By Stephen Ramirez
ONTARIO >> Northview High School’s Eddie Flores and Jackson Serna were two of the top wrestlers in the area at their weight class all season and the duo lived up to that billing Saturday.Both scored individual titles to lead the area efforts at Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
The area qualified 11 competitors for next week’s CIF State championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
Area power Northview, which won its 14th divisional title last week, finished second with the two champions and six total qualifiers. St. John Bosco, with nine qualifiers, was first.
The other area qualifiers were Northview’s Dominick Arellano (113 pounds, third), Gabriel Cortez (132, sixth), Ricky Marin (138, fourth) and Steven Comstock (170, fourth); Rowland’s Richard Rojo (106, sixth) and Armando Murrillo (132, eighth); Bishop Amat’s Sidney Flores (120, third), Charter Oak’s Joaquin Garcia (152, fifth) and Santa Fe’s Ronny Peraza (152, seventh).
Serna, the No. 6 heavyweight in the state by The California Wrestler, won a Masters title for the second consecutive season. He was steady in following up last week’s win at the Inland Division championships, scoring four wins by decision and one by fall. He beat Sultana’s Austin Gillham 2-1 in a final. Gillham is ranked No. 7 in the state.
He took a 2-0 lead in second period with an escape and penalty point before holding on for the 2-1 victory.
“It’s great,” Serna said. “To be two-time Masters champion is amazing. But it’s not what I train for. I train to be state champion.
“I had some close matches. I should have scored more, but I got the job done. I’m proud of my team. I did it for my team.”
Eddie Flores was also a repeat winner, taking the 106-pound title with a 7-2 win in the final over Downey’s Jonathan Prata. Flores is ranked No. 1 in the state.
He used n takedown and an escape for a 3-2 lead before getting a takedown and nearfall in the closing seconds for the five-point decision.
“It feels great,” Flores said. “Last year I made it to the final and won by default, so for anyone having any doubts, there it is. I got the ‘W’ in the finals.”
Sidney Flores was a strong third at 120 after finishing fourth at last week’s Central Division championships.
He lost to Santa Ana Calvary Chapel’s Luciano Arroyo in the quarterfinals on Friday before going 3-0 on Saturday, including a 10-4 decision over Alta Loma’s Alex Nunez in the third-place bout.
“Last week was tough,” Flores said. “I had a tough day (last) Saturday and I used that as motivation for this week. I came across two guys who I lost to last week and (beat) this week, so that was great.”
CIF STATE GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Northview’s Angelina Gomez won at 101 pounds to lead the area.
Gomez defeated Riverside King’s Marissa Ritchie, 6-0.
