Recently in Chris Mecate Category

Five county wrestlers excelled at the NHSCA Wrestling Nationals last weekend. Leading the way was Oak Hills 171-pounder Robert Marchese, who finished second in the junior division. Redlands East Valley senior Chris Mecate, the state champions in the 135-pound division, finished in third in the senior division at nationals, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Terrel Wilbourn of St. Charles, Mo. 6-4. Mecate defeated Bakersfield's Timmy Box -- who he defeated in the state semifinals -- 7-4 in the third-place match.

Oak Hills had two other wrestlers place in their respective divisions, with Ray Delgado placing fifth at 112 pounds in the senior division and Justin Gilliam placing third in the heavyweight division in the freshman division. Rim of the World junior Christian Smith also finished sixth in the junior division.

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.

Tony Rotundo/wrestlersarewarriors.com

Last weekend was the prestigous Doc Buchanan Wrestling Invtiational in Clovis. There were only two county teams entered in the event: Redlands East Valley and Sultana, and each brought home an individual champion.
REV's Chris Mecate (pictured above at the tournament) won the 135-pound weight class, defeating Bakersfield's Natrelle Demison 6-4 in overtime in the final, and defeating several ranked wrestlers earlier in the event. Demison entered the event ranked No. 1 in the state at 130 pounds.The placers at 135 included Demison, Mecate (ranked No. 4), third place Wiliam Fox of Gilroy (ranked No. 6), fourth place Shane Tate of Oakdale (No. 3), sixth place Nikkolas Pena of Selma (ranked No. 1 at 140) and seventh place Andrew Perez of Pitman (No. 5),
Sultana's Michael Gonzalez took home the title at 145, defeating David Meza of Buena Park 9-5 in the finals. Gonzalez was ranked 10th at 145 pounds before the event, while Meza was sixth at 140.
The only other placer from the county was REV's Taylor Rippy, who was sixth at 171 pounds.

Redlands East Valley wrestler Chris Mecate and volleyball player Krista Vansant will sign National Letters of Intent tomorrow morning as part of the beginning of the Fall Signing Period. Mecate will sign with Old Dominion in the principal's office at 7 a.m. while Vansant will sign with the University of Washington at 7:30 a.m. in Kurt Bruich's office.

Redlands East Valley junior wrestler Chris Mecate continued his impressive season, taking first place in the 119-pound division at this past weekend's Five Counties Tournament at Fountain Valley High School according to an e-mail sent to me by his father, Perry Mecate.

Mecate, ranked third in the state coming into the tournament, bested the two wrestlers ranked ahead of him Saturday, defeating No. 2-seeded Bryan Grubbs of Carlsbad La Costa Canyon 3-2 in the semifinals and No. 1 seeded Zach Zimmer of Clovis West 3-1 in the championship match to grab the title.

Redlands East Valley junior wrestler Chris Mecate won first place in the 119-pound class at the Super 32 high school wrestling tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Saturday. Mecate was the best of a field of 145 wrestlers in the 119-pound class from all over the country. According to Mecate's father Perry, Chris defeated two All-Americans, two state champions and three other state placers en route to the title. The 119-pound class included eight All-Americans, 23 state champions, 57 state placers and 68 regional placers, respectively.