Foothill's Derik Rizo just lost his third-round consolation match, becoming the 12th Kern County wrestler to be eliminated today. That leaves 15 still alive for a state medal — six in the championship quarterfinals and now nine in the consolation bracket.

Here are your local quarterfinalists:

Marc Collier, East, 103
Edgar Diaz, Arvin, 103
Peter Gonzalez, East, 112
Jonah Cruz, Bakersfield, 140
Travis Rasmussen, Bakersfield, 145
Robert Rios, Liberty, 145

Rios is definitely the surprise of the group. He's beaten champions from the Sac-Joaquin (very impressive) and Los Angeles City (less so) Sections and then took out the Southern Section's No. 4 seed in a tight match in the round of 16. He'll face Jesse Cruz, the No. 5 SS wrestler from Northview, in the quarterfinals. Big opportunity there.

As for those left in the consolation brackets, they've got to win two more matches just to make it through the night. Then, tomorrow morning, the first consolation round (against quarterfinal losers) will determine state placers. It's the "Cinderella" round, as some coaches like to say.

We'll keep you up to date here, but I'd say we're looking at about 10 Kern County kids still alive at the end of the night. The county had just four placers last year.

First off, we apologize for the delay in posts. We had big-time technical issues for about an hour and a half there, but we seem to be up and running again.

There was a slew of upsets in the middle weights in the second round (first full round). Perhaps the biggest one (and that of most interest to Kern County) was Centennial's Seth Hicks, who got out to a big lead and then held on for dear life to beat Hesperia-Sultana's Cody Bollinger 11-9 at 140. Bollinger is No. 2  in the state.

But that wasn't all. The No. 1 140-pounder, Clovis' Scott Sakaguchi, fell 9-5 to Mitch Newcomer of Laguna Hills. That weight is wiiiide-open now. I'd say the suriver of the quarter with Jonah Cruz of Bakersfield and Trent Stevenson of Arcata will be a favorite along with Oakdale's Trevor Machado-Ching from the bottom half of the bracket.

Another upset was at 152, where BHS freshman Bryce Hammond beat Southern Section champion Jacob Rodriguez of Canyon Springs. What a strange match that was. Hammond gets out to a 16-2 lead with a flurry of nearfall points, but then seems to lose his edge. Rodriguez got back within 18-10 and nearly turned Hammond a few times with a minute still left in the match. But just when you think Hammond will have to stall out to win, he turns it around again and scores six straight points to win it  24-10. Wild match.

In other matches of interest. Jonah Cruz of BHS won in overtime after he was tied up late at 140, and Brad Carls, another Driller, is also into the round of 16 with a 7-4 decision against Raz Niazi of Franklin. And BHS 160-pounder Jose Ramirez won a small victory by taking down No. 1-ranked (nationally) Jason Welch of Las Lomas to start his match. Sure, Welch came back to win a techinical fall 20-5, but not many can say they took down Welch. It drew the biggest cheer of the day so far.

They're completing the first consolation round right now, with some trying to stay alive and others trying to salvage something out of an already disappointing tournament. BHS 125-pound freshman was the first Kern County wrestler to bow out. He was pinned in each of his first two matches. Stockdale 152-pounder Eric Matthews followed Box out the door, but as far as I know, all other K.C. wrestlers are alive.

They'll start championship round 3 and another consolation round here in a few minutes. Keep coming back for updates.

— Posted by Zach Ewing

So Ross said we were perched at section 110. He sort of lied, because I wasn't there yet. I am now, after much searching through the bowels of Rabobank Arena. Part of the problem is I've never been here, part of it is, like Ross said, how much is going on at once, and part of it is definitely a lack of organization in some parts of this tournament.

But that's how things go, I guess. I'll bet you all are rearin' and ready for an update. Here we go. Kern County wrestlers were 6-3 in the pigtail round, which was completed about an hour ago. Robert Rios of Liberty was a surprise winner, dominating Sac-Joaquin champion Casey Schumacher 15-6. He's got a chance now to make a run — his second match will be against Reynolds Rahaad of L.A.-San Fernando.

Other local winners were Edgar Diaz of Arvin (103), Vince Rivera of Liberty (130), Jonah Cruz (140) and Brad Carls (171)  of Bakersfield and David Travis of Foothill (215).

Bryan Magno of Ridgeview (130), Rene Medina of Shafter (160) and Joey Thomason of North (189), who was leading his match 6-2 before he was pinned, were pigtail losers.

In the first full round, K.C. hasn't fared quite as well, though East's Marc Collier (103) and Peter Gonzalez (112) are into the round of 16, as are Diaz and Rivera. But BHS freshman Timmy Box lost by pin in a match that was close at 125, and Derik Rizo of Foothill (119) and Sergio Martinez of Tehachapi (119) were both first-round losers. Not sure about Greg Kapler of Liberty at 135; that's what happens when you take your eye off the wrestling. 135- and 140-pounders are on the mat now.

The biggest upset of the day so far? How 'bout Clovis West 112-pounder Chris Martinez, who won the Central Section and is ranked seventh in the state, being pinned in the pigtails by Terry Allen, the fifth seed out of the Sac-Joaquin? Pretty big shocker there.

Other top wrestlers have had no problems, including the nation's No. 1 160-pounder, who tech-falled his pigtail opponent 20-5, 171-pounder Hunter Collins and 189-pounder Louis Bland. Bland and Welch are both in search of their third state titles.

More updates to come.

— Posted by Zach Ewing

Matches have already started, and it's already a madhouse at Rabobank Arena.

With 10 matches going on simultaneously, it's quite a spectacle. Keeping up with our local kids has been a challenge in of itself.

Zach and I are perched near section 110, and have a great view of mats 6 and 7. After that, we'll left looking for familiar singlets, and hoping to hear any hint of local teams over the announcements.

Hopefully, we'll have a better handle of this monstrosity in the coming minutes.

-- Ross Priest

Allow me a short story about myself.

Growing up, I never thought about wrestling, unless it was to dismiss it as the sport of thugs and 300-pounders. Imagine my surprise when, as a scrawny 100-pound freshman, my P.E. coach, also the school's wrestling coach, asked me to come out for the team. Coach, you see, was doing what most wrestling coaches have to do: He was scouring the halls and his classrooms to fill out his roster. He didn't have a 96-pounder on the freshman team.

"What the heck," I thought. "I don't play a winter sport, I'm competitive and (most important to me at the time) I can quit whenever I decide I don't like it."

Well, that never happened. I never was much good (though my team won two state titles, I didn't qualify for state until my senior year, and it's much easier to do that in New Mexico than it is in California), but I learned to love the sport. I grew up in that wrestling room. My mom and dad were doing a fine job, but I never would have learned so much maturity and discipline from them as I did on the mats.

So, yeah, I'm biased. But I just don't get how so many seem to be ignoring the fact that the CIF state wrestling championships are at Rabobank Arena this weekend. If you think wrestling is for thugs and 300-pounders, do yourself a favor and come have a look. Maybe a few reformed thugs (like any other sport) and maybe a few 280-pounders, but you'll probably never see a group of more intense competitors at one place in your life.

I love that wrestling is a purely physical, purely one-on-one sport. Getting tired? Too bad, nobody to help. Hurt? Suck it up or lose what you've been working for all year. Lost? Sorry, you've got to take the blame. but if you won? All the glory goes to you. You don't see high school kids facing that kind of pressure every day. And this is one of the best tournaments in the nation, right here in Bakersfield.

And for those who are afraid they'll be lost or won't understand what's going on, here are some of the basics: There are 14 weight classes (and none of them, believe it or not, are for 300-pounders), and each one will start with 40 competitors in a double-elimination bracket this weekend. Among them will be some of the best wrestlers in the nation and some who will be pinned twice and told to head to the stands.
Lose once, and you can no longer win state, though you can come back through and take third place. Lose twice, and you can only hope you've made it far enough to earn an elusive spot on the podium (top eight earn medals).

Here are some scoring basics:

There are three basic positions in wrestling: Neutral, top and bottom. What position the wrestlers are in limits the type of scoring they can do.

From the neutral position, wrestlers can score a "takedown," when one manuevers the action so that he's now on top. That's worth two points.
From the bottom position, wrestlers can "escape" back to neutral for one point or earn two points for a "reversal," which is where the bottom wrestler ends up on top.
There is only one good way to score from top, and that's "nearfall" points. This is, of course, when you nearly pin your opponent (his shoulders must be at less than a 45-degree angle with the mat). Hold that position for two seconds for two points and for five seconds for three points.
There are more-nuanced ways to score points, too; for instance, if one wrestler is warned for stalling twice in a match, the other is awarded a point. If the top wrestler locks his hands without working for a pin, that's a point for the bottom wrestler. There are others, but I'll spare you those for now.
Of course, any time there's a pin (one wrestler's shoulders are controlled and flat on the mat, even for a split-second), the referee will slap the mat and the match is over. Otherwise, the winner will be decided by scoring through three two-minute periods.

So get out to Rabobank and enjoy yourself this weekend (It'll be good for Bakersfield's economy too!). Doors open at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday, wrestling starts at 9 each day, with championship matches set for 7:15 p.m. Saturday. Cost is between $11-25 per session, depending on which of three sessions you choose to attend and how good you want your seats. Children, students and seniors can get in for $8-10.

— Posted by Zach Ewing

If you're a wrestling fan, it is anyway.

Welcome to Pinheads, The Bakersfield Californian's blog for the state wrestling tournament this Friday and Saturday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

We're hoping this becomes a place for state wrestling news both for Kern County wrestling fans and those around the state who are converging on Rabobank.

To start us off, here's a list of local state qualifiers. I've put the top 12  in order of how what I think their chances are at earning a top-eight medal this weekend.

Travis Rasmussen, 145 pounds, Bakersfield High — Kern County's best chance to win an individual title, hands down — 99 percent chance of earning a medal
Brad Carls, 171, Bakersfield — 90 percent
Marc Collier, 103, East Bakersfield — 85
Peter Gonzalez, 112, East — 85
Jonah Cruz, 140, BHS — 70
Edgar Diaz, 103, Arvin — 65
Timmy Box, 125, BHS — 55
Antonio Hernandez, heavyweight, East — 50
David Travis, 215, Foothill — 45
Bryce Hammond, 152, BHS — 40
Jose Ramirez, 160, BHS — 35
Brent Willis, heavyweight, North Bakersfield — 20
 

And then, in no particular order, the rest:
John Musquez, 171, Centennial
Seth Hicks, 140, Centennial
Derik Rizo, 119, Foothill
Bryan Magno, 130, Ridgeview
Brian Schoene, 215, Bakersfield
Anthony Padilla, heavyweight, Bakersfield
Joey Thomason, 189, North
Eric Matthews, 152, Stockdale
Rene Medina, 160, Shafter
Joseph Ames, 171, Shafter
Sergio Martinez, 119, Tehachapi
Marcus Abarquez, 189, Tehachapi
Vince Rivera, 130, Liberty
Gabe Kapler, 135, Liberty
Robert Rios, 145, Liberty

Of course, there are always surprises at a tournament like this. But if you're looking for hometown placers, keep an eye on that first group first. Anybody in the bottom group would have to pull a couple of big upsets to reach the podium.

Keep an eye out Thursday for capsules of all local wrestlers, which will include their record, performance at state last season and how they've done at tournaments this season. The incredible thing about these kids is that at this level, all of them have won a ton of matches and lost very few. There are no gimmes.

— Posted by Zach Ewing