‘Baler freshman wins first match, drops next two
Bakersfield – Junior Davila’s first foray into the CIF State Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena was met with mixed results Friday.
The San Benito freshman got off to a fast start, decisioning senior Tony Mendez of San Fernando, the Los Angeles Section No. 1-seeded wrestler, 17-10.
Davila lost his second-round match by technical fall, 17-2, to Ryan Giovenco of North Torrance. He then lost by fall in 2:31 to Jordan Nakasone of Lincoln and was eliminated from the competition. The third seed out of the Central Coast section was followed one round later by CCS champion Mike Duran of Sobrato, who was pinned by Henry Yorba of Poway.
Davila got off to faster start than more heralded Jesse Delgado, the state No. 1 ranked 103-pounder from Gilroy. Delgado, who hadn’t lost to a California wrestler all season, was winning his opening-round match against Chad Thornack of San Jacinto when he was caught in the third period in a cradle and pinned in 4:25.
Delgado then won four straight matches to advance to the second day of wrestling. He is one of four Mustangs with a chance to medal, including Hunter Collins who is assured of no worse than sixth after going unbeaten in three matches Friday.
It was a rough day for CCS schools with Gilroy’s 10th-place standing (32 points) the best showing through the first three Championship and Consolation rounds. Los Gatos was next best, tied for 32nd with 16 points.
But the Mustangs, who finished fourth last year, still have a shot for a top-5 finish with 119-pounder Martin Gonzalez and 189-pounder Andres Barragan still alive. If Delgado, Gonzalez and Barragan win first-round matches today, they will be assured of a medal.
As expected, Poway and Buchanan are 1-2 in the team standings with 72 and 70 points, respectively. Buchanan is one of four Central Section teams in the top 10.
“It was a very tough first day,” GHS coach Armando Gonzalez said. “My big four wrestled as well as I hoped. When (three of them) lost, they were all able to bounce back.”
Collins didn’t need a bounce back as he wrestled his way to a return match with No. 2-ranked Louis Bland in the semifinals. The two wrestled for the 171-pound state title last year, but ranked No. 2 and 3, they were seeded to meet in the semifinals.
“I’ll go out there and wrestle as hard as I can,” Collins said of his matchup with Bland, who beat him 8-5 last year and is a two-time state champion. “This what I wrestle for, to get these big matches.”
Wrestling continues at 9am today. Championship semifinals are at 9:30.
