Palm Desert excels at CIF-SS Masters Meet with six champions, 10 state qualifiers

Palm Springs High School was transformed into something like the Olympic Village on Friday as about 500 wrestlers, along with coaches and families, descended on the campus for the CIF-SS Masters wrestling meet.

Aside from the packed gym with non-stop action on 10 different mats simultaneously, outside the gym was bustling, too, as teams staked their claim to any open nook or cranny they could find to put down their pop-up tents, roll in their coolers and set up shop for a long day of competition in the desert.

It was the first time the Masters meet was held in the Coachella Valley, something that didn't go unnoticed by the local competitors.

"It's awesome, fun, close to home, I think we deserve it. We've been representing well, so it's nice to have it here," said Palm Desert senior Beau Mantanona, who would add another Masters title to his ledger later in the day. "And, of course, having more fans be able to come out, it's a lot of fun. We're getting some recognition in the desert, and it's nice to see."

Mantanona isn't wrong about representing well. In fact, because of the depth of the Southern Section, with elite teams like Palm Desert and St. John Bosco, the top 10 placers at Friday's event got to advance to the state meet. Last year it was only the top nine placers from the Southern Section, but because they've collectively been doing so well at the state meet, they earned an extra spot.

Led by the Aztecs, the local contingent of 25 competitors performed well on Friday against the best of the best that Southern California had to offer, with a total of 12 of them advancing to the state meet.

The local champions

Six desert wrestlers took home Masters championships on Friday, and all of them wore Palm Desert singlets.

Brock Mantanona: The Palm Desert junior picked up his second straight Masters title, winning the crown at 138 pounds. In the championship match, he was in control the entire way, picking up a 9-1 major decision win over Ryder Yoshitake of San Marino.

Andrew Barbosa: The Palm Desert junior, who is in his first year of competitive wrestling, took home the title at 145 pounds. He had an impressive pin in 31 seconds in the semifinal and then won the championship over Spencer Von Savoye of Chaminade with a 10-1 major decision.

"Feels good, ready for States," said an all-business Barbosa after the win. "I mean, it's my first year but I have great coaches, great partners and I just sort of embraced it today. I expected it. I was motivated by making it to next week."

Beau Mantanona: As he most often does, Mantanona made it look easy rolling to the 152-pound title with four straight pins. Only one of his matches lasted more than one round. He pinned Brian Leon of Eleanor Roosevelt High in 1:16 in the championship match.

David Alonso: The junior was excited, as he picked up his first Masters title, taking home the crown at 160 pounds. Alonso won his first three matches, all by pin in less than a minute, and then wrestled smart and in control in the championship match to secure a 5-2 win over Kris Castro of Chaminade High School, who's ahead of Alonso in the state rankings.

"I felt excited, really happy, like I accomplished another one of my goals," Alonso said. "Last year I went 0-2 at this meet and didn't place, and I just told myself during the whole offseason that I've got to step it up, and it feels great to get to be on the podium, on top of the podium."

Erik McCown: If you were at Palm Springs High and saw the 170-pound final on Friday, you were definitely looking in the right direction at exactly the right time, because it didn't last long. McCown had the quickest championship win of the day, pinning Khale McDonnell of Fountain Valley in just 18 seconds. It was the second straight Masters title for McCown, who pinned all four of his opponents in the first round.

Daniel Herrera: Herrera entered the competition having never lost a high school match in his life, and he left it the same way. The heavyweight won his first three matches by pin, including a win over Nathan Boyce of St. John Bosco in the semifinals. He didn't have to wrestle in the finals because his opponent, Anthony Garcia of Rio Mesa, pulled out before it happened with an injury.

The finalists

Aside from the six titles won by the Aztecs, there were three more desert wrestlers that made the championship match on Friday, two from Palm Desert and one from La Quinta, one of whom came agonizingly close to giving the desert a seventh champion.

Erik Ramirez: Ramirez battled Sean Willcox of St. John Bosco in the 106-pound championship. It became the match of the day, and it ended in controversy. Ramirez was clinging to a 5-4 win as the final seconds of the third round ticked away. Willcox made one last move and as the fans were roaring, the coaches yelling, and the final second ticked off the scoreboard, Willcox was awarded two points. The Palm Desert coaching staff leapt off their chairs to challenge the ruling.

Their complaint was twofold. The Aztec coaches believed the move wasn't completed until after the buzzer rang, and furthermore contended that it wasn't deserving of two points anyway. The coaches from both schools and the two officials had a heated debate about the finish, while the two wrestlers stood, uncertain of the outcome, in the center of the mat. The result had an even deeper meaning in that St. John Bosco and Palm Desert were also battling for the overall team title in what has become quite a rivalry. Despite the Aztecs' pleas, the scoring was upheld and Willcox won the contest 6-5.

St. John Bosco, did, in fact, go on to win the overall title at the end of the day with 270.5 points to the Aztecs' 249.5.

Jaxson Taber: It was another Bosco vs. Palm Desert matchup in the 120-pound final, but this one was less controversial. Palm Desert's Taber battled hard deep into the second period but was pinned by Nathan Carrillo at the 3:50 mark.

Jose Zendejas: The La Quinta stud was the only other desert wrestler to make a Masters final on Friday. Zendejas earned a pin in his semifinal match to make the 220-pound championship. There he was beaten by Nichola Shakian of St. John Bosco by pin in 1:09, but he will represent the Blackhawks at the State meet.

The qualifiers

Diego Morales of Palm Desert advanced to the state meet by finishing fourth at 195 pounds. He won his crucial consolation semifinal by pin before falling 7-2 in the third-place match.

Each weight class advanced 10 wrestlers to the state meet, and Friday's Masters was split into two divisions, Blue and Gold, so you had to finish in the top five of your division. That made the 5th/6th place matches on Friday some of the tensest, the only contests with a win-and-advance, lose-and-go-home edge to them.

Dylan Guillermo of Palm Desert secured his trip to the state meet by winning one of those must-win matches at 132 pounds. He topped Axel Esparza of Lakeside 9-2 to take fifth place. His win means the Aztecs will bring 10 wrestlers to the state meet, which runs Thursday through Saturday in Bakersfield.

Miguel Saldana of Indio had to put in the most work on Friday to advance to the state meet, but he did it. The Rajahs' heavyweight lost his first match of the day by a 3-2 decision. Now in the consolation bracket, he won three straight matches including two pints, to make the consolation semifinal. He lost that match to fall into the dreaded 5th/6th place match.

In his sixth match of the day, Saldana gutted out a 5-2 win over Emiliano Gonzalez of Sonora, to capture the fifth-place spot and the coveted trip to the state meet.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: CIF-SS Masters wrestling: Palm Desert has six champions, 10 state qualifiers