It was a good day for San Bernardino County wrestlers, as a total of 26 advanced to next weekend’s CIF State Championships in Bakersfield.

The county produced three champions: Chino Hills senior Christian Martin (113), Sultana sophomore Corey Griego (152) and Oak Hills senior Robert Marchese (195). Marchese is ranked No. 1 in the state and improved his record to 45-0.

A listing by school of state qualifiers, with some notes:

Alta Loma (4): Jacob Leon (2nd, 138, qualifies for 2nd straight year), Eli Mack (4th, 145, qualifies for 2nd straight year), Joseph Rodriguez (8th, 152), Anthony Flores (5th, 195, qualified last year while at Kaiser). First time 4 state qualifiers in same year.
Apple Valley (1): Anthony Ballinger (5th, 182)
Arroyo Valley (1): Bryan Garcia (9th, 160), first ever wrestling state qualifier from the school. Only 2nd state qualifier from school in any sport.
Bloomington (1): Derrick Jones (5th, 220, only a sophomore)
Carter (2): Casper Sherow (6th, 126, first Masters semifinalist in school history), Kenneth Clark (8th, 285). First time 2 state qualifiers from Carter in the same year.
Chino Hills (2): Christian Martin (1st, 113, qualifies for 2nd straight year), Brody Goens (6th, 182)
Colony (1): Anthony Soto (9th, 106 qualifies for 2nd straight year)
Etiwanda (2): Larry Cutbirth (3rd, 182, held out of Masters last year for academics), J.J. Everard (3rd, 220, qualifies for 2nd straight year). 2nd time in school history two state qualifiers the same year.
Granite Hills (1): Ryan Soto (2nd, 152)
Los Osos (2): Timmy Maldonado (3rd, 132), Jon Solano (3rd, 170). Both qualify for 2nd straight year
Miller (1): Raymond Sanchez (9th, 182)
Oak Hills (1): Robert Marchese (1st, 195, placed at state the last 2 years)
Rialto (1): Thomas Pegues (9th, 145) Was 5th last week at CIF-SS Southern Division. Third qualifier in school history.
Rim of the World (1): Seth Whisner (8th, 145, qualifies for 2nd straight year)
Serrano (1): Shaun Donley (7th, 170)
Sultana (3): Corey Griego (1st, 152, only a sophomore), Matt Williams (5th, 160) and Zach Williams (9th, 220). Williams are brothers
Victor Valley (1): Zack Douglass (6th, 160)

Congratulations to both Bloomington and Victor Valley on Saturday as they won the Division 5 and 4 CIF-SS Dual-Meet wrestling titles, respectively.
I was at the Division 5 tournament at Irvine High and Bloomington won with relative ease.
After a first-round bye, the top-seeded Bruins downed Yorba Linda 43-22, fourth-seded West Torrance 44-24 and second-seeded Placentia Valencia 53-12 in the finals.
I’ll have a story in Sunday’s section, but it was impossible to mention all 23 wrestlers who competed for Bloomington in one or more matches on Saturday. All told, Bloomington’s individuals were 30-12 in their 42 matches. Pretty impressive.

So, here’s a rundown, on who wrestled for Bloomington and how they did:
106 pounds: Jorge Carbajal 1-0 (pin)
Miles Avila-Johnson 2-0 (both by pin)
113: Jose Santiago 0-1 (pin)
Johnny Foster 2-0 (by pin and by decision)
120: Angel Sida 0-2 (pin in both)
Carlos Garcia 1-0 (major decision)
126: Albert Arce 1-0 (decision in OT)
Jonathan Gutierrez 2-0 (pin and decision)
132: Brian Alvarez 0-1 (by major decision)
Miguel Medina 2-0 (by major decision and pin)
138: Uzo Owuama 3-0 (decision, technical fall, default)
145: Jorge Medina 3-0 (1 minor decision, 2 major decisions)
152: Derek Abeln 1-0 (by pin)
Alejandro Guerrero 0-2 (both by minor decision)
160: Emanuel Cruz 0-1 (by pin)
Antonio Leon 0-2 (both in OT)
170: Marcus Vargas 3-0 (all by pin)
182: Angel Villarreal 3-0 (1 major decision, 2 minor decisions)
195: Tyrik Easley 1-2 (all by pin)
220: Samuel Aviles 1-0 (in OT)
Derrick Jones 2-0 (major decision, pin)
285: Ronnie Warren 1-0 (minor decision)
Khaelin Webb 1-1 (both by pin)

Victor Valley, meanwhile was top-seeded and competing at Palmdale Quartz Hill in D4.
The Jackrabbits won easily in the finals. Coach C.T. Campbell said his team built a 37-3 lead over second-seeded Ventura, then Ventura chose to forfeit the final four matches.
In the semifinals against San Jacinto however, it was a different story.
The Jackrabbits trailed and needed to win their final four matches to pull out the victory. and needed three pins to do so. They got the two pins and a decision so they entered their final bout trailing 32-28 but Danny Delgado got the pin at 126 pounds to give Victor Valley the victory.
Congratulations to both teams.

This offseason should have been a celebration for the Victor Valley High School football program, as the Jackrabbits completed a three-year ascent from Desert Sky League doormat to champion, winning the league and advancing to the CIF-SS Eastern Division quarterfinals under first-year coach Eric Perry.

But the Jackrabbits were turned upside down in June, when Perry’s contract was not renewed due to teaching credentialing issues. That caused him to take an assistant job at La Quinta and prompted Leland Eudy, who had spent 18 years as the head man at Victor Valley before serving as defensive coordinator a year ago, to return for his third stint of coaching the Jackrabbits.

“I quit coaching altogether in March but when this all went down in June, they wanted me to come back and I agreed,” Eudy said. “I’ve been coaching this group of kids since they were freshman, so that should help us move past this and build on what we’ve done these past few years.”

The Jackrabbits will lack the explosive passing game they’ve had in recent years, with all-league quarterback Zeke Julien and explosive receivers Isaiah Kepley and Traevon Beddard having graduated. Marcus Zamora (5-10, 170) is the only returning receiver.
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Now that I’ve predicted the games, I’ll start finishing up these playoff scenario. After three pretty easy ones, the DSL is making my head spin a bit.

1. Ridgecrest Burroughs (6-3, 3-0): Burroughs is the only team to have clinched a playoff spot already and would clinch a league title and its No. 1 seed in the Eastern Division playoffs with a win Friday against Victor Valley. It would get the No. 2 seed in a loss by virtue of losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Jackrabbits.

2. Victor Valley (7-2, 2-1): The Jackrabbits would clinch a playoff spot, the league title and the No. 1 seed out of the DSL in the playoffs with a victory over Burroughs. It would also clinch with a loss and a Barstow win over Silverado, getting the No. 2 seed over Granite Hills by virtue of owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Cougars. However, a loss and a Silverado win would cause a three-way coin flip for two spots between Victor Valley, Granite Hills and Silverado by virtue of each team going 1-1 against the other two. Due to its record though, Victor Valley has a good shot at the at-large even if it loses the coin flip.

3. Granite Hills (4-5, 2-2): The Cougars are done with their league season and clinch a playoff spot with a Silverado loss or a Victor Valley win. If Silverado loses, Granite Hills is the No. 3 no matter what Victor Valley does, as the Cougars lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Victor Valley. If Victor Valley wins, Granite Hills is the No. 3 no matter what Silverado does as the Cougars own the head-to-head over the Hawks. A Silverado win and a Victor Valley loss would bring about the three-way coin flip for two spots. Unlike Victor Valley, Granite Hills wouldn’t have much of a shot at an at-large.

4. Silverado (4-4-1, 1-2): There is no way for Silverado to make the playoffs without winning a coin flip, but they must beat Barstow and have Victor Valley lose to get to that scenario. A win and a Victor Valley win would put the Hawks in a tie with Granite Hills for third, with the Cougars getting the nod due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. If Silverado finishes fourth in the above scenarios, it has a shot at the at-large playoff berth. A loss to Barstow would eliminate Silverado from consideration.

5. Barstow (1-8, 0-3): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

Nothing too crazy this past week, as there were a lot of teams resting up for league play.

1. Chino Hills (4-1)
Previous ranking: 4. Last week: idle. Up next: Friday at Claremont (4-1).

2. Kaiser (4-0)
Previous ranking: 2. Last week: def. Hesperia, 55-14. Up next: Friday vs. Jurupa Valley (1-4).

3. Redlands (4-0-1)
Previous ranking: 3. Last week: idle. Up next: Friday at No. 5 Redlands East Valley (3-2).

4. Colton (4-1)
Previous ranking: 5. Last week: def. Arroyo Valley, 27-14. Up next: Friday at San Bernardino (3-2).

5. Redlands East Valley (3-2)
Previous ranking: 4. Last week: lost to Mission Viejo, 42-14. Up next: Friday vs. No. 3 Redlands (4-0-1).

6. Rancho Cucamonga (4-1)
Previous ranking: 6. Last week: idle. Up next: Friday at Los Osos (3-2).

7. Serrano (4-1)
Previous ranking: 7. Last week: idle. Up next: Friday at Apple Valley (3-2).

8. Victor Valley (5-0)
Previous ranking: 8. Last week: def. Riverside Patriot, 35-21. Up next: Friday vs. Silverado (2-2-1).

9. Upland (3-2)
Previous ranking: 9. Last week: idle. Up next: Friday at Alta Loma (0-5).

10. Chino (5-0)
Previous ranking: 10. Last week: def. El Monte, 40-16. Up next: Thursday vs. Garey (4-2).

Just missed the cut: Silverado (2-2-1), Summit (2-1-1), Los Osos (3-2).

Dropped out: None.

Or at least, it seems that way.
Five different leagues (De Anza, Desert Sky, Mojave River, Mt. Baldy and Sunkist) with San Bernardino County schools will be sending wrestlers to Oxnard Pacifica High for the CIF-SS Northern Division individual championships on Friday and Saturday.

Four of those leagues: Desert Sky, Mojave River, Mt. Baldy and Sunkist all have wrestlers who are seeded among the top five in their weight class. The top five in each weight class advance to the CIF-SS Masters Meet next week.

Of the 70 wrestlers in the division seeded in the top five, 37 are from San Bernardino County.
Montclair leads county schools with top five seeds, (seven), followed by Bloomington and Colony (five), Sultana (four), Barstow, Victor Valley and Hesperia (three), Kaiser (two), Ontario (two), and one each for Granite Hills, Apple Valley and Rim of the World.

Six of the 14 top-seeded wrestlers in the division are also from the county: Barstow’s Sean Silva (112), Hesperia’s Ivan Pinto (125), Bloomington’s Phillip Hendrix (130), Montclair’s Joseph Martinez (135), Hesperia’s Chris Sloat (160) and Sultana’s Manuel Mazariegos (heavyweight).