I am going to make no attempt to explain away the scarcity of my posts, other than to say this is a slow time of year anyway and I've been hammering out All-Area teams for winter sports (for whatever reason, it seems like they're taking a lot longer this year than last).

OK, so I actually did just offer you a couple of excuses. But I'm back, that's the point. And I'm going to make an effort to post more often this month, especially as things get going with spring sports. Next week is spring break for the Kern High School District schools, but I've got a variety of topics I want to talk about anyway. One of them will be the Arena Bowl, which takes place at the end of April. The annual Kern County senior football all-star game is quite a hit, and when I hear info on it (rosters, time, tickets, etc) I'll be sure to pass it along.

In the meantime, here's a look at what's gone on in a couple of the spring sports in the non-conference and early league portion of the schedule, as well as a look at what I think might be coming next (we'll do two sports a day, starting today with baseball and softball):

Baseball
Ever since a season-opening doubleheader sweep at the hands of Clovis, Stockdale has been rolling as was expected. The Mustangs are 12-2, 2-0 in the SWYL and boast an embarrassment of riches. Six regulars are hitting better than .400, including all-world (actually a Baseball America preseason All-American) K.C. Hobson, who's at, for him, a relatively modest .417 with five home runs and 23 RBIs entering Tuesday's game against Frontier. The Titans are an up-and-coming player in Kern County — they own a couple of non-league wins over Liberty — but have hit the skids in the SWYL, losing their first three games, including Tuesday to Stockdale. The rest of the western side of town is loaded again, with Ridgeview an upset winner over 2007 section champ Centennial already. The Golden Hawks are formidable and so is North, which has beaten Frontier and Ridgeview in close games to open league play. The Stars face Centennial on Thursday.
As for the SEYL, it's another year of playing second fiddle. That might be especially true this year, with even Liberty seemingly down a little bit with two losses apiece to Centennial, Stockdale and Frontier (though I will say Tony Mills has a knack for having his teams play better at the end of the year). Apart from that, there are no proven teams in the SEYL. East went 7-3 in its non-conference season, but it was blown out by both Frontier and Ridgeview in non-conference play. Bakersfield has opened SEYL play 2-0 but did it against bottom-feeders after going 4-7 in non-conference play. The Drillers and Blades play Thursday in a tell-tale game.
As for the South Sequoia League, it looks like it'll again be Bakersfield Christian's to lose. The Eagles are 4-0, with Taft at 2-1 and Tehachapi at 3-1 after a wild 28-10 shellacking of Shafter on Tuesday.
Prediction: Stockdale continues to play solid ball and is able to finish a rare sweep of Centennial to go unbeaten in the SWYL. The two early losses to Clovis, though, will hurt. The Central Section seeding committee will send a two-loss Stockdale team on the road in the playoffs, where they won't be able to win all the close games this year. Centennial, though, might turn around and make a run, like North will in Division II.

Softball
Like many of the spring sports, the SWYL looks like another Stockdale-Centennial supremacy battle, though I'd not sleep on Frontier, North or Ridgeview. The Stars have already beaten the other two, so start with them. I watched them beat Ridgeview 6-0 today, an impressive victory for a team that didn't even seem like it was playing its best. What the Stars lack is a dominant pitcher like Centennial's Ensley Gammel. Gammel and the unbeaten Golden Hawks face North on Thursday. Frontier shook off the loss to North by beating Stockdale 2-1 on Tuesday, showing that the Titans are a league player too. And don't count out Ridgeview, especially if the Wolf Pack can get ace pitcher Carly Hummel back from injury.
A year ago, Liberty and Garces split the SEYL championship. It looks like the Rams are a bit younger this year and might just have slipped a little. That opens the door for a team like Golden Valley to slip in and challenge Liberty for the title. The Bulldogs are 10-4 and 2-0 in the league. Expect a three-team battle to the wire here.
Wasco flew under the radar last year and won a surprise South Sequoia League title over traditional power Tehachapi, and the Tigers and Warriors look to be the championship contenders in that league again. They're the only two teams with winning records. Last year, Wasco won up on the mountain and had the title wrapped up by the time Tehachapi returned the trip. The Warriors won that game and then Wasco bowed out in its first playoff game as a No. 1 seed. We'll see if Wasco can surprise the league again, and if the Tigers can take it further in the playoffs this time.
Prediction: Centennial's too good for everyone else in town this year, with a host of returners from their powerful team of a year ago. The Golden Hawks just might lose another game along the way, but they'll steamroll to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and back it up with championship No. 2. North will finish a surprise second in the league and reach the Division II finals. Tehachapi will do the same in D-III after taking back the SSL.

There aren't many philosophy classes at School House Zach, but I received a phone-call complaint the other night that got me thinking.

The complaint centered around Frontier's softball victory over West on Tuesday, and this was no normal victory. This was 34-2. And yes, there is a mercy rule in high school baseball and softball, but it's only 10 runs after five innings, so technically, teams are free to run up as big a number as they want in those five innings.

Here's the question: Is it ethically OK for teams to run up a big number? I don't necissarily have a strong opinion on this one, so I'm going to present an argument from both sides and ask you, faithful reader (or even if you're just stopping by), to give your opinion.

YES, FRONTIER OR ANY OTHER SCHOOL SHOULD, PER THE RULES, SCORE AS MUCH AS IT CAN — It was West's job to stop Frontier, not Frontier's. What are you going to do, ask girls to walk up to the plate and strike out on purpose? For all we know, the Titans used many or all of their bench players and went station-to-station on the basepaths. But you can't force someone to under-perform. No one raises an eyebrow when a shot-putter doubles up the rest of the field in track and field. He or she is asked to throw as far as he can, not just far enough to win.

NO, FRONTIER WAS OUT OF LINE — There are things that could have been done. Frontier had batters go 6-for-6 and 5-for-5 in that game, and they beat Foothill 20-0 in an earlier game. There are better teams around town who aren't running up the score like that, too. And why can't you ask a girl who's already collected five hits to strike out? It's one thing to win a game convincingly or to make a statement; 34 runs in five innings is way beyond that.

So what's your answer?

UPDATE, 10:59 a.m. Tuesday: I've just been corrected on this post, so if you saw it last night when it first went up, here's the correction: Bakersfield has been awarded the CIF State Basketball Championships for 2010 only. The finals return to Sacramento in 2011 and then will be put back up for bid in 2012. I've changed all references to the CIF's normal three-year window below, but I wanted to avoid any confusion in case you'd already read this.

ORIGINAL POST: So I just spent a frantic, fun, four-day March Madness weekend in Las Vegas, watching about 30 hours of college basketball alongside chain-smoking people who had a heck of a lot more money riding on the game on TV than I did — and yet somehow remained a lot calmer than me throughout the whole thing.

So, other than watching my team reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since I was a freshman there (good) and getting no sleep (expected, but not so good), I found time to check my e-mail one night and saw that Bakersfield had been awarded the CIF State Basketball Championships for next year (March 2010). The tourney will return to ARCO Arena in Sacramento in 2011, then be put back up for bid, as I understand it. I'm told the 2010 tournament in Bako is a kind of test run for the CIF — if attendance increases and the tournament runs smoothly (and perhaps if some big-wig coaches like or don't mind the drive here) you could see it coming back in 2012 and/or beyond.

That's a pretty nice boon for the Bakersfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, the community and for Rabobank Arena, which is quickly becoming the high school championships capital of California (well, at least for winter sports next year). It also means that as long as my job duties remain the same, I won't be taking a return March Madness trip to Vegas, considering the state tournament is the same weekend.

That's OK. The high school state tournament is a March Madness event of its own. And there will be, no doubt about it, some great players coming through Rabobank next year (who knows about after  that — the tournament has been in Sacramento for the past 12 years).

Here's a partial list I compiled of guys who have been to the CIF state games — and keep in mind, the games have only been held since 1981, meaning Californians like Bill Russell, Gail Goodrich, Marques Johnson, Paul Silas and Dennis Johnson never had a chance:

Tyson Chandler
Baron Davis
Drew Gooden
Chuck Hayes
Amir Johnson
Jason Kidd
Andre Miller
Reggie Miller
Tayshaun Prince
DeShawn Stevenson

That's a pretty nice list, and like I said, it's only partial. There are certainly some guys who have played in the last few years who will be household names in the next five or 10 years, too.

So the California high school version of March Madness ain't bad. And the best part for those of us in Kern County is that it's coming to an arena near you.

Things have been slow at the School House in the past week as we recover from the hectic last few weeks of winter sports season. But spring is in the air, folks, and that means a whole other slew of sports to talk about.

I'm working on winter All-Area teams — they'll be released April 3 (boys and girls soccer), April 4 (wrestling) and April 5 (boys and girls basketball) — but I'm also trying to keep one eye on the goings-on in the spring arenas.

For one, that means watching as Stockdale baseball was swept in an early doubleheader against Clovis — a bad sign for seeding in the Central Section playoffs down the road — but has recovered to beat down everyone in its path since. Frontier baseball also made its first splash, beating Liberty at the Terrio Therapy Classic.

In softball, Centennial is cruising and Stockdale's doing the same in boys tennis, winning the Lynch Cup with a series of dominant performances against the likes of Bakersfield, Bakersfield Christian and Centennial.

All of those things above are to be expected, more or less. But I did want to mention some perhaps more interesting news coming from the world of track and field.

The Kern County Invitational was held this past weekend at Liberty, and all the local stars came out — perhaps the first time you'll be able to say that about one meet until the area meet in May. Let's do a quick rundown, starting with a couple of very familiar names.

Anna Jelmini, Shafter — The Arizona State-bound senior had an unbelievable shot put series at an indoor meet in Idaho in February, reaching 51 feet in one throw and 50 in a couple of others, and she's kept the momentum going into the outdoor season. She threw a 51-5 at the KCI, outdistancing her nearest competition by some 14 feet. She also easily won the discus with a 177-2, about 18 feet better than Stockdale's Alex Collatz (more on her in a sec).

Chris Schwartz, Foothill — Schwartz won the mile race easily — no surprise there — and then completed his double title in the 800 instead of the 3,200. I can't imagine this is a sign of things to come as much as Schwartz just looking to add another event, because the two-mile is his best. But it was impressive nonetheless. Schwartz beat out Ridgeview's talented Jerrid Lewis in the 800, finishing the race in 2:00.16. He ran the mile in 4:25.75 — not his fastest time ever, but a good sign that Schwartz will be a threat to win both distance events in Fresno in June at the state tournament.

Alex Collatz, Stockdale — There is no more versatile athlete in the county. Collatz, as mentioned, was second in the discus — she has the second-best mark in the state this year as just a sophomore — it's just irony that first place happens to be up the road in Shafter. But here's where it gets good — Collatz also won the triple jump by some five feet with a 36-7.75 in the finals.

Johnny Carter, Ridgeview — The other returning state champion in the area is a sophomore who quickly is showing he might be the best all-around male athlete in Kern. As expected, Carter won the triple jump, though his mark of 44-6 was well below the 48-1.25 he threw down towin state last May. He also was second in the long jump and — here's where it gets good —  won the 100 meters and ran on the Wolf Pack's 1,600 relay team that took second. That's four top-two finishes, and Carter didn't even run in the 400 relay race that Ridgeview won without him.

Isaiah Purvis, Ridgeview — That's right. The Liberty stud from a year ago has transferred to Ridgeview, and he's turned the Wolf Pack into a bit of a powerhouse track team. Purvis — a state qualifier in the 200 and 400 last year — won the 200 at the KCI (Liberty's Ryan Taylor won the 400 as Purvis faded to 10th) and was a part of both Ridgeview relay teams, the winning 400 team and the runner-up 1,600 team. Add to that Carter's prowess, Sunni Singh's victory in the 300 hurdles and a 1-2 finish from RHS in the two-mile (remember they had a strong cross country team) and you're looking at a pretty good boys team.

Tijerra Lynch, Ridgeview — How bout some more love for the Pack? Lynch was the day's only three-time winner, and she did it with some eye-popping endurance. Lynch won the 800 by six seconds, the 1,600 by eight and the 3,200 by less than a second over Shafter's Elizabeth Wittenberg — and who could blame her, considering she'd already won two events covering 2,400 meters in less than eight minutes? Very impressive from Lynch.

Brushay Wandick, Bakersfield — Speaking of multiple-event winners, Wandick swept the girls sprinting events and ran a leg on the Drillers' winning 1,600 relay team and on the runner-up 400 relay team.

Field-event favorites — No surprise that Liberty's Amanda Klinchuch won the girls pole vault, Shanesha Epps the girls long jump, West's George Robbins the boys high jump and Frontier's Matt Darr a sweep of the shot put and discus. All had impressive marks.

Methinks it's going to be a good year in track and field.

There's something about Division IV and the state basketball playoffs. For the second straight year, the only boys basketball team left from Kern County as we reach the Southern Cal semifinal (state quarterfinal) round is in Division IV with a star at guard andis  traveling to the Southland to battle a Division I recruit and his top-ranked team.

Granted, this doesn't quite have the ring of Stephon Carter vs. Jrue Holiday, which is what last year's trip to Campbell Hall brought, but this should be fun anyway. Bakersfield Christian, newly moved up to D-IV, is traveling to Torrance to take on Bishop Montgomery. The stars in question are BCHS' Marcus Hall, who has averaged better than 25 points in the last four games of the Eagles' playoff run — including 36 in the section final against Kingsburg and 33 in the first round of state against West Hills-Chaminade — and Bishop Montgomery's Justin Cobbs.

Cobbs isn't as highly touted as Holiday, but he might be just as good of a player. He's verbally committed to Minnesota, choosing Tubby Smith and the Golden Gophers over teams like Cal, USC, Washington State and Iowa. I read a scouting report on him that described him as mega-talented but in need of some decision-making skills — he's the guy who likes to jack up shots too early in the shot clock, only sometimes they go in.

There's no doubt Bakersfield Christian is the underdog here. The Eagles are facing a team that beat Lawndale-Leuzinger — the same squad that pounded a Carter-less Garces team in the D-II playoffs last night — and has played tough teams throughout the year. But BCHS is rolling — it's won 18 games in a row and about 15 of those by more than 20 points. And Hall is a great talent (word is CSUB wants him to join Carter on the 'Runners team next year) who can elevate his game and possibly counterbalance Cobbs.

No way I'd pick the Eagles to win this game, but it should be quite the D-IV show in SoCal again.

For the record, here are the state basketball scores from last night's SoCal quarterfinals (yeah, this is where the opponents get really tough):
Boys
Lawndale-Leuzinger 108, Garces 73
North Hollywood-Harvard-Westlake 70, Ridgeview 47
Bakersfield Christian 67, West Hills-Chaminade Prep 48
Girls
Long Beach-Poly 76, Stockdale 47
Santa Ana-Mater Dei 85, Garces 26

I've been so caught up in wrestling this weekend that I haven't had much of a chance to mention basketball. That's not acceptable, so let's get right down to business:

— Congratulations are in order to three Central Section champion hoops teams. Stockdale's girls won the Division I championship with a long-awaited victory against Clovis West. The Mustangs turned the tables on CW by making their own second-half run to win by double digits.
Garces' boys had lost thrice to Liberty this year, all in very similar games. Throw in the fact that star wing Stephon Carter had a beat-up (maybe broken) hand, and I just couldn't see a way the Rams could win, especially not by double digits. How's 91-78 Garces for you, for the Division II championship? Carter threw down 33 points and 19 rebounds. Kid's simply amazing.
Another incredible individual performance from Bakersfield Christian's Marcus Hall, who had 36 points and 11 rebounds in BCHS' rout of Kingsburg for the Division II title. That's the premier private schools in town moving up divisions and still emerging champions.

— More congrats to section runners-up, just for getting to Selland. First of all Liberty, which was the best boys team in Kern County on every night except the one where that type of thing is decided. The Patriots, lose or no, still had a year they won't soon forget. Garces' girls went 29-1, then ran into the buzzsaw known as Hanford in the D-II girls final. The Rams could have won D-III or D-IV. And Ridgeview's boys had their first run to the section final come up short of a championship as they lost to Hanford West.

— All six Kern finalists are still playing, though, since the CIF lets in two Central Section teams to the state playoffs. Three play tonight in first-round games, where a win gets you into the Southern Cal quarterfinals. The other three — Garces boys, Bakersfield Christian and Ridgeview — are already in the SoCal quarters and play Tuesday night.

Do yourself a favor and get out to one of the home games — Stockdale and Garces girls tonight if you can make it, or Garces boys and Bakersfield Christian at home tomorrow.

Here's the complete schedule:
Monday (all winners play again Tuesday)
Division I girls
No. 10 Woodland Hills-Taft at No. 7 Stockdale, 7 p.m.
Division II girls
No. 10 El Sereno-Wilson at No. 8 Garces, 7 p.m.
Division II boys
No. 10 Liberty at No. 8 Reseda, 7 p.m.

Tuesday
Division II boys
No. 6 Lawndale-Leuzinger at No. 3 Garces, 7 p.m.
Division III boys
No. 8 Ridgeview at No. 1 North Hollywood-Harvard-Westlake, 8 p.m.
Division IV boys
No. 5 West Hills-Chaminade at No. 4 Bakersfield Christian, 7 p.m.

I don't know a whole lot about those SoCal teams, except that if they came through the Southern or L.A. Sections, they're usually pretty good. We'll see how Kern stacks up. I'd love to see some teams make some noise and see how far they can take it — teams that win tonight play Tuesday, teams that win Tuesday play Thursday, and teams that win Thursday play Saturday in the SoCal finals — which are at Pauley Pavilion for Divs. I-III and at Cal State Fullerton for D-IV and V. Here a link to the CIF page with complete brackets.

One more rant to go before I'm done, and it has to do with all-league teams. I love the idea of giving recognition to the best players in a given sport at the end of the year. It's wonderful to get praise, we all know that, and it's what drives you to keep working sometimes. But this is getting out of control.

I'm going to pick on the Southeast Yosemite League girls basketball team because it's a good example, but this sort of thing is by and large true across the board. The SEYL honored an MVP (Garces' Caitlin Bernardin) two rookies of the year, nine first-team players, nine second-team players and a whopping 16 honorable-mention selections. Add it up, and that's 37 girls with some sort of all-league recognition. There are seven teams in the league, which means 35 starters.

There are more all-league selections than starters in SEYL girls basketball.

Garces has 10 players, two full teams, given all-league recognition. Golden Valley, which finished third in the league and was a middle-of-the-pack team section-wide, has eight. Liberty, which finished with a losing league record, has seven.

Nothing against the girls picked; many of them deserve it and none of them are going to be singled out here. But 37 is waaaaaay too many. Heck 27 would be way too many. Let's keep the honors for the truly special, coaches.

Your thoughts?

UPDATE, 9:25 p.m.: Zach back here with you. Here are the rest of the final results, after Foothill's Angel Posadas gives Roger McCovey his first takedown of the season but eventually succumbed to the Del Norte wrestler and was pinned in 5:05.

135—Seth Hicks, Bakersfield-Centennial, dec. Conrad Snell, Poway, 7-4
140—Cody Rodebaugh, Felton-San Lorenzo Valley, pinned Javier Sanchez, Ridgeview, 2:22
145—Scott Sakaguchi, Clovis, dec. Alex Rodriguez, Fresno-Washington Union, 3-1
152—Chris Urquizo, Merced, pinned Martin Fabbian, Buchanan, 1:30
160—Patrick Martinez, Temecula Valley, dec. Stephen West, Buchanan, 2-1
171—Morgan McIntosh, Calvary Chapel, dec. Jordan Williams, El Dorado, 12-7
189—Ian Daube, Poway, pinned Nikolai Crouch, Santa Fe, 1:47
215—Nick Pica, Concord, dec. Drew Meulman, St. Francis, 10-4
HWT—Roger McCovey, Crescent City-Del Norte, pinned Angel Posadas, Foothill, 5:05

Update 8:22: 112 pounds: Jesse Delgado, Gilroy (47-1) dec. Estevan Cabanas, Moreno Valley-Canyon Springs (52-5), 6-5
Delgado built a 6-2 lead midway through the second period and then hung on for the one-point decision.  

119 pounds: David Klingsheim, Brentwoot-Liberty (38-1) maj. dec. Steven Salinas, Covina-Northview (46-1), 11-2

Klingsheim got an early takedown to grab a 2-0 first period lead and then padded his advantage with three more takedowns and an escape to record a major decision. It was the first loss of the season for Salinas.

125 pounds: Martin Gonzalez, Gilroy (39-2) dec. Brandon Rocha, Lemoore (51-5), 3-2

Gonzalez registered a takedown with 45 seconds left in the match to break a 1-1 tie. Later a second stalling call against Gonzalez cut his lead to one but the Gilroy senior was able to hold on to win his second straight state title.

130 pounds: Henry Yorba, Poway (47-4) dec. Jose Mendoza, Selma (49-4), 3-1 OT

Yorba scored a takedown 36 seconds into overtime to break a 1-1 deadlock and end the match. Yorba scored first with a second period escape but Mendoza answered with an escape of his own with 1:24 remaining in the third to send the match to extra time.

UPDATE, 7:24:103 pounds: Alex Cisneros, Selma (47-0) vs. Stevan Knoblach, Clovis West (26-5), Cisneros scored a takedown two near falls in the second period to grab an 8-0 lead before cruising to an 11-1 major decision. The win completes perfect season for the freshman.

UPDATE, 6:33 p.m.: Sitting here in the media section at Rabobank, watching the crowd file in. Pretty electric atmosphere already, and we're about 45 minutes away from the first state final. I'll update as much as I can during the finals, but I'll have plenty of daily newspaper responsibilities with three Bakersfield kids wrestling for championships. I'll do my best.

UPDATE, 3:44 p.m.: OK, so as it turns out, what's below is incorrect. The glitch they were fixing with the team scores is that Buchanan's Adrian Rodriguez at 103 pounds was awarded a forfeit in the seventh-place match. The scorers knew that would happen, so they awarded him those points before the consolation finals. And I was incorrect in that Buchanan's Kyle Papendorf did not win his third-place match. He lost to John Glenn's Jose Lopez. That means that Poway does indeed have that 4.5-point lead on Buchanan, 9.5 on Selma and 10 on Clovis. Even one finals victory for Poway might do it, considering Buchanan's Martin Fabbian is a big underdog at 152 and Selma couldn't catch the Titans with one more win. Clovis, down 10 with just one finalist, cannot win the team title. The Cougars could take second.

Finals begin at 7:15 p.m. They're building the stage for the mat right now.

Here are the updated team scores:

1. Poway 130 (3 finalists)
2. Buchanan 125.5 (2)
3. Selma 120.5 (2)
4. Clovis 120 (1)
5. Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel 70.5 (1)
6. Clovis West 69.5 (1)
Bakersfield 69.5 (0)
8. Gilroy 64 (2)
9. Lemoore 52.5 (1)
Covina-Northview 52.5 (1)

UPDATE, 3:04 p.m.: There was a problem with the internet at Rabobank here for several hours, which is why you didn't see any updates on the consolation rounds from any of the sites. We're back up and running now, just as the consolation medal matches have finished.

We don't yet have updated team scores, but Poway was up by 4.5 points on Buchanan by 9.5 points on Selma and by 10 on Clovis at the conclusion of the consolation semifinals. The Titans, though had just one wrestler in placing matches, and he lost (Nick Poliakoff at 152 pounds). Buchanan and Clovis had some half a dozen each. Last I heard, Buchanan was down just 1.5 points to Poway with heavyweight Kyle Papendorf still to wrestle in the third-place match. He won, so I think Buchanan is actually ahead. But Poway has three finalists, Buchanan and Selma two each and Clovis just one. So the team title is still up in the air. Two of the Poway finalists, 130-pounder Henry Yorba and 189-pounder Ian Daube, are No. 1 seeds (the other faces No. 1 Seth Hicks of Centennial). Buchanan has a No. 1 seed and an underdog. Selma has a No. 1 and a No.2, and Clovis has a No. 1. I'll update with team scores as soon as I get them. 

State finals matchups (updates below)

103—Alex Cisneros, Selma, vs. Stevan Knoblauch, Clovis West
112—Jesse Delgado, Gilroy, vs. Estevan Cabanas, Moreno Valley-Canyon Springs.
119—David Klingsheim, Brentwood-Liberty, vs. Steven Salinas, Covina-Northview
125—Martin Gonzalez, Gilroy, vs. Brandon Rocha, Lemoore
130—Henry Yorba, Poway, vs. Jose Mendoza, Selma
135—Seth Hicks, Bakersfield-Centennial, vs. Conrad Snell, Poway
140—Cody Rodebaugh, Felton-San Lorenzo Valley, vs. Javier Sanchez, Bakersfield-Ridgeview
145—Scott Sakaguchi, Clovis, vs. Alex Rodriguez, Fresno-Washington Union
152—Chris Urquizo, Merced, vs. Martin Fabbian, Clovis-Buchanan
160—Stephen West, Clovis-Buchanan, vs. Patrick Martinez, Temecula Valley
171—Morgan McIntosh, Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel, vs. Jordan Williams, Placerville-El Dorado
189—Ian Daube, Poway, vs. Nikolai Crouch, Santa Fe Springs-Santa Fe
215—Nick Pica, Concord, vs. Drew Meulman, Mountain View-St. Francis
HWT—Roger McCovey, Crescent City-Del Norte, vs. Angel Posadas, Bakersfield-Foothill

UPDATE, 12:13 p.m.: Now a big match for locals, with darkhorse Angel Posadas of Foothill, and a big match for the team standing. I talked with the San Diego Union-Tribune writer, and we figure that Buchanan needs this victory from Kyle Papendorf to stay close enough to Poway to have a chance to win a state title. Clovis is in second right now, but with just one finalist, the Cougars are eliminated. Buchanan, with a win from Papendorf, could close to within five, six, seven points of Poway. Otherwise, the Titans will have all but locked up their fourth state title, though there are still consolation points to be won.
Anyway, a scoreless first period in both heavyweight matches. Posadas gets an escape to start the second, as does Crescent City-Del Norte's Roger McCovey on the other mat against Jose Lee of Riverside-King. Posadas an aggressive move there from a tie-up, but the wrestlers go out of bounds. Now a takedown at the edge of the circle for McCovey, who hasn't lost in two years.
Now a takedown for Posadas, who spun around Papendorf at the edge of the circle! Could Bakersfield have two unranked wrestlers in the final? 3-0 Posadas after two periods, and the same score for McCovey in the other match. Papenforf and McCovey are down to start the third. Papendorf needs to make something happen here, but he's losing valuable time. 30 seconds gone, and he's still on bottom. An escape for McCovey, and he leads 4-0. Now a minute gone by on Mat 4, and it's still 3-0. Posadas is really dominating this match. Twenty-four seconds left. Papendorf finally escapes in the final seconds, but he can only dive at Posadas' legs as time runs out. Three Kern County wrestlers in the finals, and Poway has all but locked up the team title with a 13-point lead on Clovis and an 18-point lead on Buchanan. McCovey cruises in, 4-0, on the other mat.
Consolation semifinals next.

UPDATE, 12:04 p.m.: Concord's undefeated 215-pounder, Nick Pica, is in a tussle here with Austin Morehead of Sutter Union. Morehead has taken him down and reversed him and had him on his back at the end of the first period, but time ran out before he got any nearfall. It was 4-4 after one, and PIca has a takedown to start the second for a 6-4 lead. In the other semi, Mountain View-St. Francis' Drew Meulman had an early takedown for a 2-0 lead that he still holds late in the second period on Modoc's Josh Wood. An escape for Morehead, but another takedown for Pica, who is taking control at 8-5. Meulman is having trouble getting out in the second period, and Wood rides him out. 2-0 entering the third, and Wood chooses down. A two-point nearfall for Pica on the other mat, and he leads 10-5 after two. An escape for Wood cuts it to 2-1 against Meulman, and now Wood's in on a shot. Stalemate. Now Meulman with a takedown! He's dinged a point for stalling, but he hangs on 4-2 and will wrestle Nick Pica, who ran away 16-7 after early trouble, for the title. That's No. 1 vs. No. 2.

UPDATE, 11:53 a.m.: On to 189 pounds, where Poway's Ian Daube is looking to add some big points to the Titans' team score. He has a 5-0 lead on J.T. Felix of Corona-Centennial. In the other semi, it's scoreless early between Jesus Chavez of Yuba City-River Valley and Nikolai Crouch of Santa Fe. Now an escape in the second period for Crouch, and now he has a takedown for a 3-0 lead. Meanwhile, Daube is rolling Felix on Mat 4. He finishes off a very quick tech fall, 15-0 in just 2:40. That's also 12.5 points for Poway in the team race. Buchanan's Kyle Papendorf is still to wrestle in the semifinals at heavyweight, but Poway is really putting the pressure on here. Of Poway's three finalists, two will be favored to win. Buchanan will have Stephen West favored at 160, and Martin Fabbian will be a big underdog at 152, as would Papendorf if he met Del Norte's Roger McCovey in the final. So that's a big win for Poway. An escape for Chavez to cut the Crouch lead to 3-1, and now he's down to start the third period. He's out again and trails just 3-2 with 1:15 left. Wrestlers are locked up and circling. Now Havez tries a shot, Crouch counters with one and Chavez tried to get around. They go out of bounds before he can. Still 3-2, 20 seconds left. He's got a deep high crotch, but he can't finish! Crouch will hang on 3-2. He'll wrestle the favorite Daube in the final.

UPDATE, 11:40 a.m.: First-period takedown for Morgan McIntosh of Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel on Tulare Union's Dwight Flores, and he adds another at the end of the period and two more in the second. He's up 9-3 and dominating. In the other semifinal, it's a 2-2 tie between Winters' Jesse Hellinger and Jordan Williams of Placerville-El Dorado. Now a reversal and some nearfall for Williams, who leads 6-2. early in the third period. A 14-4 lead now for McIntosh. He gets the pin and he'll meet Williams for the state championship.
Some more local consolation news: Bakersfield's Brian Schoene is defeated in his 215-pound consolation quarter, so he'll join East's Peter Gonzalez and teammates Timmy Box and Jonah Cruz in seventh-place matches.

UPDATE, 11:28 a.m.: Jose Ramirez of Bakersfield did not win his 160-pound consolation match, losing to Madera South's Lewis Pedraza. That means its four place-winners for BHS (Jonah Cruz lost his consolation quarterfinal at the last second and Bryce Hammond won his by tech fall, Timmy Box lost his and Brian Schoene still to wrestle) and four for the rest of Bakersfield: East's Peter Gonzalez, and the three semifinalists, two of which have become finalists already.
On to the 160-pound semifinals, where Buchanan's Stephen West is, as expected in very good shape against Jonathan Urango of Camarillo. West leads 7-2 after two periods. Madera's James Cook — West's teammate last year at Buchanan — leads Patrick Martinez of Temecula Valley 1-0. If Cook wins, he and West will wrestle for a championship four straight weeks — league, divisional, Masters and possibly state. West has won the first three. But Cook gets penalized a point for stalling late in the second, and now Martinez is out for an escape in the third period. He leads 2-1. So maybe West will have another opponent. He briefly got himself in trouble there with Urango, who came out of a spot on his back to reverse West. But the Buchanan wrestler has escaped and leads 12-4 with a minute left. Cook was in on a shot there, but Martinez was able to spin out of bounds. Just two seconds left, and Martinez hangs on for a 2-1 victory. West wins running away, 17-4, and he'll be able to go for another title after finishing second last year.

UPDATE, 11:18 a.m.: A takedown to the back a minute into the 152-pound semifinal for Buchanan's Martin Fabbian, and he pins Modesto-Central Catholic's T.J. Belton 1:27 in! An ENORMOUS victory for the Bears, who will take those 13 points and run with them. They're in good shape in the team standings all of a sudden. In the other semifinal, it's a 2-1 lead for Merced's Chris Urquizo on Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel's Tigran Adzhemyan. Urquizo is No. 1 in the state. Belton was No. 2. Fabbian was unranked and has now defeated No. 8, No. 3 and No. 2. Nearfall from a cradle for Urquizo. He's up 5-1 in the second period. A reversal, though, for Adzhemyan, and it's 5-3, 6-3 after an escape. Now a takedown for the Calvary Chapel wrestler. He won't go away. It's 6-5. Urquizo can't escape in the final seconds of period 2, but he'll be down to start the third period as well. Optional start for Adzhemyan. He lets Urquizo go and now needs a takedown. Instead Urquizo gets one in the final seconds and finds a way to win, 9-5. He'll meet the upstart Fabbian in the state championship.

UPDATE, 11:07 a.m.: Scott Sakaguchi of Clovis didn't place at 140 last year after he entered the tournament as state No. 1. He'd like to erase that memory here by reaching the state finals. He's got a single leg high in the air on Matt Melendrez of California. Sak finishes for the takedown. In the other semi, Alex Rodriguez of Fresno-Washington Union has a takedown on Cody Bollinger of Hesperia-Sultana. Now a second-period reversal of Bollinger, and it's 2-2. It's 2-0 after one period for Sakaguchi. Example No. 1,349, 732 of why the Central Section is tough: Rodriguez and Sakaguchi met in the section meet last week — in a quarterfinal. They could be wrestling for a state championship. A takedown for Bollinger paired with a couple of escapes for Rodriguez and it's 4-4 late in period 2. Sakaguchi is trying to turn Melendrez, and he does briefly for two nearfall. The second period runs out with the score 4-0. An escape for Rodriguez to open the third, and A-Rod has a 5-4 lead on Bollinger. A minute to go. Bollinger doing all the shooting, as you might expect. Sakaguchi cruises through a quiet third period and wins 4-0. He's in the state championship for Clovis. Now a takedown for Rodriguez, working well defensively. He leads 7-4, and he'll hang on 8-7 after a last-second takedown from Bollinger. Sak beat A-Rod 4-2 last week in the quarters, so he's the favorite in the state championship.
A couple of quick consolation updates: East's Peter Gonzalez and Bakersfield's Timmy Box both lost their Conso quarterfinal matches, so they'll wrestle for seventh place. Bakersfield's Brian Schoene did win his Cinderella match and is guaranteed a state place. Didn't see on Jose Ramirez, but the Drillers have either four or five place-winners. Nice rebound from a bad night Friday.

UPDATE, 10:55 a.m.: Quick takedowns in the 140 semifinals for Lemoore's Nicholas Sierra and San Lorenzo Valley's Cody Rodebaugh, that one against state No. 1 and defending champ Vlad Dombroski of Sacramento-Nacitas. Both Dombroski and Ridgeview's Javier Sanchez get escapes to make it 2-1. They'll stay that way into the second period.
Escape for Sanchez to start the second to make it 2-2. Dombroski still on bottom. These matches are about 15 seconds apart. Now Dombroski out for a 2-2 tie there. Both in neutral. Now a takedown for Dombroski, who takes a 4-2 lead. Sierra almost had another takedown, but Sanchez was out of bounds. I swear Sierra has to be the hardest guy to take down in the state, but now he's been dinged for stalling. Now a granby for Rodebaugh, he has the reversal and a pin!!! With one second left in the second period! What a run for Rodebaugh. Escape for Sierra on the other mat for a 3-2 lead. Sanchez needs a takedown here, or another stall call. Sanchez in on a single leg deep, but Sierra has phenomenal balance! Sanchez can't finish, and there's 30 ticks left. Sierra hurt his knee there though, holding off Sanchez. He looks like he's in some pain. Sanchez had a takedown but they're out of bounds. Now a single and he's got it! He's taken down Sierra! Two seconds left, and Sierra can't escape! Javier Sanchez into the final. What a couple of upsets here at 140, and it'll be Rodebaugh against Sanchez.

UPDATE, 10:44 a.m.: The first semifinalist for the city of Bakersfield is Centennial's Seth Hicks, and he's in some early trouble against Shervin Iraniha of Monte Vista, but he scrambles out of a possible takedown out of bounds. In the other semifinal, its' 2-1 for Poway's Conrad Snell over MIch Newcomer of Laguna Hills. Scoreless first period for Hicks and Iraniha, and Hicks, after an escape, has to scramble out of another takedown. Now he has a lightning-quick double of his own, and he is able to finish. 3-0 Hicks, late in the second. Snell is now up 4-3 late in the second on Newcomer. Hicks down to start the third and he gets out for 4-0. Now a reversal and later a takedown for Snell, who's up 8-4. Looks like it'll be Hicks vs. Snell for the title. Newcomer was ranked second, and he gets a reversal to close within 8-6 with 30 seconds left. Takedown for Hicks, who leads 6-0 late. A couple of early scares for the local boy there, but he recovers nicely and will wrestle for a state title and an undefeated season It'll be against Conrad Snell, who hangs on 8-6. More big points for the Titans in the team standings.

UPDATE, 10:34 a.m.: Selma's Jose Mendoza is having a surprisingly easy time with Northview's Frank Martinez, leading 7-0 after two periods. Mendoza finished fourth at the section meet last year and now will likely be in the state final. His opponent will be either No. 1 Henry Yorba of Poway or Daniel Horcasitas of Riverside-King. After a scoreless first period, Yorba has an escape for a 1-0 lead. Another takedown for Mendoza, and it's 9-0. Takedown for Yorba, meanwhile, a double-leg to the back. He's got nearfall and a 6-0 lead right at the end of the second period. Mendoza cruises into the final 9-0, and Selma goes 2-0 in its semifinals. Yorba trying to answer for Poway, and he's got Horcasitas locked up again. Trying for the pin and the bonus points. Not going to get it, but he gets one for a major decision at 9-0.

UPDATE, 10:24 a.m.: Now on to 125 pounds, where Clovis' Clinton McAlester is wrestling defending champion Martin Gonzalez of Gilroy, another defending champion. The defending runner-up from 119 last year is Lemoore's Brandon Rocha, who's in the other semifinal against an upstart, Buchanan's Damien Arredondo. The two guys from Clovis are big underdogs here. Gonzalez has a 6-3 lead on McAlester after an early flurry of takedowns, but the Cougar almost threw him there. Instead, it's another takedown and an 8-3 lead. Scoreless first period in the other semi. Rocha gets an early escape in the second for a 1-0 lead, but Arredondo is hanging in there. Gilroy's Gonzalez had a couple of tough matches yesterday, but he has a 13-3 lead on McAlester, Bad start for Clovis to the semifinal round. Still 1-0 for Rocha after two. Arredondo was fourth in the section last week as a sophomore, and now he's challenging for a spot in the finals. Rocha is doing a fine job riding though. 15-5 Gonzalez over McAlester after two. Penalty point awarded to Arredondo! It's 1-1, but now Rocha has has two nearfall. That's going to seal it. 3-1 Rocha, and it looks for all the world like it'll be a rematch in the finals with Gonzalez. McAlester is down 16-5 and needs a miracle. He's not going to get one. It's a 17-8 final.

UPDATE, 10:12 a.m.: Bryce Hammond makes it 3-of-4 for Bakersfield in this consolation round. He beat Clovis' Cameren Kelley 3-1. That's a guy he needed two overtimes to beat last week in the section final. It's also another blow to Clovis' title hopes.

Big news in the 119-pound semifinals. Defending state champion David Klingsheim was tilted in the first period against Hogan's Terry Allen and is behind 5-2. He gets a quick reversal to close within 5-4 early in the second. This guy was a big favorite. Now he's tied up after an escape and a takedown, but Allen reverses him back! 8-6. Now Klingsheim is back on top and has Allen on his back. What a match. Klingsheim wraps up the pin at 3:44! In the other semifinal, Northview's Steven Salinas leads Fabian Garcia of Turlock 8-3. There's less than a minute left in the second period. Now a bigtime third period for Garcia! He takes down Salinas, then gives an escape, then takes Salinas back down with a five-point move to take an 11-10 lead. But there was a penalty point for an illegal hold at the end of that and Salinas gets a point to tie it 11-11. Now a reversal for Salinas, who appears to have his mojo back. It's 13-11 with 48 seconds left. Now a granby roll for Garcia, but he's not awarded any nearfall. I thought he should have had some. It's 13-13, Garcia on top. They're scrambling, with each wrestler nearly going to his back, but no points.. Amazing match, but now the refs, coaches and medics rush out to aid Salinas. Not sure if he went cold there or what. Let's hope for the best. Salinas is back on his feet. Good for him. And he has the takedown just 8 seconds into overtime! Huge roar from the crowd. Now Garcia is hurt. He got slammed down there. But he accepts a handshake from Salinas, and now the Northview wrestler will challenge Klingsheim in the final.

UPDATE, 9:55 a.m.: HUGE result in the all-Clovis Unified 103-pound semifinal. Stevan Knoblauch of Clovis West knocks off Clovis' Daniel Gaytan 2-1. It's his first win against Gaytan in three tries, and it knocks Clovis down to three semifinal possibilities.

No such trouble for Selma's Alex Cisneros, who beat De La Salle's Vince Moita 4-0 to advance to the state final as a freshman. And the most remarkable thing is that everyone in the state expected him to do it, and he went about his business with no sweat.

Bakersfield news: The Greg Kapler protest is still going on. It has to do mostly, I'm guessing, with some nearfall Kapler was not awarded just before he was reveresed for a five-point move with 10 seconds left. He ended up losing 11-9, so two nearfall points would be huge. Jonah Cruz rebounded from his quarterfinal disaster to win a match and guarantee he'll be a three-time state placer. Adam Fierro was pinned late in his match, though he led 1-0 with a minute to go. Bryce Hammond is wrestling now.

In the 112-pound semifinals, Gilroy's Jesse Delgado leads 2-0 on Clovis North's Vince Rodriguez after two periods, and Canyon Springs' Estevan Cabanas, who hasn't had a tough match since round 1 against Bakersfield's Natrelle Demison, is up 1-0 after two on Clovis West's Zach Zimmer. Delgado is now riding Rodriguez well, with his legs sunk in and an arm locked up. Zimmer is on bottom in the other semi, trying for an escape to tie the match. He gets it with about a minute left, and we're 1-1. Delgado finishes riding out Rodriguez for a 2-0 win where he was never really in trouble. He's been third twice, and now he's in the final for the first time. A shot in for Cabanas on the other mat but he can't finish with seconds left. We have overtime. How much does a takedown means to these guys now? They've spent 20 seconds feeling each other out, and now Zimmer in on a shot. But a beautiful sprawl from Cabanas, and he spins around for the takedown and the semifinal victory! 3-1 Cabanas, and he'll face Delgado.

UPDATE, 9:40 a.m.: I just wrote a big, long entry about some consolation goings-on, and it got deleted. So there you have it. Lots of technical issues this weekend.

Basically, here's the gist: Alec Dieter of Clovis gets a big pin. Liberty's Greg Kapler came back from a 6-0 deficit, then blew a lead late to lose 11-9 to Trinity's Kevin Maelfeyt. Liberty's coaches are protesting the match. Selma got a big win at 112 from Diego Quintana, but 119-pounder A.J. Valles lost 4-2 to Clovis West's Chris Martinez. After a bad quarterfinal round, Bakersfield got some good news when one of its six consolation wrestlers — right now the most in the tournament — Timmy Box has come through to place at state after losing his first match.

Semifinals are starting now. Alex Cisneros of Selma is up 2-0 after a period, and Stevan Knoblauch of Clovis West has a surprising 2-0 lead on Clovis' Daniel Gaytan. The Cougars have four semifinalists, a meet high, and a couple of wins would huge in team points. Update coming shortly.

ORIGINAL POST: Welcome back to Rabobank Arena, live for Day 2 of the state wrestling championships. We're wrestling Cinderella matches right now, and this is one of my favorite rounds of the whole tournament. If you win, you're a state placer — a tremendous goal for many a wrestler. If you lose, you go home empty-handed.

For you Kern County fans, East split its two Cinderella matches, with Marc Collier losing at 112 pounds and Peter Gonzalez winning at 119. They did the same thing last year, with Collier not placing and Gonzalez ending sixth.

For statewide fans, I believe Buchanan's Adrian Rodriguez won his match and Poway's Ryan Nasseri lost at 112. These matches are huge for team standings purposes too, because the winner has at least two more chances for points.

I will update shortly.

UPDATE, 11:31 a.m. Saturday: Be sure to check out the Day 2 live blog at this link: http://people.bakersfield.c...

UPDATE, 11:27 p.m.: So, it's been five hours, and I haven't blogged. I'm disgusted with myself. I promise I'll do better tomorrow. The problem was that we were insanely busy with stories for multiple newspapers during the quarterfinals. But there were some doozy matchups.

Here are the semifinal matchups:

103—Alex Cisneros, Selma, vs. Vince Moita, Concord-De La Salle; Daniel Gaytan, Clovis, vs. Stevan Knoblauch, Clovis West
112—Estevan Cabanas, Moreno Valley-Canyon Springs, vs. Zach Zimmer, Clovis West; Vince Rodriguez, Clovis North, vs. Jesse Delgado, Gilroy
119—Steven Salinas, Covina-Northview, vs. Fabian Garcia, Turlock; Terry Allen, Vallejo-Hogan, vs. David Klingsheim, Brentwood-Liberty
125—Clinton McAlester, Clovis, vs. Martin Gonzalez, Gilroy; Brandon Rocha, Lemoore, vs. Damien Arredondo, Buchanan
130—Daniel Horcasitas, Riverside-Martin Luther King, vs. Henry Yorba, Poway; Frank Martinez, Covina-Northview, vs. Jose Mendoza, Selma
135—Mitch Newcomer, Laguna Hills, vs. Conrad Snell, Poway; Seth Hicks, Bakersfield-Centennial, vs. Shervin Iraniha, Spring Valley-Monte Vista
140—Vlad Dombrovskyy, Sacramento-Natomas, vs. Cody Rodebaugh, San Lorenzo Valley; Javier Sanchez, Ridgeview, vs. Nicholas Sierra, Lemoore
145-- Cody Bollinger, Sultana vs. Alex Rodriguez, Fresno-Washington; Scott Sakaguchi, Clovis vs. Matt Melendrez, California
152 -- Martin Fabbian, Clovis-Buchanan vs. T.J. Belton, Modesto-Central Catholic; Chris Urquizo, Merced vs. Tigran Adzhemyan, Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel
160 -- Stephen West, Clovis-Buchanan vs. Jonathan Urango, Camarillo; James Cook, Madera vs. Patrick Martinez, Temecula Valley
171 -- Morgan McIntosh, Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel vs, Dwight Flores, Tulare Union; Jordan Williams, El Dorado vs. Jesse Hellinger, Winters
189 -- J.T. Felix, Corona-Centennial vs. Ian Daube, Poway; Jesus Chavez, River Valley vs. Nikolai Crouch, Santa Fe

215 -- Nick Pica, Concorde vs. Austin Morehead, Sutter; Drew Meulman, St. Francis vs. Josh Wood, Modoc

285 -- Roger McCovey, Del Norte, vs. Josh Lee, Martin Luther King; Kyle Papendorf, Clovis-Buchanan, vs. Angel Posadas, Foothill

Sorry about that funky font; I copied it from the newspaper. 

The team scores look like this, with number of semifinalists in parentheses:

1. Poway 89.5 (3)
2. Clovis-Buchanan 85.5 (4)
3. Clovis 85 (3)
4. Selma 66.5 (2)
5. Bakersfield 48 (0!)
6. Modesto-Central Catholic 47 (1)
7. Clovis West 44.5 (2)
8. Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel 44 (2)
9. Lemoore 41.5 (2)
Covina-Northview 41.5 (2)

I'm beat, so I'll leave it at that for tonight. We'll see you bright and early at 9 a.m. for a Cinderella round of consolation (win, you place and lose, you're done) followed in progress by semifinals at 9:30. I'm excited, and I'll blog more too.

UPDATE, 6:34 p.m.: A big upset at 189 pounds from back in the round of 16: No. 2-ranked Ryan Loder of Granite Hills goes down 6-5 to Nikolai Crouch of Santa Fe. Crouch was ranked sixth. Folks, that's what a tough draw will do to you.
From here in the consolations, those in the Central Section will recognize this one as an upset — Clovis' Sonny Cervantes, who only got into this tournament because of an eighth-place exemption, beats Porterville's Shane Yacuta, who was second in the section. He'll move on and is now just two wins away from placing in the top eight at state. Also big team point for the Cougars. 

UPDATE, 6:18 p.m.: As we work through this round of consolation (Clovis West's Chris Martinez was another upset victim I didn't catch last round, but he's won), here's a team scores update:

1. Poway 62
2. Clovis 61 (how's that for close?)
3. Buchanan 57.5
4. Selma 47.5
5. Bakersfield 41
6. Central Catholic 38
7. Clovis West 32.5
8. Lemoore 30.5
9. Calvary Chapel 29
10. Gilroy 28

UPDATE, 5:56 p.m.: Some heavyweight winners that I caught: Kyle Papendorf of Buchanan, Loren Baize of Lemoore, Jose Lopez of John Glenn (1-0 over East's Tony Hernandez), and Foothill's Angel Posadas (7-4 over Center's Daniel Gusev.)
Now consolation round 3 has begun.

UPDATE, 5:42 pm.: This has been a third round more or less devoid of the upsets we saw in the first two. The good side of that is that it's setting up some brilliant quarterfinal matchups. Unfortunately, I need to apologize in advance because the updates will be few and far between tonight for a while because I'll need to work on my daily newspaper responsibilities. But I'll do my best.
One minor upset, at least by the state rankings, was at 145, where California's Matt Melendrez  dominated Folsom's Jordan Hart 14-2. Melendrez was ranked eighth and Hart fourth.
And here's a bigger upset and another coup for Buchanan. At 152 pounds, Martin Fabbian beats De La Salle's Tyler Sheridan 4-2 to advance to the quarters. Sheridan was ranked third in the state, the highest rank to go down thus far. That means the top half of the 152 bracket has a quarterfinal between two unrankeds, Fabbian and Jake Poliakoff of Poway (big team points at stake there, too) and the other has No. 2 T.J. Belton of Central Catholic against No. 6 Bryce Hammond of Bakersfield. That's big team points at stake too, with all four teams in title contention.
Right in front of us now is an interesting 215 match where Cesar Chavez's Noel Gomez is giving No. 5 Andrew Hudson of Redlands East Valley a run. Hudson has a second-period escape for a 1-0 lead. Both wrestlers have had chances for takedowns, but it remains 1-0 through two periods. Gomez out from bottom for a 1-1 tie. Hudson gets a takedown, Gomez gets up and now quickly the unranked Gomez has a takedown near the outside of the circle! He leads 4-3 with 33 seconds left. An upset brewing here. I believe there was a stalling warning on Gomez, 23 seconds left.  And now Hudson gets out to tie it. Gomez has to be careful with that warning hanging over his head. We're going to go to OT. Now a stalling call on Hudson, so that's evened up. Gomez was definitely the aggressor in OT, but neither gets a takedown and it's double OT. Hudson down first. He gets out with about 10 seconds left. Now Gomez out with 12 left. It's 5-5 and we could be headed for a tiebreaker. Hudson scored first in the match, so he has choice and will go down. He has 30 seconds to get out and win the match. And Gomez briefly had a headlock, but Hudson pulls his head back and gets around for a reversal and the 7-5, triple-OT win.
Meanwhile, Gomez's workout partner for the week, Bakersfield's Brian Schoene is off to a slow start. giving up a takedown to George Dunlap of Soquel. He's down 2-1 after one. Schoene gets an escape and a takedown in round 2, though, and has control of the match again. He's now up 9-2 and can look forward to a quarterfinal with St. Francis' Drew Meulman.

UPDATE, 4:47 p.m.: I'm having some problems getting comments to post, but here's the answer to a couple of questions below — Clovis West's Zach Zimmer won 4-0 at 112 pounds to advance to the quarterfinals, and the team scores after two championship rounds/one consolation round look like this:
1. Poway 46
2. Clovis 45
3. Buchanan 38
4. Selma 34
5. Bakersfield 26.5
6. Clovis West 25.5
7. Central Catholic 23
8. Lemoore 22.5
9. SA-Calvary Chapel 22
10. Gilroy 21

Pins at 152 pounds for Bakersfield's Bryce Hammond and Central Catholic's T.J. Belton, setting up a juicy quarterfinal tonight.

UPDATE, 4:28 p.m.: A near-upset for Clovis High that would have been huge. Alec Dieter at 135  pounds led Kalin Goodsite of ML King 4-3 late in the match but surrendered a takedown with about 10 seconds left. Goodsite, ranked fourth in the state, hung on to win 5-4.
Meanwhile, the Central Section is flexing its muscle at 140. Bakersfield's Jonah Cruz advanced to the quarterfinals with a technical fall of Temecula Valley's Marco Decaro, and Ridgeview's Javier Sanchez is up 8-4 in the third period on Craig Simons of Orland. That doesn't even account for Lemoore's Nicholas Sierra, who's scoreless early in his match and in a long blood-time delay. Matt Negrete of Buchanan already took out No. 4 Kyle West, but now Negrete is down 5-3 in the third period to Vista's Josh Hotta. Sanchez has hung on for a 10-5 win. Still scoreless for Sierra, and Negrete is now down 10-3 after Hotta gets a takedown to the back for five points. Looks like Hotta will face Sanchez in tonight's quarterfinals.
If you're keeping an eye on Kern County, Bakersfield's Timmy Box and Liberty's Greg Kapler both won their consolation matches easily. BHS 145-pounder Adam Fierro is up 2-0 early in his third-round match. It's now 4-0 for Fierro after a tilt, so it looks like another Driller into the quarters with Bryce Hammond, Jose Ramirez and Brian Schoene still to come.

UPDATE, 4:10 p.m.: Keeping an eye now on Centennial's Seth Hicks at 135 pounds, who's top-ranked in the state but has a tought match in the round of 16, against sixth-ranked Corey Johnson of Del Oro. A slow first period results in a scoreless tie, and now the undefeated Hicks to go on top. Hicks is doing a fine job riding through the first minute of the second, but now Johnson is out and has a 1-0 lead. Now Hicks with a beautiful fireman's shot and he has two near the edge of the circle. That's a 2-1 lead with 25 seconds to go in the second. He rides out and gets a reversal in the third period for a 4-1 lead and he hangs on by that score.

UPDATE, 3:42 p.m.: I'm a bit stuck following some of Kern County wrestlers, so I'm not keeping up with all of the state's best. But David Klingsheim has a 6-1 lead entering the third period. Martin Gonzalez of Gilroy, meanwhile, is wrestling through his tough draw, battling with Selma's Nick Pena, who's eighth in the state. A scoreless first period and an escape for Gonzalez to start period 2 makes it 1-0. Klingsheim won, I believe 8-2. As for Pena and Gonzalez, they've been tied up a lot in neutral position. Two or three stalemates already. Now it's the end of the second. Pena chooses down, Gonzalez gives him neutral for a point and a 1-1 tie. Now some blood time. Nearly a takedown for Gonzalez, but they're out of bounds with less than a minute left. Could be headed for overtime. This one is a doozy. Locked up in wizzers, and now Gonzlez has the takedown! 30 ticks left. Escape for Pena, but he needs a takedown. He won't get it, and Gonzalez survives 3-2.

UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: Didn't see any upsets in the 103 championship round. Vince Moita joined Alex Cisneros, Stevan Knoblauch, Daniel Gaytan (who had a tough match, 8-5) and Kevin Mai in the second round. On to 112, where Jesse Delgado had an easy win for Gilroy, getting a pin in the first period against Poway's Ryan Nasseri. Clovis North's Vince Rodriguez is up 2-1 in the second period, and East's Marc Collier has a 4-2 lead to start the third against Lawrence Blanco of James Logan.
There's a pin for for Rodriguez at 3:45. Estevan Cabanas of Canyon Springs also had an easy win , I believe 13-4. With Alfonso Osuna out of that quarter, there's a clear path to the semis for Cabanas, though Selma's Diego Quintana will present a quarterfinal challenge (I didn't see if Quintana won in the round of 16). Collier has held on 4-2 for his second straight quarterfinal berth. Let's see if it goes better than last year, when the Blade lost two in a row from this point and didn't place.

UPDATE, 2:58 p.m.: Quickly into the championship third round, which starts with a bang for Selma's Alex Cisneros, the No. 1-ranked Bear (Selma is not the Tigers, like I said earlier, thanks for that correction) at 103. He pinned Michael Nolasco of El Modena in the first period, then calmly stood up, shook hands and signed his bout sheet. This guy is the real deal. He's into the quarterfinals and won't faced a ranked wrestler until at least the semifinals (could be Vince Moita of De La Salle).

UPDATE, 2:49 p.m.: Into 189 and 215 pounds in the first consolation round here. We're probably about 20 minutes away from California's Sweet 16. The Californian's trusty correspondent Steve Lynch checks in with these numbers: Fifteen of The California Wrestler's top eight ranked wrestlers have either been eliminated or knocked to the consolation bracket. Of those, none are from 189, 215 or heavyweight, and just four are from 145 or above. Many of the upsets have happened at lower weights.
None of the top three wrestlers at any weight have lost. Two No. 4's we've mentioned before, Alfonso Osuna of Brawley at 112, and Kyle West of Oak Ridge, have lost. Osuna also lost his first consolation match and has been eliminated. West, second at state last year, got a pin and is still wrestling for third.
As for Kern County, just three wrestlers out of 26 qualifiers are out.

UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: A quick team score update after the first full round is complete — the Central Section is dominating.
Defending champion Clovis, helped by six pins, is in the top spot with 42 points, followed by Poway at 39, Buchanan at 38, Selma at 31, Bakersfield at 26.5, Clovis West at 25.5 and Lemoore at 22.5. That's six of the top seven from the Central Valley.
About halfway through the first round of consolations here, but I have to admit I've been doing some other work and haven't kept a really close eye on the goings-on for the past 15 minutes or so.

UPDATE, 1:49 p.m.: We're into consolation round 1. A reminder that the first period in all consolation matches is just one minute. The other two periods are still two.
Some figures on the 26 Kern County qualifiers: Fourteen of them are through to the round of 16, a pretty good percentage that includes all three East qualifiers, both Foothill qualifiers and five of the seven Bakersfield entries. Really the only disappointment for the Drillers so far is Timmy Box's loss at 130 pounds, but if he had won, he'd have ran into No. 1 Henry Yorba of Poway anyway. So BHS is taking care of business thus far.
Two additional notes: Brawley's Alfonso Osuna, ranked fourth in the state, lost his first match to Diego Quintana of Selma and is now down 7-3 in his consolation match. I'm sitting next to a reporter from the San Diego Union-Tribune who says he did a feature on Osuna last night, and he says it's the old U-T jinx at work.
Meanwhile, Jeshua Aveno of Santa Teresa in San Jose is another inspirational story. He's legally blind and made it to state, though he lost his first match and is down 5-0 to Dylan Barrales of Temecula Valley in the consolations. Still, congrats to Jeshua for making it this far.
Another disappointment for BHS — Natrelle Demison lost his consolation match, 5-2 to Andrew Schulte of Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel. That's a bad loss for Demison, who I think made the freshman mistake of letting a tough first loss carry over. BHS loses a guy within two matches they thought had a legit shot at placing.
Also, an upset I missed earlier — Kyle West of Oak Ridge, fourth in the state and a second-place finisher last year — was upset by Buchanan's Kyle Negrete, 8-5 in the first round. Nice win for Buchanan, and now a chance for Negrete to go to the quarterfinals or further.

UPDATE, 1:32 p.m.: Drew Meulman of St. Francis and Brian Schoene of Bakersfield are on a collision course for the 215 pound quarterfinals, and both had little trouble with their first match. Meulman won by pin, Schoene by a 5-1 decision over Ponderosa's Paul Buchanan. Meulman beat Schoene in the finals of both the Doc Buchanan and the Five Counties, so that's a finals-caliber match in the quarters if both wrestlers make it.
The heavyweights are going at it now ,with the first consolation round to follow in the next few minutes. At heavyweight, the Central Section is busy, with Foothill's Angel Posadas dispatching La Sierra's Dillion Sanderson with a first-period pin, and Tony Hernandez of East up 2-0 on El Camino's Zach Pringle. Lemoore's Loren Baize is tied 1-1 and headed to overtime with Juan Lucero of L.A.-Bell. A couple of other LA guys have already won matches, so it's good to see a traditionally weak section do well. Not going to happen for Lucero, though; Baize takes him down and adds the pin for good measure at 6:26.
Hernandez is now up 5-0, and he'll likely move on to face John Glenn's Jose Lopez, though Lopez is nursing a 3-0 lead on Dimitrius Berry of Vallejo.

UPDATE, 1:11 p.m.: Sorry for the delay. We had more technical difficulties there, but I'm promised that those are done with. I certainly hope so, considering this is one of Rabobank's biggest weekends and the wireless internet is crucial.
Anyway, a couple of upsets — Taylor Hodel of Vacaville was upset 6-5 by Rancho Cucamonga's Joey Lemond at 145. Hodel was ranked fifth in the state. Also, Buchanan's Jake Gingold lost an overtime match at 189 to Derrick Hawkins of Santiago. Hawkins' takedown in overtime produced the loudest roar of the day so far (part of it produced by rival Clovis fans happy about Buchanan's loss, no doubt).

UPDATE, 12:03 p.m.: A pin for Poway by 140-pounder Rio Gallegos over Vacaville's Garrett Walton. I have no way to prove this, but it seems like Poway has done pretty well thus far, winning matches where it should and maybe a few where you wouldn't expect it. That's what they need if they're going to compete for their team title, at long last.
Two more Bakersfield studs, Jonah Cruz of BHS and Javier Sanchez of Ridgeview, are wrestling on adjacent mats. Both have a 4-2 edge in the third period, now 6-2 for Sanchez, who is wrestling the No. 8 rank, Kyle Chene of Irvine. Nice performance from Sanchez. Cruz hangs on 4-2 in a tougher-than-expected match. Sanchez was actually in the second period, so he and Chene are still battling. 10-6 for the Ridgeview wrestler now, who's dominating in neutral position. Now 12-6, and he'll win going away.

UPDATE, 11:45 a.m.: Two of Bakersfield's best pound-for-pound wrestlers, undefeated Seth Hicks of Centennial and Greg Kapler of Liberty, are going at it on mats right next to each other. Hicks, ranked first in the state, is a minute into his match with a takedown and some nearfall already against Jonathan Ojeda of Etna. Kapler, to no one's sruprise, is in a scramble but he ended up getting taken down to his back. No. 6 Corey Johnson of Vacaville is up 5-0 to start the second period. Same thing happened, and it's 10-0. Johnson has caught Kapler in a tilt twice now, and a guy who had lost just once until a couple of weeks ago is headed to the consolation bracket. Folks, this is the state tournament. No easy matches.

UPDATE, 11:30 a.m.: From the overkill department, the CIF is already announcing team scores. Probably no need to read into this yet, considering 60 percent of wrestlers didn't even have first round matches, but Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel leads the standings with ... 10 whole points!!! That's followed by Clovis West and Gilroy with 8 each and Lemoore with 7.5. Come on people. Let's at least wait until everyone's wrestled before we get going here.

A few upsets at 103—MIchael Nolasco, El Modena, over MIchael Lim, El Camino; Logan Lazaro, Lincoln, over Daniel Romero, Carlsbad; Adrian Rodriguez, Buchanan, over Matt Correa, Righetti (another big win for the Bears)

UPDATE, 11:03 a.m.: Like I expected, a good match going on between Bakersfield's Demison and Canyon Springs' Cabanas. It's 3-3 in the third period, each wrestler with a first-period takedown and an escape. About a minute to go. Elsewhere, Clovis North's Vince Rodriguez and Clovis West's Zach Zimmer are having an easy time in their second-round matches. Rodriguez won 12-0 and Zimmer is up 12-5 at the start of the third.
Cabanas has gotten a couple of takedowns on Demison just before the wreslters went out of bounds, and he'll survive 7-5.
In other news, East Bakersfield is wrestling very well. A couple of lightweights, Peter Gonzalez and Marc Collier, have taken down state-ranked guys after stumbling to seventh-place finishes at the section meet (at home, no less) last week. Collier just beat La Habra's Aaron LaFarge 10-8 in the second round, and Gonzalez is ahead 7-4 in his second-round match in the third period over on Mat 10.
Some more notable results from the first round: 171—Ryan Mackey, Ripon, over Alex Brown, Poway; Chris Heath, Sunnyside, over Zack Blumenfeld, Gunn; 189—James Chandless, over Adam O'Brian, Petaluma; Jesus Chavez, River Valley, over J.T. Bauman, Dublin; 215—George Dunlap, Soquel, over Joshua Mei, Atascadero; Tired Olson, South Hills, over Ben Holmes, Vacaville.
 

UPDATE, 10:38 a.m.: Results through 160 pounds are in, a big win for Buchanan's Martin Fabbian over state-ranked Cezar Padilla of Pitman at 152 pounds. The Bears will need more where that came from from their "role wrestlers" to get it done for the team title. Also, at 103 pounds, Selma's Alex Cisneros, the freshman who's already a legend from his youth wrestling days, started his bid for a first state championship with a 15-0 tech fall of Norwalk's Stephen Joyce. I'll be looking at Bakersfield's Natrelle Demison against Estevan Cabanas of Canyon Springs next. Cabanas is No. 5 in state, but Demison has come on strong of late. Could be a good one.

UPDATE, 10:28 am.: We have results from 103 to 140 now. I was picking on Selma a bit earlier, so I should mention that their 112-pounder, Diego Quintana, had a big win against Brawley's Antonio Osuna, who was ranked fourth in the state coming in. That's what the Tigers need.
Other surprising results so far: 112—Isa Hurtado, Shelton, over Juan Jaime, Laguna Hills; 119—Peter Gonzalez, East Bakersfield, over Dylan Barrales, Temecula Valley; 125—Oscar Lizarraga, Brawley, over Kevin Barton, El Modena; 135—Micky Phanthavong, Granite HIlls, over Sean Regan, Sultana; 140—Nick Jackson, Atascadero, over Nick Escalera, Selma

Heavyweight matches are being wrestled right now. Second round of championship is on deck.

UPDATE, 9:59 a.m.: Speaking of Selma, 152-pounder Justin Lozano just lost a big lead in the third period. He led Poway's Jake Poliakoff by four points but gave up three late takedowns to tie the match, and Poliakoff just took Lozano down in overtime! Bigtime comeback for the Titans in a match that could prove crucial to team scoring. Not a good back-to-back for Selma.

UPDATE, 9:49 a.m.: Disappointing loss for Selma at 140 pounds — Nick Escalera was defeated, I believe 6-2, by Atascadero's Nick Johnson in a first-round match. If the Tigers are going to win a state title, they're going to have to get points from somewhere besides 103-pounder Alex Cisneros and 130-pounder Jose Mendoza.

UPDATE, 9:38 a.m.: And we're live. Sorry about the delay, I had problems parking and then with the wireless network here. But it appears to be all systems go now.
As for the results you all have asked for below, I'll do my best. It might be till the end of the round before I can get results for sure though — that's when the CIF will distribute them to media. In the meantime, I'll listen to results and watch as much as I can. I've also got to go over to the convention center, where they're going to announce at 10 a.m. that the state tournament is coming back to Bakersfield for at least the next three years.
One upset I did catch earlier — Peter Gonzalez of East Bakersfield beat Temecula Valley's No. 7-ranked Dylan Barrales at 119 pounds. Not really an upset, since Gonzalez is a returning state placer, but Barrales was the ranked wrestler. I believe the score was 4-0.

ORIGINAL POST: Welcome to Day 1 of the CIF State Wrestling Championships, the action-packed, 10-mat, wall-to-wall drama that will unfold below us on the Rabobank Arena floor in Bakersfield. Welcome to fans around the state and welcome bak to those Central Section fans who joined us for the Masters live blog last weekend.

I will update here as much as I can, though it won't be the results of every match like it was last week. If there's an upset or a big match, you can bet you'll see the results on here. I'll also make sure I have tomorrow's semifinal matchups up before night's end.

If there's a specific wrestler or match you're looking for results to, let me know in the comments below, and I'll do my best to let you know. Be as specific as you can with weight, school and name.

Otherwise, let's get ready to rumble. Wrestling starts at 9 a.m. sharp.

We've just completed boys semifinal day in Central Section basketball, and it sounds like there was a batch of great games around the Valley tonight.

One of them I saw firsthand. Liberty started sloppy, played flawlessly in the middle and then got sloppy again in holding off Fresno-Sunnyside 69-62 in a Division II semifinal. The Patriots actually led by 17 with about two minutes to go before Sunnyside made a late charge, but things never got epically serious.

I came away really impressed with Liberty point guard Sam Marcus, whom I'd seen play before but never, I don't think, to this caliber. When the Patriots offense was rolling in the second and third quarters — when they outscored Sunnyside 40-27 — it was a joy to watch the offense run. Marcus would dart into the lane and either score over one of Sunnyside's tall trees or kick the ball to the high post or the corner for an open jump shot.

Liberty's dream season now continues at Selland Arena in Fresno, where they'll face ... Garces, which, in similar fashion, got out to a big lead at second-seeded Lemoore and held on for a 92-81 victory. Two Bakersfield teams fighting for a championship in Fresno? Can't they find a way to play this game at the Icardo Center or something? It would draw a huge crowd and be great for the city, but I guss rules is rules.

Anyway, Garces coach Gino Lacava called his brother — who happens to be Californian sports editor Tony Lacava — after the game and said it was one of the most fun, craziest games he'd been a part of. Apparently Lemoore hit a bunch of 3s in the second half to come back, at one point cutting the lead to 5. But the real news of the night might be that both Garces wing Stephon Carter and forward Chris Dixon were injured during the game. Dixon was bleeding from the mouth, but it sounds like he'll be OK come Friday night at 8 p.m. when Garces-Liberty IV gets under way. Carter, on the other hand, might have broken his hand. If he can't play Friday, you'd think Liberty would roll to its fourth straight win over the Rams and to the first section basketball title in school history. If Carter can play (we'll know more tomorrow), I bet another dogfight ensues.

In Division I, Centennial nearly pulled off a big comeback at Fresno-Central to reach the big-boy section final. The Golden Hawks trailed 40-27 at halftime but outscored the Grizzlies 20-8 in the third quarter and then took the lead in the fourth quarter. But when big man Nick Jensen fouled out, Centennial's offense stalled and they fell, 68-61. Central will play Edison in an all-Fresno Unified basketball final. A little strange not to see either a Kern County team or, even more surprising, a Clovis Unified team, in a Division I section final.

Ridgeview had to come from behind to beat El Diamante 67-55 in Division III. The Wolf Pack plays Hanford West at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Selland. Travon Wesson had 32 points for Ridgeview, which goes to show you that Kaylin Evans is not always the star of this team. The Wolf Pack also is shooting for the first section title in school history.

Division IV's local semifinal lacked the drama of II and III. Bakersfield Christian got 32 points from Colby Herron — another sidekick, him to Marcus Hall — and the Eagles rolled, 73-48 past Corcoran. They'll play Kingsburg, an overtime winner over Kerman, in the championship at noon Saturday.

As for the girls, who played their semifinals Tuesday night, the two locals moving on are Stockdale and Garces. Both have huge tests in the finals.

Stockdale, which beat Fresno-Edison 74-54 at home Tuesday, faces Clovis West in the D-I final at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Golden Eagles have beat the Mustangs three years in a row in this game.

Garces is 29-1 after they topped Sanger at home Tuesday, but they have Hanford at 6 p.m. Friday in the final. That's a real tough test, because Hanford is even better than Clovis West — they beat 'em by four earlier this year and carry a top-10 state ranking into the game.

We'll talk more basketball and of course state wrestling later.

We've taken to calling this upcoming Friday and Saturday the Hell Weekend around the sports desk at The Californian. To wit: The Central Section boys and girls basketball championships will be contested those days in Fresno, the March Meet drag-racing extravaganza at Famoso Speedway (actually lasts through Sunday) and, oh yeah, a few thousand in town for the CIF State Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena.

Normally, the basketball and wrestling are on the same weekend; that's always been a scheduling issue and probably always will be. But usually, those fall on the first weekend in March. Because this March 1 was a Sunday, they got pushed back to the 6-7, and March Meet, usually on the second weekend, took the 6-7 as the second weekend. What's a sports fan to do?

I'm going to have fun. It'll be lots of work, but it'll be fun. And it already started last week, with both the Central Section Grand Masters meet at East High (which I went crazy blogging here and here) and the start of the boys and girls basketball playoffs.

The girls play semifinals Tuesday, and there haven't been any big surprises there. Clovis West and Stockdale, the two big favorites in Division I, will play home games against Bakersfield and Fresno-Edison, respectively, and frankly, a lot of folks will be stunned if it's not the Golden Eagles and Mustangs in the championship. Same with Hanford in D-II, and since Garces has lost just once, you've got to throw the Rams in that group, too, though they've got a tough game with Sanger in the semifinals. The lower divisions are more or less following chalk, too.

Not so in boys basketball, where the shocker of the year happened the day I wrote a column talking about the power of underdogs this year. That would be this Division I quarterfinal score: No. 9 Clovis Buchanan 70, No. 1 Clovis East 69. The Timberwolves had proven again and again that they were the class of the section this season — undefeated within the Valley with at least one game against most of the other contenders for Best Team. But Buchanan was having none of it, and won the game on a last-second shot by Jackson Carbajal.

The real effect of that, besides breaking Clovis East hearts, is that a Division I title is completely up for grabs. Centennial and Central both won close games at home in the bottom half of the bracket, and the winner of their game at Central on Wednesday will be the higher seed in the final at Selland Arena on Saturday night. Buchanan, obviously, has proven itself worthy of title consideration. But I think the real favorite might be Edison, which won at Clovis West in a dynamite quarterfinal and now doesn't have Clovis East staring at it in the semi. And remember, this isn't like other sports where the higher seed gets a huge advantage. All championships are at Selland.

In Division II, which was the deeper bracket going in, the top four seeds have made it through to the semifinals, where Sunnyside at Liberty and Garces at Lemoore should be loads of fun. Ridgeview is the top seed in Division III and gets El Diamante next, while Bakersfield Christian is now the prohibitive favorite in D-IV; the Eagles were a lock for the No. 1 seed and now have seen No. 2 Fowler and No. 4 Pariler go out in the first two rounds.

On to the other big high school event of the week — the state wrestling tournament. This is where I'll be spending a lot of my time for the next few days (though I'm going to try to make it out to a couple of hoops semifinals). We'll get into more detail with some of these kids later, but for now, here's a list of Kern County's 26 state qualifiers along with their weight class and what place they took at Masters.

Bryce Hammond, Bakersfield, 1st at 152
Jonah Cruz, Bakersfield, 2nd at 140
Adam Fierro, Bakersfield, 2nd at 145
Brian Schoene, Bakersfield, 2nd at 215
Timmy Box, Bakersfield, 3rd at 130
Jose Ramirez, Bakersfield, 3rd at 160
Natrelle Demison, Bakersfield, 4th at 112

Seth Hicks, Centennial, 1st at 135

Rene Medina, Shafter, 1st at 171

Greg Kapler, Liberty, 2nd at 135
Martin Cueto, Liberty, 4th at 145

Angel Posadas, Foothill, 3rd at heavyweight
Derik Rizo, Foothill, 7th at 130

Javier Sanchez, Ridgeview, 4th at 140

Noel Gomez, Ceasar Chavez, 4th at 215

Shane Ellis, Frontier, 5th at 189
Lance Castenada, Frontier, 6th at 145

Amandeep Singh, Delano, 5th at 160

Antonio Hernandez, East, 6th at heavyweight
Marc Collier, East, 7th at 112
Peter Gonzalez, East, 7th at 119

Michael Martinez, Wasco, 6th at 140

James St. John, Tehachapi, 7th at 160
Jared Steinbach, Tehachapi, 8th at 125

Michael Machado, Arvin, 7th at 189
Francisco Bugambilia, Arvin, 8th at 140