Next up on the Year in Review train here at School House Zach is one of Kern County's most successful sports, wrestling. Between here and track and field, Kern earns more than its share of state championships in this massive state.

Speaking of track and field, give a School House Zach pat on the back to Stockdale junior-to-be Alex Collatz, who won a silver medal at the IAAF World Youth Track and Field Championships this morning. Second in the world among 16- and 17-year-olds. Pretty darn good.

We'll take a break from Year in Reviews tomorrow, and pick up with boys and girls soccer on Monday and Tuesday.

2008-09 Kern County WRESTLING

Overview: Lots of storylines, and they all had intrigue. There was of course Seth Hicks, the Centennial senior who had qualified for state two years running but hadn't made too much noise. Then, finally healthy and down five pounds, Hicks exploded onto the scene. His first big announcement came at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in Clovis; the last big one came at Rabobank Arena in the 135-pound state finals.
Then there was Bakersfield High (isn't there always BHS in wrestling?), which had a young team just waiting to explode. And at times the Drillers were really, really good. Then they put together a great performance in the Central Section Grand Masters Tournament, putting four wrestlers in the finals (Bryce Hammond won it) and placing a close third behind fellow state powers Clovis and Clovis-Buchanan. But BHS had a terrible quarterfinal round in the state tournament, and they never fully recovered from it. The good news is that most of that young talent, plus some more, is back next year.
Also great to watch was the next step in Frontier becoming a section (and in this sport, that means state) power and stunning state tournament runs from a guy who has been in and out of trouble his whole career, Ridgeview 140-pounder Javier Sanchez, and a guy nobody had heard of until he started winning as a senior, Foothill heavyweight Angel Posadas.

Best team: After winning state championships in 2002 and 2004, Bakersfield has failed in trying to reach anything close to that plateau since. But this is the group that might do it. The Drillers used a solid returning nucleus — Jonah Cruz, Bryce Hammond, Jose Ramirez, Brian Schoene, Timmy Box — and added to it a couple of really talented newcomers, including 112-pounder Natrelle Demison, who finished fourth in the section, and 145-pounder Adam Fierro, a section finalist. When Cruz moved down to 140, that opened up the 145 spot for Fierro, who completed a murderer's row of middle weights. The group came together at East High and gave Clovis and Buchanan a run, but the state meet was a bit disappointing. Cruz suffered an unlucky stunner of a pin, Demison went 0-for-2 on the big stage, and Hammond was 86ed in the quarterfinals by a couple of questionable calls. Still, this was by far the best team around.
Honorable mention: Frontier, Centennial, East, Foothill, Tehachapi

Best wrestler: This is not a hard question when you¹ve got one guy who went undefeated and won a state championship. Seth Hicks, come on down. Hicks' story is interesting — he an inflammatory disease that worsened when he was a junior and fatigued him, keeping him from working out or dropping a lot of weight like wrestlers often do. His dad and Centennial's coach, Mike Hicks, took him to a children's hospital in Madera and got some medication to contain the problem. Seth did the rest. He lost a bunch of weight in the offseason so he could wrestle at 135 and increased his training to the point where his fitness was an asset, not a liability. His long arms and legs and thinking man's philosophy paid off bigtime. Hicks came into the state meet as the favorite in a weight class where there was no juggernaut. He more or less coasted through to the final, where Poway¹s Conrad Snell gave him a scare, keeping the lead in the match until an unusual move (told you he was a thinker) gave Hicks the takedown he needed to win a state title.
Honorable mention: Javier Sanchez, Ridgeview; Bryce Hammond, Bakersfield; Angel Posadas, Foothill; Jonah Cruz, Bakersfield; Rene Medina, Shafter

Best event: Hicks' state-finals match, with special mention to Sanchez's semifinal victory over Lemoore¹s Nicholas Sierra, wins the individual-match category here, but as far as an entire event, I'm going to go with the section masters meet. There were three Kern County champions — Hicks, Hammond and Sanchez — and a bunch of great upsets and state-level matches right inside East High's gym. There was a preview of the 145-pound state final between Clovis' Scott Sakaguchi and Fresno-Washington's Alex Rodriguez in the quarterfinals, for crying out loud. Nearly every finals match produced a great match or an upset. The Central Section's quality truly was on display. It's hard to top the state meet, of course, but this year's section meet is best in my memory.
Honorable mention: State championships, Central Section Yosemite Divisional

A look ahead: Of the BHS wrestlers I mentioned above, many are returning — Demison will be a sophomore, Box, Fierro and Hammond will be juniors, Schoene a senior, and only Cruz and Ramirez are gone — and there are others who didn¹t make the state tournament waiting in the wings. If that weren't enough, Hammond's brother, Coleman, is the centerpiece of another talented incoming freshman class. It's going to be another even year, like 2002 and 2004, and I'm not going to be shy in saying that, barring injury or eligibility issues, the Drillers should be right there for the state title next year.
Elsewhere? Many of Kern County's best wrestlers from other schools — Hicks, Sanchez, Posadas, Liberty's Greg Kapler, East's Peter Gonzalez, Marc Collier
and Antonio Hernandez — were seniors. That leaves Shafter's Medina, Tehachapi's Jason Hail, Cesar Chavez's Noel Gomez and some holes to be filled. I'd keep an eye on Foothill's Derik Rizo, a two-time state qualifier who'll be a senior, plus Julio Gonzalez at East.
Also don't forget about Frontier. Kirk Moore, a former Foothill state champion himself, is building BHS' biggest local rival up in northwest Bakersfield. The Titans won a surprise SWYL championship two years ago without seniors, then ran roughshod over the league last year and sent its first two wrestlers, Lance Castaneda and Shane Ellis, to the state tournament. Castaneda is gone but Ellis and most of the rest of the team returns, including talented 103-pounder Alex Gomez, who will be a junior and take another shot at becoming the first female state qualifier from Kern County.

Year in Review Index
July 1: Football
July 2: Volleyball
July 3: Boys cross country
July 6: Girls cross country
July 7: Girls tennis
July 8: Girls golf
July 9: Boys basketball
July 10: Girls basketball

Monday: Boys soccer