Mecate advances to finals
Redlands East Valley senior Chris Mecate is his school's first-ever state finalist in wrestling after downing Timmy Box of Bakersfield 11-5 in the 135 pound semifinals at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield Saturday morning.
Mecate entered the tournament ranked No. 1, while Box was ranked No. 3
Mecate, who has fifth and sixth-place medals from his junior and freshman years, respectively, will face No. 2- ranked Shane Yacuta of Porterville in the championship match tonight.
A total of seven county wrestlers made it to Day 2. Mecate and Oak Hills' Ray Delgado (119) were the lone semifinalists. Delgado, ranked sixth, was pinned in his semifinal by second-ranked Daniel Gaytan of Clovis in 51 seconds. Delgado will wrestle in consolation.
Delgado had two teammates make it to Saturday. Robert Marchese (171), an eighth-place finisher last year, clinched a spot in the top eight. Gerardo Aguirre (215) lost in consolation and is out.
Bloomington's Juan Alvarado (152) won his first match Saturday 5-1 to earn a spot in the top 8. Etiwanda's J.J. Everard (215) and Los Osos' Jon Solano (160) were eliminated Saturday morning.
About T.J.
T.J. Berka has been covering sports for The Sun since 2006. As a graduate of the University of Michigan, T.J. know good sports when he sees them - at least he thinks he does.
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