matches to advance to the quarterfinals on Day 1.

Winners in the championship quarterfinals Friday, will ensure themselves a top-six finish.

Fillingame had to recover after blowing an 8-4 lead in the third round to win 12-10 in overtime.

It took Hudson eight minutes and six seconds to defeat Noel Gomez of Cesar Chavez HS in the last overtime, 7-5 in his third round match.

Silverado’s Ray Rubio, who had a first-round bye, then won by default in the second round, lost 4-0 in the third round. Rancho Cucamonga’s Joey Lemond, who defeated the No. 5-ranked wrestler in his first 145-pound match in the second round, then lost 5-1 to La Costa Canyon’s Tim Randall in the third round. He’ll need to win twice more tonight to make to Saturday’s competition. Hesperia’s Danny Reyes,  and Sultana’s Manuel Mazariegos lost their third round matches and remained alive in consolation.

 

 

Not a bad start for area wrestlers at state

Unranked wrestler Joey Lemond of Rancho Cucamonga had to face the fifth-ranked wrestler in the state at 145 pounds in his first match on Friday (in the second round), but pulled off the upset, by a 6-5 score over Sac-Joaquin Section runner-up Taylor Hodel of Vacaville

San Gorgonio’s Richie Cascante and Barstow’s Sean Silva (112), Sultana’s Ryan Fillingame (125), Silverado’s Ray Rubio (130), Sultana’s Cody Bollinger (145), Hesperia’s Danny Reyes (189), REV’s Andrew Hudson (215) and Sultana’s Manuel Mazariegos (Hwt) have yet to lose and are in the third round so far on Friday.

However, Miller’s Alfredo Velasquez and Ontario’s Jaime Jimenez were among those eliminated after losing their first two matches. Jimenez was pinned despite leading 8-6 in the third period of his consolation match.

state wrestling outlook

On the eve of the 2009 state wrestling championships in Bakersfield, here’s a look at some of the prospects. This is just the first blog entry. Stay tuned for more live blogging from Bakersfield.

In the San Bernardino County and Inland Valley, here are the wrestlers who are ranked in the state entering the meet.

112: Barstow’s Sean Silva (6th); 125: Sultana’s Ryan Fillingame (3rd); 145: Sultana’s Cody Bollinger (third); 189: Hesperia’s Danny Reyes (8th); and 215: Redlands East Valley’s Andrew Hudson (fifth).

Wrestlers facing ranked opponents in their first match:

135: Victor Valley’s Chris Swayze vs. No. 7 Kevin Maelfeyt of Trinity; 145: Rancho Cucamonga’s Joey Lemond, vs. No. 5 Taylor Hodel of Vacaville; 152: Hesperia’s Christopher Sloat, vs. No. 5 Travis Gallegos of Palo Cedro Foothill (if Gallegos wins his first match); 160: Victor Valley’s Darrin Duncan vs. No. 1 Stephen West of Clovis Buchanan.

Best draws: Ryan Fillingame, who won’t face another ranked wrestler, No. 2 or No. 6 in the semifinals at the earliest if he keeps winning; Bollinger, who has a similar draw to Fillingame  except with a first-round bye and won’t face another ranked wrestlers, No. 2, 5 or 6 until the semifinals at the earliest; and Carter’s Kenny Breaux (189), who, if he keeps winning, wouldn’t face a ranked wrestler until the quarters, when he could face No. 3 or No. 7.

Tough draws, other than those with ranked first opponents: Reyes, whio is ranked eighth, but would face No. 1 seed Ian Daube of Poway in the third round, and Hudson, who is ranked fifth, but would have to get past No. 1 seed Nick Pica of Concord in the quarterfinals.

wrestlers who might do better than their rankings: Richie Cascante of San Gorgonio (112), won four straight times in consolation last week, then defaulted twice and finished a misleading eighth. Lemond, who might be able to surprise someone with an unorthodox move, and Breaux and Reyes at 189, who both have the potential to move up.

 

Montclair nearly makes history

It’s no secret that Montclair has not had a lot of athletic success in recent years.

Yet the Cavaliers’ boys soccer team played in front of a boisterous crowd at home in a CIF-SS semifinal game on Tuesday, one step away from playing in a CIF title game.

But it was not to be.

Montclair was denied a trip to the finals with a 2-1 overtime loss to Thermal Coachella Valley. According to our records, it would’ve been Montclair’s first appearance in a team title contest since 1985 when the girls soccer team tied Ganesha 2-2 to share a CIF title.

Although it’s a different format, the wrestling team did finish third in the individual tournament in 2008, one spot away from being runner-up.

Maybe things are turning around athletically for Montclair, which clearly had a student body ready to cheer on their classmates on Tuesday. It’s the kind of thing that makes it exciting around campus.

Ideas for Mt. SAC Area releaguing

I know I’m weird, but I love the intrigue of releaguing for the area high schools.

There will be plenty of changes this time around for the Mt. SAC Area (I-605 to I-15), one of which seems to be a done deal is Claremont out of the Baseline League and going to a league perhaps the same level as the Miramonte League.

The question is, what school will take Claremont’s place.  The other teams in the league aren’t going to be thrilled with a five-team league. They want a sixth. One proposal I’ve seen has Chino Hills taking that sixth spot. Geography wise, that’s not a good fit.

I thiink Damien/St. Lucy’s would be a better fit, although Baseline schools might not be thrillled. Glendora might make sense, but the Tartans want relief from the Sierra League, not a move up or at least a parallel move to the Baseline. So they won’t be thrilled.  It will be interesting to see. The next meeting is this week. Stay tuned …