Isaac Blackburn – Del Oro HS

Seven shots at greatness: SJS Masters Wrestling Preview and Predictions

By: Ike Dodson ■ Roseville Press Tribune Sports Editor

Twitter: @Ike_Dodson

SJS Masters Brackets – View Here

Waiting in line isn’t going to get you tickets to this show.

To earn a trek to the California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championships, the best prep wrestlers in the Sac-Joaquin Section are going fight, sweat, ignore their own pain and overcome when no one else gives them a shot.

They meet Friday and Saturday at the Stockton Arena for the SJS Masters Wrestling Tournament.

It’s all in the numbers.

Six divisional tournaments qualified 448 competitors to Masters, where only 98 will move on to state.

The athletes square off across 11 rounds in 14 32-man brackets.

The tournament only awards SJS medals and state qualifications to the top seven in every weight, so if you take eighth, that last handshake from the wrestler who beat you is your only reward.

As of Monday, Feb. 24, 118 wrestlers from the SJS were ranked top-40 in the state by the California Wrestling Newsletter. At least 29 of those wrestlers will be denied a ticket to state, and it’s likely that some of them won’t even make weight Friday.

The action is unpredictable, inspiring, heartbreaking and always good for rousing reactions from a horde of loyal wrestling fans who made the pilgrimage to support local athletes in a unique display of athleticism.

Below is a glimpse of weight classes at the SJS Masters and the wrestlers who will comprise the show’s top cast.

108 pounds

Oakdale junior Logan Eaton can consider the 2013-14 campaign his official ‘statement season’. The two-year junior varsity star couldn’t break the lineup behind his 115-pound teammate, Nico Colunga, in year’s past, but won a stunning championship at Temecula Valley and will likely challenge Del Oro’s Isaac Blackburn in the title match.

Blackburn said it feels good to be the guy everyone’s worried about at his weight class. He is. I have him pegged to win this bracket.

I think Greg Viloria of West and Christian Ramos of Benicia will meet in the consolation finals. Viloria won 3-2 in their last meeting.

Prediction: 1. Blackburn. 2. Eaton. 3. Ramos. 4. Viloria. 5. Jordan Aquino (Vacaville) 6. Angel Valasquez (Modesto). 7. Josh Ploke (Oak Ridge). 8. Anthony Vega (Oakmont).

115 pounds

Plenty of speculation has been lofted towards Vacaville stalwart Gionn Peralta after his bump to 120 pounds, but reports have the high school star tackling the higher weight because it’s closer to what he will wrestle in college (125).

In his absence, this weight should belong to Oakdale’s returning state medal-winner, Nico Colunga, who is one of only two returning state qualifiers in this bracket.

Devan Turner is one of the better Dixon wrestlers in school history, and should meet him for a rare D4 vs. D5 finale.

Prediction: 1. Counga. 2. Turner. 3. Landon McBride (Del Oro). 4. Tyler Felix (Los Banos). 5. Alex Olivera (Lincoln S). 6. Roger Monroe (Elk Grove). 7. Zach Miller (Ponderosa). 8. Tanner Browning (Golden Valley).

Israel Saavedra – Modesto HS

122 pounds

There is no mystery matchup at this weight. Barring disaster, state No. 1 Israel Saavedra of Modesto will see state No. 2 Gionn Peralta of Vacaville in the tourney finals.

Every match between these two is a toss-up, but I give Saavedra a slight advantage after he won their DI-AA final.

This weight has a lot of talent.

Prediction: 1. Saavedra. 2. Peralta. 3. Anthony Wesley (Jesuit). 4. Curtis Booth (Folsom). 5. Tristan Scott (Elk Grove). 6. Trevor Williams (Oakdale). 7. Jansen Englebrecht (Del Oro). 8. Mason Boutain (Benicia).

128 pounds

Twelve wrestlers ranked top-40 in the state will be represented here, in maybe the deepest weight class in the section.

This one is tough to call, but I like Angel Velasquez of Modesto to win the weight in a rematch with Vacaville’s Anthony Hernandez. Josh Villaflor of Franklin, Branson Vu of Rodriguez and Rafael Herrera of Turlock could cause havoc across the bracket as well.

Prediction: 1. Velasquez. 2. Hernandez. 3. Villaflor. 4. Vu. 5. Herrera. 6. Max Stevens (Oakdale). 7. Devon Sookhoo (Enochs). 8. Lorenzo Lewis (Pitman)

134 pounds

This weight will feature some early heartbreak, as stacked lineups from DI-AA and DI-A will meet in pivotal first day matches.

I have the top four in the weight all hailing from D1 competition and likely title rematches in the first, third and fifth-place bouts.

Prediction: 1. Josh Lazaro (Folsom). 2. Alex Elko (Jesuit). 3. Bobby Ehman (Vacaville) 4. Paul Fagbamila (Beyer). 5. Caleb Patrick (Argonaut). 6. Chase Herrin (Hughson). 7. Jon Maroon (Roseville). 8. Nick Valdez (Pitman)

140 pounds

Another deep weight with a title rematch is imminent here as Emileo Saavedra (Modesto) and McCoy Kent (Enochs) have set the table for a dramatic finale with a 1-1 record in their last two meetings.

Prediction: 1. Saavedra. 2. Kent. 3. Tyler Lawrence (Escalon). 4. Tanner Robison (Del Oro). 5. Jesse Hernandez (Casa Roble). 6. Brandon Claiborne (Oak Ridge). 7. James Gomez (Woodcreek). 8. Jason Berquist (Folsom).

Lorenzo De La Riva – Folsom HS

147 pounds

This weight is nearly possible to predict past the finals. Lorenzo De La Riva should edge Hayden Fry of Vacaville in the title match. The next top four are likely Matt Berry of Granite Bay, Abel Garcia of Oakdale and Christian Dominguez of Central Catholic. The last three state tickets are up for grabs.

Prediction: 1. De La Riva. 2. Fry. 3. Berry. 4. Garcia. 5. Dominguez. 6. Ryan Redhair (Oak Ridge). 7. Santino Porter (Lincoln L). 8. Josh Peterson (Beyer).

154 pounds

This is likely the weakest weight class in the section. Only four in the bracket are ranked top-40 in the state.

Mason Koshyama of Folsom should cruise through this bracket with little work, dispatching Trent Nicholson of Kimball in the finals.

Prediction: 1. Koshyama. 2. Nicholson. 3. Tristan Smith (Bear Creek). 4. Roman Romero (McNair). 5. Eric Ucdall (Vacaville). 6. Cameron Young (Granite Bay). 7. Jorge Perez (Armijo). 8. Romeo Ontiveros (Merced).

162 pounds

There is some solid talent at the top in this one.

Kaleio Romero of Oakmont has lost one match all season and won’t stop short after a likely matchup with Justin Barnes of Bret Harte in the final.

There are some great quarterfinal matchups here. In one, DIV champ Tanner Reeves of Oakdale and DI-AA runner-up, Connor Watson of Folsom will meet. The two have not wrestled this season, and the push to semifinals could go either way.

Prediction: 1. Romero. 2. Barnes 3. Trae Providence (Ponderosa). 4. Watson. 5. Reeves. 6. Evan Shelley (Vista del Lago). 7. Logan Wolfley (Pitman). 8. Jimmy Jones (Bella Vista).

172 pounds

Will Sumner’s late season push has been tremendous for Nevada Union, and it includes an impressive championship honor from the Tim Brown Memorial Invitational.

I have Sumner edging Albino Orozco of Turlock in the finals here, only because Sumner has done much for us lately.

Prediction: 1. Sumner. 2. Orozco. 3. James Portillo (Oak Ridge). 4. Dylan Kainrath (Del Oro). 5. Frankie Trent (Oakdale). 6. Joseph Dias (Hughson). 7. Myles Lenover (Placer). 8. Nathan Ah You (Gregori).

Nick Fiegener – Folsom HS

184 pounds

Perhaps the pound-for-pound top wrestler in the section, Nick Fiegener of Folsom is favored to win a state championship and his fourth high school national medal.

He’s got some some solid competition from nearby Rocklin (Skyler Gonzalez), but this bracket is a warm-up for state.

A semifinal between Gonzalez and Hilmar’s Anthony Melo should prove interesting as well.

Prediction: 1. Fiegener 2. Gonzalez. 3. Melo. 4. Will Thornton (Placer). 5. Max Best (Pioneer). 6. Andrew Zumaran (Woodcreek). 7. Brishane Segal (Oak Ridge). 8. Logan Sullivan (Calaveras).

197 pounds

Joey Banks (Franklin) should run away with his first section title after nabbing runner-up honors at Masters a season ago. He should get a rematch with Jesuit’s Erik Medina from the DI-AA in the finals.

Prediction: 1. Banks. 2. Medina. 3. Steven Gomez (Vacaville). 4. Seth Avis (Casa Roble). 5. Jay Johnson (Buhach Colony). 6. Adam Darwish (Modesto). 7. Ty Bettencourt (Del Oro). 8. Duanj Ewing-Smalls (McClatchy).

220 pounds

Every qualifier from the DI-A will be in competition to reach state, but the top wrestler here is state No. 1 Jeremy Sweany of Vacaville, a returning state champion.

Dominic Freesha of Escalon could meet him in the finals, while the DI-AA should represent the remaining place winners.

Prediction: 1. Sweany. 2. Freesha. 3. Nick Ruditis (Pitman). 4. Yates Hunter (Lincoln S). 5. Sai Ta’amu (Elk Grove). 6. Kyle Jennings (Ponderosa). 7. Cole Wilburn (Jesuit). 8. Patrick Irwin (Oak Ridge).

287 pounds

Jake Minshew of Casa Roble should await Woodcreek’s Dominic Balmer in the finals for this weight class. They met at the Tim Brown Memorial, where Minshew won just 3-2.

Nine from the SJS are ranked top-40 in the state and they should make for a well-contested bracket here.

I have Saul Meneses of Del Oro and Tony Lopez of Merced pegged to lose second-round matches, but fight back to finish top-6 in the bracket with five consecutive victories.

Prediction: 1. Minshew. 2. Balmer. 3. Steven Roher (Benicia). 4. Mike McCauley (Vacaville). 5. Meneses. 6. Lopez. 7. Cyrus Jevan (Vacaville Christian). 8. Nathaniel Moody (Ponderosa).

Ike Dodson can be reached at iked@goldcountrymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter for updates from the SJS Masters, @Ike_Dodson.