Masters wrestling preview, bracket-by-bracket

Here’s a bracket-by-bracket preview of the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling Championship to be held Friday and Saturday at Stockton Arena:

106 – A tossup featuring Kyle Creech of Benicia, top-ranked in the section. Creech and Oakdale freshman Dustin Chavez could meet in quarterfinals. Livingston’s lanky Rajanvir Chahal is well-positioned in lower bracket, but there also is Del Oro’s Antonio Lorenzo (ranked 14th in state).

113 – Jake Abeyta of Oakdale should make a run but he eventually could collide with Elk Grove’s Jacob Seto, a section runner-up in 2015 who’s ranked eighth in the state. Greg Viloria of West, third at Masters last year, is an obstacle in lower bracket. Also there is Central Valley’s Luis Saucedo.

120 – Pitman’s Adam Velasquez, a two-time state qualifier, dominates lower bracket. Ivan Gomez of Waterford, Luis Camarillo of Ceres, Philip Fuentes of Grace Davis and Cody Williams of Oakdale are possible opponents. Watch for Lysander Mahilum, ranked 11th in the state, of Benicia.

126 – Many wrestlers vacated this weight class, deferring to prohibitive favorite Devan Turner of Dixon (ranked second in the state). In opposite bracket are Elk Grove’s Lokahi Tonge and Oakdale freshman Ricky Torres.

132 – Could be the meet’s deepest and strongest bracket with five ranked in the state’s top 15. Lawrence Saenz of Vacaville lost to Kalani Tonge of Elk Grove in divisional final, which puts Saenz in same bracket with Curtis Booth of Folsom. Trevor Williams of Oakdale opens against Brady Mello of Golden Valley.

138 – Danny Abbate of Central Catholic and Jack Ramalia of Granite Bay are the wrestlers to watch. Gabe Martinez of Oakdale is only state-ranked wrestler in his portion of the draw. More difficult for former state qualifier Isaiah Perez of Pitman, who could run into Abbate in quarterfinals.

145 – Only five are ranked in the state top 40. The best could be Mason Boutain of Benicia, ranked fourth in the state. Boutain lost in Masters finals last year to Enochs grad McCoy Kent. Central Catholic’s Cristian Dominguez is in opposite bracket but may eventually run into Terrell Turner of Elk Grove.

152 – Wide-open division accented by Ponderosa’s Elan Tubbs, seventh in section at 160 a year ago. Andres Orozco of Turlock may collide with Tubbs in second round. Del Oro freshman Noah Blake and Folsom junior Jeff Skyrud may continue rivalry. Blake beat Skyrud in divisional final last week.

160 – This is the bracket vacated by Granite Bay senior Israel Saavedra (former two-time state champion at Modesto), who did not make weight last week. It leaves Jason Berquist of Folsom, ranked sixth in the state, as favorite. Good first-round match between Uriel Villasenor of Turlock and Cameron Dubois of Escalon.

170 – Niko Chapman of Inderkum and Jimmy Hoang of American Canyon could make history – neither school has taken home a section wrestling title. Locked in Hoang’s half of bracket are Del Oro football star Justin Burrage and Austin Garant of Calaveras.

182 – Watch for state No. 4 Roman Romero of McNair, a coach’s son, though Emilio Gutierrez of Rodriguez beat Romero early in the season. Romero is one of only two returning section champions (the other is Dixon’s Devan Turner).

195 – No entry is ranked above the state’s top 24. Kristopher Kranich of Tokay (eighth in section last year) opens against Josiah Coronado of Beyer. Kyle Richards of Ponderosa and Breck Jeffus of Turlock also could contend.

220 – Four are ranked in the state top 15, including Kyle Jennings of Ponderosa (No. 2 in the state). It could be a scramble with Shane Torre of Calaveras, Hunter Halverson of Del Oro, Jake Levengood of Vacaville, Garrett Monroe of Pioneer and Jacob Pavey of Golden Valley.

285 – Ripon’s Tristan Smith of Ripon lost in D-V finals last week to Jesus Flores of Delhi. The result is Smith’s potential collision with Mike McCauley of Vacaville in second round. Note: Smith beat McCauley for third place at Masters last year. Matt Kjeldgaard meets Julian Barrera of Pitman in first round.

Ron Agostini

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Masters wrestling preview, bracket-by-bracket."