It was a huge day for Bay Area wrestlers on Saturday at the state championships in Bakersfield.
Branham’s Clarence Moore — ranked No. 6 in the state by the California Wrestler at 106 pounds — showed he was quite a bit better than that.
The senior captured the state championship in that weight division, upsetting Buchanan freshman Rocklin Zinkin by fall at 4:45.
Zinkin entered the meet ranked No. 1 in the state.
Moore was among five wrestlers — four boys, one girl — from Central Coast Section schools to win state titles
The others:
— Gilroy sophomore Isaiah Cortez, who edged El Dorado junior Isaiah Quintero 1-0 at 120 pounds.
— Gilroy sophomore Elijah Cortez, Isaiah’s twin. Elijah beat Buchanan freshman Joseph Toscano 2-1 at 126 pounds.
— Gilroy sophomore Daniel Zepeda, who toppled Clovis North junior Gavin Bauder by technical fall at 132 pounds. The score was 20-5 at 5:28.
— Menlo-Atherton senior Kiely Tabaldo, who beat Paloma Valley’s Karissa Turnwall 3-0 at 111 pounds in the girls championships.
Other notables:
— In the 113-pound boys final, Los Gatos freshman Antonio Rodriguez lost to Walnut sophomore Ronnie Ramirez 9-2.
— At 195 pounds, Gilroy freshman Coby Merrill fell to Brawley junior Robert Platt in the final, 3-1.
— Gilroy’s Valerie Glenn lost to Bella Vista’s Gianna Dibenedetto 10-0 in the 137-pound girls final.
Gilroy scored 194 points to place third in the boys team standings, finishing behind Buchanan (244) and Poway (202.5). Los Gatos (89) was eighth.
In the girls team standings, Gilroy (73) was fourth and Evergreen Valley (55) finished seventh. Marina won the girls state team title with 114 points.
Source: www.mercurynews.com