Pablo’s Blue Ribbon Battle For The Belt Preview
5 things to know about the 2024 Battle for the Belt Tournament (Temecula Valley) For nearly 15 years the Battle for the Belt tournament hosted by Temecula Valley High has been one of the premier high school wrestling tournaments in Southern California. The 2024 edition will be no different and will feature some of the top talent across California. This juggernaut of a tournament is not for the faint of heart, hosting wrestling powerhouses from all over the state. Over 50 teams, 20 state placers, and over 500 wrestlers will show up between Jan. 12-13, with hopes of donning the UFC-style gold belt, given to the winner in each weight class. Here are five things to know about the Battle for the Belt tournament. Three-Peat for Poway? The No. 1 ranked team in California, Poway High will be aiming to win a third consecutive Battle for the Belt team title after winning the 2023 and 2022 editions. COVID-19 caused California to shut down which meant CIF canceled the 2020-2021 season and no tournament was competed that year. The mean green machine is riding high after winning the always-tough Doc Buchanan tournament and finishing 3rd at the National Wrestling HOF duals behind Wyoming Seminary (Pennsylvania) and Edmond Noth (Oklahoma). Return of Battle for the Belt champ Griffin Rial Griffin Rial of Pine Creek (Colorado) energized the crowd by winning his weight class last year over Abraham Cline of Granite Hills via a 3-2 decision. Rial upset three wrestlers at 106 pounds to find himself at the top of the podium. He was named the lower-weight outstanding wrestler of the Battle for Belt for his efforts. Rial went on to place third respectively at the Colorado State Tournament and earned his second All-American honors at the prestigious Fargo tournament in North Dakota. 6 champions return to claim a second tournament title A total of 6 wrestlers who claimed a title in 2023 will return seeking a second tournament title. Two-time Fargo All-American and 2023 lower weights OW, Griffin Rial of Pine Creek (Colorado) is up at 120 pounds. Other returning champions include Billy Townson of Poway (126), Paul Kelly of Poway (114), Laird Root of Poway (157), Thomas Sandoval of Vacaville (190), and Michael Murillo of Bakersfield at 215 pounds. Is Miguel Estrada of Frontier attending? The last time Estrada competed was in March when he won his second consecutive CIF state title. Since then, Estrada has not stepped on a mat and competed for Frontier High. A University of Iowa recruit, Estrada, was second in this event after taking a loss to Poway’s Laird Root, 4-2. Up 3-2, Root was able to get the takedown and rode Estrada for over a minute to get the win. Estrada returned the favor by beating Root 4-2 in overtime in the finals of the state tournament. Fans would love to get to see a third Estrada and Root match this weekend. Let’s hope Estrada is healthy and ready to get back on the mats. Top competition expected in Temecula Fans can expect to see some highly-ranked wrestlers from across the area this weekend. Some of the wrestlers ranked in the top five of the state by The California Wrestler scheduled to compete include – Henry Aslikyan (Birmingham), Abraham Cline (Granite Hills), Edwin Sierra (Poway), Billy Townson (Poway), Victor Alexand Gutierrez (Central Catholic), Braden Priest (Bakersfield), Laird Root (Poway), Collin Guffey (Granite Hills), Angelo Posada (Poway), Eugenio Franco (Corona Del Mar), Michael Murillo (Bakersfield), and Adan Farha of Poway.
2023 Clovis West Shootout Preview
Clovis West Shootout Clovis, CA. – The new season is upon us. Finally. And throughout the Golden State, wrestlers are set to get the party started. And we could see a great deal of early elite action at this weekend’s Clovis West Shootout. Buchanan High, also known as the Penn State of California, will be looking for their eighth straight team state title. The Bears return six state medalists and one more who finished in the blood rounds. However, this year might be the first in awhile that they face a real challenge to the throne. Poway and Gilroy come into the new season with higher national rankings. Although, this isn’t the first time, and we all know to be the king you gotta beat the kind. Good luck to them. Another team expected to challenge the Bears is their hometown rival Clovis High Cougars. Depending who they bring this weekend, they’ll have their own loaded team, composed of state placers and qualifiers. On paper we could get a nice early season team race at this tournament. But nothing is for sure as far as who actually competes. Additional teams who could challenge Buchanan and Clovis include Clovis West, Dinuba, and Vacaville High, one of the top schools in the Sac-Joaquin Section. It’s also possible Royal High is here as well and they’re a quality team from the Southern Section. Regardless, this is a good opening challenge to the season and we hope to catch some great CA wrestling at Clovis West. **** It is early in the season so many wrestlers that I wrote about in the article may or might not compete this weekend or could be at different weights **** The 106-weight class includes two top 10 kids in Blake Woodward (Buchanan) ranked #2 and Anthony Garza (Clovis) #9 in the state. Woodward was an All-American at the 2023 NHSCA Freshman nationals, while Garza went 3-2 at Super 32. Both should see each other a lot during the season as both kids compete in the same league and section. State finalist Rocklin Zinkin (Buchanan) should steer the pack in this weight class. With a second-place finish in California and a top-12 result at Super 32, Zinkin will likely have a target on his back with other wrestlers trying to get the upper hand. Thunder Lewis (Clovis) may be the potential opponent for Zinkin after having finished fourth at the CIF state tournament. Upperclassmen Anthony Castillo of Central will venture and ruin the Zinkin/Lewis matchup. Castillo was third in his section tournament and wrapped up the season top 12 in the state. Don’t sleep on Elijah Almarez of Vacaville High who was fourth at the Sac-Joaquin Section. Presuming C.J. Huerta (Buchanan) competes this weekend, he should be the top contender at 120 pounds. Huerta finished second last year in this event. He has a drive to claim a Shootout title for the first time in his already illustrious wrestling career. A wrestler who will be a headache for Huerta is Southern Section phenom Mason Carrillo of Royal. Up a weight class, Carrillo will try to put himself in the mix of wrestlers that could win a state title in March. Dinuba’s state qualifier Nicholas Quintana is the other wrestler in the field with state experience. Another wrestler with the surname Zinkin should press to win a Shootout title this weekend. With two state medals under his belt, Nikade Zinkin (Clovis) is an orthodox individual who rarely gets in trouble. Still undecided about where to compete in the next level, Zinkin will be a great catch for any college team. Two wrestlers from rival Buchanan High are set to compete in this weight class. They are Paris Ruiz and Ashton Besmer. Ruzi comes from great stock as his father (Paris) was a two-time place winner for Clovis West. Ruiz Jr.’s scholastic career includes wins over state placer winners Siraj Sidhu (Del Oro), Thunder Lewis (Clovis), and state champion Ronnie Ramirez (Walnut). Besmer is no slouch himself as he has had victories over great wrestlers like Jayden Wren (formerly of Clovis), state place winner Mason Carrillo (Royal), and Jason McDonald (Lemoore). Leo Maestas (Clovis West) will look to claim an individual title this weekend for the Golden Eagles at 132 pounds. Maestas is a two-time state qualifier and one of the leaders for the Golden Eagles. Let’s not forget about senior Eli Granada (Clovis). Despite not having the post-season he was expecting, he did have a great regular season that saw him place third at the Shootout and the Zinkin Classic. I am excited to see Anthony Harris back in the Buchanan High lineup. Back in 2022, Harris finished top 12 at the state tournament at 106 pounds. He is 1-1 against Granada as he defeated him 4-2 in the semifinals of the Shootout last year. Granda returned the favor by beating Harris 3-0 in the consolation semifinal round of the Zinkin Classic. Izaak Mendoza (Redwood) will be in the field this weekend. He was a state qualifier last year at 120 pounds. Gavin Bauder (Buchanan), formerly of Clovis North, is the highest-ranked wrestler at 138 pounds in the tournament. However, due to transfer rules he should be back in the second half of the season for the Bears. With him not on the field, the top competitor this weekend should be state qualifier Qusai Marini (Vacaville). Marini placed fifth at the Shootout and the Sac-Joaquin Section to punch his ticket to state. Caleb Rubio (Exeter) was a section qualifier last season, and his best tournament finish was sixth at the Sierra Nevada tournament. Keep an eye on freshman Wyatt Lewis (Clovis) who finished seventh at the prestigious Grappler Fall Classic Preseason tournament in Michigan. A pair of top-five wrestlers from California are programmed to compete this weekend at 144 pounds. Those wrestlers are 2023 state finalist Joseph Toscano (Buchanan) and two-time state place winner Thomas Thongseng (Exeter). Toscano was third at this event last season at 138 pounds, while Thonseng won the tournament at 152 pounds. Expect a barnburner of a match to occur if these two grapplers meet in the finals. Anthony Vargas (Central) is the other wrestler who competed at the state tournament. Keep an eye on James Wright (Clovis) and Sac-Joaquin Section place winner Aydan Ducharme (Vacaville) as the pair can do some damage this