5 Things To Watch At California States
5 Things To Watch At California States
Going into this year’s California State Championships there are a few things that should be on your radar when watching the tournament.
A tight team race, a possible individual four-peat, and one senior's shot at redemption are just a few of the top storylines to watch at the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships this weekend in Bakersfield, CA.
Here is a rundown of everything you need to know before the two-day tournament gets underway Friday at 9 AM PST. To view the brackets for each weight class, head over to FloArena.
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1. Challengers emerge in team race
The team race became more interesting when Buchanan ended Clovis' five-year reign as CIF state champion in 2016. Buchanan, which is going for its third straight title, has qualified all 14 of their wrestlers for this weekend's tournament. Along with the top-ranked Bears, Poway will have 14 wrestlers in the tournament as well.
Selma, Bakersfield, and St. John Bosco have also advanced a double-digit amount of wrestlers with 12, 11, and 10, respectively. Not to be forgotten, Clovis has qualified nine of its wrestlers, along with Clovis North, which just outpointed the Cougars at Masters. Rancho Bernardo and Vacaville will both have the same amount.
The incredible number of competitors that each team will have, especially Buchanan and Poway, will make this one of the most exciting team races in a while.
Watch Matt Olguin defeat Nic Aguilar in 2016:
2. Can they repeat?
Four wrestlers (five if you count Seth Nevills, but we will get to him later) are looking to go back-to-back as CIF champions. Jonathan Prada won the 106-pound title last year and will attempt to do the same again. In addition, Jesse Vasquez (won at 113), Cleveland Belton (won at 120), and Anthony Montalvo (won at 182) will try claiming their second straight titles at 126, 132, and 182, respectively.
Buchanan’s Matt Olguin and Ethan Leake, who both won titles in 2016, will try to get back to their state championship-winning ways after falling short last year.
3. Going for 4
The headliner of this year's tournament (besides the team race) is Clovis' Seth Nevills. The Penn State signee is heading into rare California wrestling history as he seeks his fourth state title. Just a season ago, Nevills’ teammate Justin Mejia accomplished this feat, and now Nevills will look to make it back-to-back years of history-making championships for the Cougars. In doing so, he would become just the third wrestler to win four straight, joining Mejia and Darrell Vasquez (1999-02).
Watch Seth Nevills win his fourth title:
4. Is this Aguilar’s year?
Gilroy senior Nic Aguilar has come up short in the state finals in each of the last two years, leaving with consecutive runner-up finishes. The Rutgers signee came so close in a 6-5 loss to Jesse Vasquez in last year’s 113lb final, which was preceded by an 11-4 loss to Olguin in 2016 at 106lb.
Now at 120lb, could this be the year Aguilar gets it done?
5. High-level competition
This year there are 22 wrestlers competing in the CIF State Championships who are listed in the FloRankings. Selma’s Richard Figueroa comes in as the highest-ranked wrestler at #2 at 106. Including Figueroa, there are five top five wrestlers in the field.