The Serra Padres might have set a program record outright had it not been for one sticky wicket on the depth chart.
Highlighted by junior Sebastian Garcia’s second-place finish in the 157-pound bracket at the Central Coast Section Masters championship finals, the Padres tied a program record by earning four, top-four CCS podium finishes Saturday, Feb. 21, at Watsonville High School, with the quartet earning bids to the state tournament.
Serra also enjoyed a fourth-place finish in the CCS team standings for the second straight year, equaling another program record.
Serra was one win away from sending a record fifth wrestler to the CIF State Wrestling Championships — which opened Thursday at Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield — but senior Tristan Klemish advanced through the blood round at 215s, only to fall to the fifth-place match after getting pinned in the consolation bracket semifinals. The top four placers in each weight bracket earn auto bids to the state tourney.
Klemish settled for a sixth-place medal after dropping a 5-3 decision to Lincoln-San Jose junior Hudson Buzzard. Only, the senior entered 215s despite being outweighed by the rest of the field. The Naval Academy commit weighed in at 190 pounds, but got moved up a bracket to give the Padres a better chance to compete for team points. Serra had two wrestlers qualify for the 190s bracket, with junior Luke Hanna staying at his natural weight, and Klemish moving to 215s.
“He (previously) beat our 190 in the tournament,” Serra head coach Mike Klobuchar said. “But he’s like: ‘For the team, and for [the West Catholic Athletic League tournament], I’ll make the decision to go up to 215s. And ... I thought it was a better pathway for him to medal.”
Hanna ultimately fell just shy of the podium, dropping a 6-3 decision to Hillsdale junior Troy Roser in the blood round. Roser went on to take fifth place at 190s.
“That blood round hurt us a little,” Klobuchar said. “We lost a lot of matches. But two of our guys came back, took third. So, that was awesome and really great.”
Junior Ryan Doleschal at 113s and sophomore Soloman Zumbardo at heavyweights each earned third-place finishes. Sophomore Leon Bleess also qualified for the state tournament by taking fourth place at 175s.
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Garcia entered CCS Masters as the No. 2 seed at 157s, but still faced a tough draw. On the other side of the bracket was No. 1 seed Jacob Perez, an Alvarez-Salinas junior, ranked No. 2 in the state by CalGrappler. Garcia falls just out of the top 10 in the state, ranked No. 12 at 157s.
The winners’ bracket played out as predicted, with Garcia and Perez meeting in the finals. Garcia fell via major decision 14-4 to take second place, as Perez repeated as CCS champion in the weight class.
“[Garcia] knew he had a tough match,” Klobuchar said. “But you always go in thinking you can win, and working hard. The kid he lost to was No. 2 in the state, whose only lost once to the No. 1 guy in the state (El Diamante senior Chris Creason). So, we knew. Sebastian’s known him, and has worked out with him. This is the first time they’ve ever wrestled each other.”
Garcia enjoyed a strong road to the finals. The previous week at the CCS Northern California Regionals, the qualifier tourney for CCS Masters, Garcia went 4-0 with three first-round pins and a 10-1 major decision in the finals. At the Masters tournament, he opened with a first-round pin before winning a 7-4 decision in the semifinals over Gilroy senior Anthony Cazarez.
“Finishing second here, you’ll have a pretty good seed and draw for the state finals,” Klobuchar said.
The CIF State Wrestling Championships span three days, with each the boys’ and girls’ tournaments running through Saturday. Session I opened Thursday. Quarterfinals and the consolation round begin Friday. Saturday morning is slated for the consolation finale and winners’ bracket semifinals. Championship matches will be held Saturday night, scheduled for a 6:15 p.m. start.
Serra was the only San Mateo County program to earn state qualifiers in the boys’ tournament.
Garcia is off to a torrid start, opening with a 3-0 record in Thursday action. Doleschal went 2-1 through opening day, Zumbado went 1-1, and Bleess 0-1.
An array of county wrestlers qualified for the girls’ tournament, including CCS champions Khloe Meisenbach, 140s, South City; and Pluto Halterman, 190s, Half Moon Bay; as well as other CCS podium finishers, Hannah Villareale, 120s, San Mateo; Katherine Love, 130s, St. Francis-Mountain View and San Mateo native; Kat Abramenko, 130s, Half Moon Bay; and Kelailah Johnson, 190s, Mills.
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