CIF California State Wrestling Championship Day 1 highlights, photos

All 14 previous individual champions advance to the quarterfinals unscathed; Clovis joins the party of four to decide the boys team championship

Girls Day 1 from 2025 California Wrestling Championships at Mechanic's Bank Arena in Bakersfield / Photo: David Dennis

The big dogs continue to eat, and force their way to the top of the food chain at the CIF State Wrestling Championships.

After the first of three days Thursday at Mechanic's Bank Arena in Bakersfield, the four boys teams that figured to fight it out for a championships are right at the top with a five-team emerging.

• CALIFORNIA JEWEL | CIF Wrestling Championship Preview

Defending champion Poway of San Diego (113 points) has 10 wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket after two rounds, followed tightly by St. John Bosco (105.5, 10), local favorite Buchanan (103.5 (10) and Central Coast Section juggernaut Gilroy (82, 7).

Day 1 boys wrestling action from the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield, where defending state champion Poway of San Diego has a slim team boys lead. / Photo: David Dennis

The somewhat surprising team is another Central Section powerhouse Clovis with 89 points and seven alive in the championship brackets and five still alive in consolation rounds, which could prove to be the difference in the tight team competitions.

• AFTER DAY 1 | Boys team scores

The girls team competition, hard to project coming in, looks utterly up for grabs after two rounds, with Southern Section's Orange Vista (27.5, 4 alive in championships rounds) is the leader, followed by Poway (25.5, 4), another Southern Section power Northview (25, 3) and three Central Section representatives, Buchanan, Clovis East and Bakersfield's own Highland, each with 24 points.

• LIVE STREAM THURSDAY NFHS

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• LIVE STREAM SATURDAY NFHS

• LIVE SCORING | Flo Sports Arena

• LIVE BOYS PAIRINGS | CIF state

• LIVE GIRLS PAIRINGS | CIF state

A whopping 13 teams are within 10 points of the lead, but then there's a ton of wrestling to do, starting Friday.

• AFTER DAY 1 | Girls team scores

The three-day event — the 52nd boys tournament combined with the 14th girls tournament — figures to fill to its near 9,000 capacity all three days. There's close to 1,000 competitors qualified from the entire 760-mile length of the Golden State.

Previous state champions 

Among the 14 previous state champions there's been few surprises. Here's a look at how those wrestlers performed on Thursday.

BOYS

113 — Henry Aslikyan, Birmingham: won 106 last season: After a first-round bye, the second-seed won by fall (52 seconds) and technical fall (19-4) and now faces seventh seed Aaron Meza of St. John Bosco.

120 — Rocklin Zinkin, Buchanan: Won 113 in 2024: The top seed won first two matches by decision (7-0 and 6-1) before a technical fall 18-2 win. Now faces ninth-seed Elijah Almarinez, of Vacaville) in the quarterfinals.

126 — Isaiah Cortez, Gilroy: Won 120 in 2023: After a first-round bye, Cortez scored a 3-0 win, then a technical fall triumph to reach the quarterfinals against sixth seed Robert Jones of Poway in the best match of the round at 126.

The action is always intense and colorful at the CIF State Wrestling Championships. This is Day 1 action, the first of three days for one of the state's biggest and most popular events at the Mechanic's Bank Arena in Bakersfield on Thursday, Feb. 27. / Photo: David Dennis

126 — Ronnie Ramirez, Walnut: Won 113 in 2023, 120 in 2024 : The top seed won two matches handily, 12-3 and 19-4 and will face ninth-seed Paris Ruiz in the quarterfinals.

138 — Elijah Cortez, Gilroy: Won 126 in 2023: The second-seed won 12-0 and 19-4 in two matches and now gets a strong contender in the quarters with seventh seed of James Ruiz, of Esperanza, in the quarterfinals.

144 — Nikade Zinkin, Clovis: Won 126 in 2024: The top seed had a tough round of 16 battle, beating Redwood's Gunner Benedict, just 3-0. Zinkin now gets eighth-seed Vince Partington, of Cypress in the quarterfinals.

150 — Daniel Zepeda, Gilroy: Won 132 in 2023 and 138 in 2024: The No. 1 ranked 150-pounder in the nation got some work in, recording a TF to open his day, followed by a 16-4 victory. He'll be challenged in the quarterfinals by ninth-seed Sergio Gomez, of St. John Bosco.

215 — Angelo Posada, Poway: Won 175 in 2024: The No. 1 seed had l some resistance before pulling out wins of 9-2 and 5-0. Now he wrestles sed to wins ov 9-2 and 5-0 and now gets ninth-seed Adan Castillo (Clovis) who upset Clovis North two-sport standout Ross Cinfel, 3-0.

GIRLS

100 — Jillian Wells, Lakeside: Won 100 in 2024 for Central Catholic: Perhaps a little miffed at being seeded third, Wells won her two matches by a combined 19-0 and now faces 6th seed Destiny Huitron, of Arroyo, in the quarterfinals.

120 — Isabella Marie Gonzales, Clovis East: Won 115 in 2023: The top seed had to work with wins of 3-0 and 6-0. She now faces eight-seed Svea Gonzalez, of Benicia, in the quarterfinals. Gonzalez won her matches 11-4 and 15-3.

140 — Baya Austin, Pitman: Won 130 in 2024: Came in as the third seed, but did what she had to do, winning 7-0 and 3-0 to move in the quarters to face Northview Sumaya Lazaro, of Northview. Lazaro should be well rested with just one match, a 6-0 win.

Day 1 action from the girls portion of the CIF State Wrestling Championships at Mechanic's Bank Arena in Bakersfield. / Photo: David Dennis

145 — Delarie Juarez, Northview: Won 145 in 2024 for Brawley: A theme running rampant among the previous champions is that there have been few cakewalks. Juarez, the top seed, was taken the distance twice Thursday, before recording two 3-0 wins. She'll now face the eighth-seed: Tokay's Kelly Meehan, who won by scores of 17-8 and 7-0.

170 — Leilani Lemus, Clovis: Won 160 in 2023 and 170 in 2024: The top seed recorded a TF to start, 16-0 over Golden Valley's Leia Henrandez, before a tough 3-0 win. She'll now face eight-seed Olivia Furlong, of Selma, in the quarterfinals.

190 — Juliana Marquez, Gabrielino: Won 190 in 2024: Almost the biggest shocker of the day came in Marquez' first match, but she pulled out a 5-4 win over Central Valley's Alicia Espinoza. It didn't get a whole lot easier in a 3-0 win over Mills' Kelailah Johnson. Marquez now faces eighth-seed Onyi Oragwam, of Centennial.  

Nationally ranked

Here are California male wrestlers ranked among the top 30 nationally in each weight class (number is national rank) as selected by Billy Buckheit

106 LBS

1-Samuel Sanchez (Esperanza, CA) FR

11-Anthony Garza (Clovis, CA) SO

12-Nathaniel Granados (Merced, CA) SR

13-Jorge Rios (St. John Bosco, CA) FR

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113 LBS

3-Paul Ruiz (Buchanan, CA) FR

4-Henry Aslikyan (Birmingham, CA) JR

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120 LBS

7-Rocklin Zinkin (Buchanan, CA) JR

8-Edwin Sierra (Poway, CA) SR

28-Sean Willcox (St. John Bosco, CA) JR

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126 LBS

2-Ronnie Ramirez (Walnut, CA) SR

5-Antonio Rodriguez (Los Gatos, CA) JR

8-Nathan Carillo (St. John Bosco, CA) JR

9-Isaiah Cortez (Gilroy, CA) SR

13-Paris Ruiz (Buchanan, CA) SR

28-Slater Hicks (Valencia, CA) SO

29-Siraj Sidhu (Del Oro, CA) JR

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132 LBS

6-Moses Mendoza (Gilroy, CA) JR

7-Ashton Besmer (Buchanan, CA) JR

18-Billy Townson (Poway, CA) SR

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138 LBS

10-Jesse Grajeda (St. John Bosco, CA) SO

11-Elijah Cortez (Gilroy, CA) SR

15-Leo Maestas (Clovis North, CA) SR

16-Raymond Rivera (Clovis, CA) JR

19-Jacob Perez (Monache, CA)

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144 LBS

3-Nikade Zinkin (Clovis, CA) SR

4-Joseph Toscano (Buchanan, CA) JR

27-Michael Romero (St. John Bosco, CA) SO

29-Arseni Kikiniou (Poway, CA) SO

30-Braden Priest (Bakersfield, CA) SR

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150 LBS

1-Daniel Zepeda (Gilroy, CA) SR

15-Ivan Arias (Buchanan, CA) JR

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157 LBS

8-Leo Contino (Buchanan, CA) SR

16-Beau Priest (Bakersfield, CA) SR

17-Alias Raby (Anderson, CA) 

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165 LBS

12-Mario Carini (Poway, CA) SO

13-Slava Shahbazyan (Birmingham, CA) JR 

14-Joseph Antonio (St. John Bosco, CA) SR

19-Travis Grace (Gilroy, CA) JR

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175 LBS

5-Tyler Eise (Gilroy, CA) SR

10-Dylan Pile (Los Gatos, CA) SR

18-Mason Ontiveros (John H Pitman, CA) JR

27-Isai Fernandez (St. John Bosco, CA) FR

29-Adrien Reyes (Clovis, CA) SR

190 LBS

13-Levi Bussey (Granite Bay, CA) SR

15-Jonathan Rocha (Clovis North, CA) JR

19-Brokton Borelli (Los Banos, CA) SR

215 LBS

3-Angelo Posada (Poway, CA) SR

10-Khale McDonnell (Fountain Valley, CA) SR

12-Kayden Kartee (Mayfair, CA)