By Steve Ramirez
twitter.com/SteveRRamirez

BAKERSFIELD — San Marino High School’s Julian Flores and Walnut’s Michael Sill flew under the radar for much of the season.
But they will be on center stage today.
Flores and Sill advanced to the final four of their respective weight classes to lead area efforts Friday at the 41st CIF State wrestling championships at Rabobank Arena.
Flores, unranked at 120 pounds coming into the tournament, beat Ricky Coster, of Freedom (Oakley), 5-1, in the quarters and will go up against No. 1 Mason Pengilly, of Porterville this morning for a spot in tonight’s finals.
Sill beat Northview’s Daniel Valles, 7-4, to advance to the 138 semfinals. He will face Riordan’s Elijah Davis.
Northview’s Valles, Bryan Salinas (170) and Eric Ochoa (113) and Chino Hills’ Garrick Gurney (170) are still alive for a top eight medal. They will wrestle in the consolation fifth round today and need to win to finish among to qualify for the medal round and finish in the top eight.
Northview’s Vincent Parra (106), Tony Arellano (132), Rick Padilla (145), and Steven Lopez (160); San Marino’s Evan Wick (113); Glendora’s Thomas Tello (132); Rowland’s Mario Lopez (138) and Diamond Bar’s Nathan Rodriguez (182) lost two matches and didn’t advance.
Walnut’s Michael Sill: “This is what matters, preseason doesn’t. The rankings don’t matter. I know I belong in the (top four), because I worked so hard during the year. I don’t think about rankings. I just think I can be the best wrestler I can be.”
San Marino’s Julian Flores: “It’s great be in the semifinals. It’s what I worked for all year. I try to take every match here as the finals. To get to the semifinals is a tremendous honor.”

FINAL FIRST DAY RESULTS
CIF STATE WRESTLING
AREA RESULTS
106
VINCENT PARRA (Northview) — lost to Chris Cisneros (Selma), 8-3; def. Cons1: Def. Julian Gendreau (St. John Bosco), 5-2; Cons2: def. Isaac Blackburn (Del Oro), 5-4; Cons3: Lost to Carlos Herrera (Bakersfield), 5-1. OUT
113
EVAN WICK (San Marino) — def. Isaac Moreno (Brawley), TF, 17-1; def. Kenny Jones (Lassen), 7-3; Champ3: Lost Isaiah Hout (Wasco), 4-1; Cons3: Def. Anthony Hernandez (Vacaville), 6-1; Cons4: Lost to Eric Ochoa (Norvhview), 7-4. OUT
ERIC OCHOA (Northview) — lost to Joseph Jauregui (Clovis East), 7-1; Cons1: Def. Luis Ortiz (Magnolia), 10-3; Cons2: Def. Elias Hernandez (Serra, San Mateo), 7-6; Cons3: Beat Marco Velasquez (Foothill, Bakersfield), 8-2; Cons4: Def. Evan Wick (San Marino), 7-4. ADVANCES TO SATURDAY
120
JULIAN FLORES (San Marino) — def, Brandon Vu (Rodriguez) by fall, 1:25; Champ3: def. Micah Perez (Central, San Diego), 3-1; def. Quarters: Def. Ricky Coster (Freedom), 5-1. ADVANCES TO SEMIFINALS
132
TONY ARELLANO (Northview) — lost to Isaac Bertalotto (Turlock) by fall 5.00; Cons1: Lost to Antonio Gutierrez (Bakersfield) by fall, 1:53. OUT
THOMAS TELLO (Glendora) — lost to Kyler Hansen (Buchanan, Clovis), 9-0; Cons1: def. Jimmy Felix (Los Banos), 6-3; Cons2: Lost to Robb Rodriguez (San Benito), 5-4. OUT
138
DANIEL VALLES (Northview) — def. Brandon Matu (Antelope), 7-2; Champ3: def. Christian Rodriguez (Reedley), by tech. fall, 16-0; Quarters: Lost to Michael Sill (Walnut), 7-4. ADVANCES TO CONSOLATION ROUND ON SATURDAY
MICHAEL SILL (Walnut) — def. Chris Garcia (Clovis West), 7-3; Def. Isaiah Alva (Merced), 10-4; Champ3: Def. Angel Beltran (Granada), 7-0; Quaurters: Def. Daniel Valles (Northview), 7-4. ADVANCES TO SEMIFINALS ON SATURDAY
MARIO LOPEZ (Rowland) — def. Giovanni Murillo (Bret Harte), 3-2; Champ3: Lost to Nikko Villarreal (Gilroy), 2-1; Cons3: Def. Uzo Owuyama (Bloomington), 6-4: Cons4: Lost to Nolan Kristler (Riverside King), 3-0. OUT
145
RICKY PADILLA (Northview) — def. Kyle Jones (Exeter), 6-1; Champ3: Lost to Jason Ladd (Clovis), 6-4; Cons3: Lost to Josh Cortes (Thousand Oaks) by fall, 4:59. OUT
160
STEVEN LOPEZ (Northview) — lost Cody Silva (Valley Center), 16-8; lost to David Jepsen (Central, Fresno) by fall, 4:44. OUT
170
BRYAN SALINAS (Northview) — def. Nathan Morris (Redwood) by fall, 5:46; Champ2: def. Jaime Martinez (Lemoore) by fall, 4:55; Champ3: Def. Jakob Schallberger (Tokay, Lodi), 6-2; Quarters: Lost to Jovan Villalobos (Alisal), 5-2, OT. ADVANCES TO CONSOLATION ON SATURDAY
GARRICK GURNEY (Chino Hills) — def. Tucker Gulliford (Red Bluff), 11-4; Champ3: Lost to Alec Gamboa (Madera), 6-4; Cons4: Def. Max Kumashiro (Los Alamitos), 2-0. ADVANCES TO CONSOLATION FIFTH ROUND ON SATURDAY
182
NATHAN RODRIGUEZ (Diamond Bar) — lost to Adrian Salas (Clovis), default; lost to Juan Jimenez (Dos Palos) by default. OUT