The 2020 California State Duals will be in its inaugural year as Dr. Marcos Sanchez, Central Coast Section Assistant Commissioner, and staff, attempt to bring together under one roof the best programs in California to battle it out for a dual-meet team state championship. The event is set to take place on Saturday, January 25, 2020, at Clovis North Educational Center.

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Saturday, Jan. 25 @ 2 PM ET

Round 1 is scheduled to take place from 11 AM-1 PM local time, followed by the semifinal round from 1-3 PM. The finals should be from 3-5 PM with the awards following the conclusion of the championship match. Having a dual team state tournament enables the whole of a team’s lineup to experience the opportunity to impact the success of a team in a state tournament setting.

Division II

Earning the top seed in Division II is Vacaville High, which has won the Sac-Joaquin Section Duals 22 times. The Bulldogs finished first at the Clash tournament in Minnesota while competing in Division III. Vacaville is currently ranked No. 12 in California with its top wrestler being heavyweight Chris Island, who sits as the No. 3-ranked wrestler in the Golden State. The Bulldogs are solid from top to bottom and should work their way into the championship bout. Their first-round opponent is Clovis East who is heavily loaded in the upperweights. Nevertheless, it should be a mismatch as Vacaville has some great upperweight wrestlers.

The likely semifinal opponent for Vacaville High will be Rancho Bernardo out of the San Diego section. The Broncos are not as balanced as they have been in past years, as they are better as an individual tournament team. Key wrestlers include a state finalist Tyler Badgett (152), state place winners Jaden Le (145), and Javen Jovero (182), along with formidable competitors at 120 and 195.

The other half of the bracket is looking at a likely semifinal battle between No. 20 Northview High and No. 22 Temecula Valley. That presumes those teams clear Del Oro and Frontier in their opening matches respectively, which they should. An interesting matchup that could take place should be between Adrian Limon (Northview) vs Damion Elliot (Del Oro) at 120 pounds. Limon is coming off from winning 5 Counties while Damion was the champion at Tim Brown.

Predicted finishes

(1) Vacaville (2) Northview (3) Temecula Valley (4) Rancho Bernardo (5) Oakdale (6) Frontier (7) Del Oro (8) Clovis East

Division III

The top seed in Division III is No. 15 Esperanza High. The Aztecs are led by nationally ranked wrestler Aaron Nagao (132); Nagao has only competed once this season so it is unsure if he will compete this weekend. Additionally, known commodities include state qualifiers Chris Calderon (106) and Joey Mora (160). They also got placement finishes at the Battle for the Belt tournament out Travis Ewing (113) and Elijah Holiday (138). They should have an easy time with their first-round opponents in Central High out of the Central Section. Central is led by state qualifiers Adrian Chavez (126) and Abehybir Sekhon (145).

The semifinal bout should be against either Turlock or Birmingham High. Turlock may be under-seeded as a five in the brackets, featuring four state-ranked wrestlers in the lineup: including returning state placer William Giron(120) along with state qualifier Adrian Heras (132), who was section champion and was whiting a match from placing at state. Section qualifiers that should make an impact in the dual-meet include Egberto Davalos (113) and Gustavo Bonilla (126).

Unranked in the state, Bella Vista High is the second seed in this bracket. The Bucking Horses fits the description of a "stars-and-scrubs" squad. In their last competition, they had a champion in state qualifier Dylan maples (120), while Vince Olivera (145), Danny Harris (160), and Bryan Henkel (182) placed at the tournament.

They face Chico High out of the Northern Section in a relatively non-competitive first-round match. That squad is anchored by state qualifier Alex Rudkin (145). The other opening match in that half-bracket places Vista De Lago out of the Sac-Joaquin Section versus Central Section power Lemoore High. Vista Del Lago is coming off from winning the Joe Rios Memorial at Chico High. Lemoore is anchored by state place winners Wayne Joint (132) and William Kloster (160); Jesse Gayton (120) has advanced twice to the state tournament and could do some damage this season.

Predicted finishes

(1) Esperanza (2) Lemoore (3) Vista Del Lago (4) Turlock (5) Birmingham (6) Bella Vista (7) Central (8) Chico

Division IV

Top seed is Sac-Joaquin school Ponderosa High. Multiple-time team section champions in the ’90s, the Bruins are anchored by state-ranked wrestlers Jake Griffiths (170) and Matt Fregoso (182). Division IV is not as strong as the other divisions. Nevertheless, we must remember this year’s dual-team championship is an experiment that Mr. Marco Sanchez will introduce to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) office so that it could be sanctioned in the future. Ponderosa should have an easy time versus North Bakersfield.

Their semifinal opponent should be the winner between Benicia High and Casa Roble. Formerly a Sac-Joaquin section school, Benicia now competes in the North Coast and they have had great success in the section tournament. The Panthers are led by Lorenzo Gunn (113), Brandon Reynolds (126), and Basil Othman (138). Othman is a state qualifier and was second at the Tim Brown Invitational.

Moving onto the other half Los Gatos High is the No. 2 seed. They are currently ranked No. 3 in the Central Coast with nine of their wrestlers being ranked in the latest section rankings. The Wildcats are led by state qualifier Thomas Mailhot (182) who was a place winner at Doc Buchanan, as well as section place winners Nick Rusiniak (132) and Markie Murabito (138).

The third sees here is Granada High out of the North Coast which finished ninth at the Mid-Cals tournament. Granada is led by state-ranked wrestler Carter Bailey (120). Bailey recently won Mid-Cals by earning a hard-fought 15-0 technical fall in the finals over Ryan Luna (St. Francis). Along with Bailey, Granada will have the support of Jackson Morgan (138), Rylan Matheson (152), and Ian Richardson (182).

Predicted finishes

(1) Benicia (2) Los Gatos (3) Granada (4) Ponderosa (5) Casa Grande (6) Corning (7) El Capitan (8) North Bakersfield