Justin Mejia – Clovis HS

Preview: Josh Lowe, InterMat High School Analyst (intermatwrestle.com)

The top two teams in the state of California this year are neighboring schools in the same Fresno-area school district. They are ranked fourth and sixth nationally, and arch-rivals. Buchanan head coach Troy Tirapelle is the younger brother of Clovis assistant head coach Adam Tirapelle, and their father Steve is the co-head coach at Clovis.

The last four California state wrestling tournaments, and 12 in all, have been won by No. 4 Clovis; while No. 6 Buchanan counters with just one state title, that coming in 2006. Clovis has also not lost a dual met against in-state opposition in just over eight years, last losing to Buchanan in late January of 2007. The consecutive win streak has reached 86. Thursday night, No. 4 Clovis travels to No. 6 Buchanan in a massive dual meet, and a sellout crowd is expected for this backyard brawl.

Below are the projected lineups, state rankings listed are courtesy of The California Wrestler from January 22.

106: 14-Wyatt Cornelison (Clovis) vs. 11-Chris Gaxiola/Ethan Leake (Buchanan)
Cornelison has lost matches against both potential starters for Buchanan this season, 4-2 to Gaxiola last month, and 9-4 to Leake earlier this month.

113: No. 2 1-Justin Mejia vs. 17 Alejandro Jimenez
Mejia was a state champion last year at 106 pounds, while Jimenez went 0-2 in the 120 pound weight class at state

120: 10-Tristan Gilliland vs. 9-Ross Arve
While Arve is the higher ranked wrestler, based on winning the Zinkin Classic, where Gilliland placed third; overall productivity may give an edge to Gilliland, placing seventh last year at 113 in the state tournament while Arve failed to place down at 106.

126: 8-Dylan Martinez vs. No. 18 2-Durbin Lloren
Lloren has twice placed fifth in the California state tournament, and won a title at the Powerade tournament earlier this season; while fellow junior Martinez is in his first year as a state, after being closed out by any number of solid Cougars lightweights the previous two years.

132: 7-Brandon Martino vs. 22-Dean Esquibel
The sophomore Martino is in his initial year as a starter for Clovis, and has a head-on winner over two-time state qualifier Esquibel. It came earlier this month, 8-4 in overtime at the Doc Buchanan; Martino finished fourth in the tournament, while Esquibel failed to place.

138: 2-Khristian Olivas vs. 5-Greg Gaxiola
This is a battle of two-time state qualifiers, Olivas with the only placement, coming in fourth two years ago down at 113. The two wrestlers met in the Doc Buchanan final earlier this month, Olivas coming away with an 8-4 victory.

145: 4-Isaiah Hokit vs. 9-Kyler Hansen
Hokit is a three-time state placer, while Hansen is a three-time state qualifier. Hokit beat Hansen head-on by 6-4 overtime decision in the finals of last month’s Zinkin Classic.





152: 14-Jared Hill/Lane Barnes vs. 6-Connor Francis
Either of the options for Clovis was a state qualifier last year, while Francis placed sixth at the state tournament. Francis has a 3-0 head-on win over Barnes from the Zinkin Classic final last month.

160: 3-Dominic Kincaid vs. 5-Abner Romero
Both wrestlers have made the state tournament twice; Romero having the only state placement, eighth last year at 152, a weight bracket in which Kincaid failed to place. However, Kincaid did win the central section qualifying tournament, in which Romero placed third.

170: 2-Josh Hokit vs. 4-Anthony Montalvo
Hokit placed fifth last year at state as a sophomore, while the freshman Montalvo has placed sixth in a pair of elite national level in-season tournaments (Powerade and Doc Buchanan). Hokit outplaced Montalvo at the Doc Buchanan, while Montalvo also lost 6-0 to fellow Clovis wrestler Kincaid in December.

182: 3-A.J. Nevills vs. 15-Cade Belshay
Nevills placed seventh last year at state as a sophomore in this weight class, while the sophomore Belshay was a surprise finalist at the Powerade late last month. In December, Nevills beat probably a superior Buchanan wrestler (An) by 8-7 decision in the tournament final; while Belshay split matches against a reserve for Clovis.

195: 3-Adam Prentice vs. 4-Young Woo An
Both wrestlers in this match are seniors, and neither has placed at the state tournament, though both do have state experience. Prentice out-placed An at the Doc Buchanan earlier this month, where he earned a head-on win.

220: 3-Seth Nevills vs. 4-Kai Dill
The freshman Nevills is fourth in a line of excellent brothers to wrestle for Clovis (older brother A.J. is at 182, while even older siblings Nick and Zach are competing at Penn State and Stanford respectively). Earlier this month, he beat two-time state qualifier Dill by 8-5 decision to win the Doc Buchanan title.

285: 4-Hexton Coronado vs. 9-Zach Levatino
Coronado qualified for state two years ago as a sophomore, but was closed out last year by an excellent upper-weight group for Clovis; while Levatino went 0-2 at the state tournament last year as a sophomore. Coronado was second at the Zinkin and first at the Doc Buchanan, while Levatino was third and failing to place; however, the only head-on meeting this year came last month, Coronado winning 6-4 in overtime.

This dual meet features 17 projected state placers (ranked top 8 at present in the state of California). Furthermore, over three quarters of the projected wrestlers in this dual meet are projected to finish within one match of state placement. The level and intensity of competition in this dual meet will be staggering, with five matches in specific featuring top eight wrestlers going against one another.

Based on the present rankings, Clovis should win this dual meet by a ten match to four outcome. Even if it’s that type of match count, or slightly higher, virtually every match will be a competitive entity. Conversely, if things go right for the hosts, it is a dual meet Buchanan can win.