Seconds separate winners from losers at state wrestling tourney

The matches last only six minutes, a sliver of time to separate the victor from the vanquished.

At the 44th CIF State Wrestling Championships – where only the state’s top 2 percent gather – it often comes down to a few seconds.

The three Stanislaus District stars who reached the quarterfinals Friday came so close to victory that they could smell its sweet aroma. And yet they were denied.

“That’s why the wins are so sweet when they happen,” Oakdale coach Steve Strange said.

Two of the quarterfinal victims were Mustangs Bronson Harmon (152 pounds) and Ricky Torres (126), and the third was Pitman’s Adam Velasquez (120).

Their frustration means there will be no one waving the district flag at Saturday morning’s semifinals. Out of 25 state qualifiers, only seven stayed alive for medals in consolation.

Torres, a freshman, turned in the most impressive performance by the locals. Three dominant victories (one by fall) brought him to a meeting against Lemoore’s Gary Joint, top-ranked at 126.

To the surprise of most observers, Torres worked on even terms. His takedown with 30 seconds left tied it 3-3, but a dizzying scramble produced the winning points for Joint with only about three seconds to go.

“I would have bet on our guy in overtime,” Strange said.

Harmon built on the momentum from his Sac-Joaquin Section Masters title last week. Like Torres, he carried three solid wins into his match against San Diego Section Champion Jett Moy of San Marcos.

Escape points late in the second round and early in the third closed Harmon’s deficit to 3-2. The Oakdale sophomore remained aggressive but yielded a takedown in the final seconds to lose 5-2.

“I thought I could pull it off at the end,” said Harmon, whose forehead was bandaged during the match. “It was good to make the quarters. I’ll have to use it as motivation.”

Velasquez, the district’s other Masters champion, survived one close call but not the second. Ranked No. 7 in the state, the Pitman star reached the quarterfinals via raw conviction.

Velasquez trailed 12th-ranked Elijah Palacio of Calvary Chapel 5-4 with 20 seconds left in double overtime. He gave up the escape point, potentially the margin of defeat, because he felt he could score the takedown.

“He’s so good on his feet and going for the legs. He didn’t even give up a takedown,” Pitman coach Adam Vasconcellos said. “In the end, Adam wanted it.”

Sure enough, Velasquez got his man on the mat with only 13 seconds to spare and won 6-5. It was high drama, a mini soap opera played out on one of the 10 mats, and business as usual on the first week in March at Rabobank Arena.

Velasquez needed another timely takedown in the final seconds against sixth-ranked Robert Garcia of Selma. This time, he fell short 3-2.

The trio will lead seven into Saturday’s infamous “blood round.” A win is a must to earn a medal (top eight) and remain in the competition.

Oakdale senior Trevor Williams (132), a four-time state qualifier, dropped his second match 7-6 to Antonio Cortina of Alta Loma. Williams led 3-0 before he yielded a second-round takedown and near-fall, but he later recovered with back-to-back victories in consolation.

Central Catholic senior Danny Abbate (138) started with a pair of wins before he was defeated by two-time state medalist Navonte Demison of Bakersfield. Undaunted, the Raider won twice in consolation, the latter a 1-0 decision.

Buhach Colony’s Brandon Mendoza (113) shook off an opening loss and won four in a row. The fourth was his second victory in a week over Oakdale’s Jake Abeyta.

Junior heavyweight Jesse Flores, the first from Delhi to qualify for state, bounced back from a second-round pin by returning champion Seth Nevills of Clovis. In his opener, Flores scored as time expired to beat Antonio Ramirez of Righetti 3-1.

Gregori junior Mike Villavicencio (145), the only qualifier from the Modesto Metro Conference, went 0-2.

From here on, the only certainty is that the district’s best will be spectators for the 14 championship matches Saturday night.

Ron Agostini: 209-578-2302, @ModBeeSports

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Seconds separate winners from losers at state wrestling tourney."