The California State Games took place July 14-29 at various locations around San Diego County, including the South County region.
The South Coast Water Polo Club sent 70 athletes to compete in the water polo competition, the largest club represented in this year’s tournament.
The South Coast club turned in an action-packed showing by placing teams in every division in which it competed.
South Coast won a gold medal in the 14U coed division, a silver medal in the 16U boys division and a bronze medal in the 18U girls division.
Additionally, the 16U girls team earned a fifth-place finish while the 18U boys team placed sixth in its division.
The 14U coed team finished 3-0 in round-robin play with victories against Del Mar Silver (5-0), Waterdog Polo (11-4) and East County Aquatics (13-8).
In the elimination playoffs, the South Coast team defeated East County, 16-4, in the semifinals and then topped Del Mar Silver, 6-4, in the championship game.
Waterdog defeated East County, 11-1, to win the bronze medal.
The South Coast 16U boys team won its group with a 4-0 round-robin record, defeating Del Mar Silver (10-4), the Nighthawk Water Polo Club (18-1), Southern Water Polo (13-1) and East County Aquatics (10-3).
The top two finishing teams in each round-robin bracket qualified for the elimination playoffs.
South Coast defeated the Eastvale Water Polo Club, 11-3, in the semifinals before meeting the Sons of Odin, the winner of the other round-robin group, in the championship game.
The Sons of Odin defeated South Coast, 10-5, to win the division title.
Eastvale defeated the Southern Water Polo Club, 8-5, to win the bronze medal.
South Coast finished third in the 18U girls standings with a 4-2 record. The local squad defeated Waterdog Polo (10-8), Sunset San Diego (6-5), the Eastvale Water Polo Club (13-4) and East County Aquatics (13-2) and lost matchups to Inter WPC (13-12) and Pacific Polo WPC (15-4).
Pacific Polo WPC won the gold medal with a 6-0 record while Inter WPC was awarded the silver medal based on its 5-1 record.
The South Coast 16U girls team finished 1-2 in round-robin play with a win over the Water Dogs (8-3) and losses to Rancho San Diego (14-4) and La Jolla (5-3).
Rancho San Diego won the round-robin bracket with a 3-0 record, followed by La Jolla with a 2-1 record.
South Coast defeated Sunset San Diego, 8-4, in a cross-bracket matchup of teams that finished with 1-2 records.
South Coast then met the Water Dogs, the winner of the other cross-bracket matchup, in a consolation game. South County won the rematch, 7-5, to secure fifth place.
Rancho San Diego defeated La Jolla, 9-4, in the championship game while Coronado tipped Southern Water Polo, 6-5, to finish third in the medal field.
South Coast finished 1-2 in its 18U boys round-robin group with a win over the Mid-City Waves (9-5) and losses to Sultan Polo (9-8) and Inter WPC (8-6).
Inter WPC won the group with a 3-0 round-robin record, followed by Sultan Polo with a 2-1 record.
East County won the other round-robin group with a 3-0 record, followed by Eastvale with a 2-1 record.
The top two teams in each group advanced to the medal-round playoffs.
Inter WPC defeated Eastvale, 14-6, in one semifinal matchup while Sultan Polo upset East County, 10-2, in the other semifinal game.
Inter WPC edged Sultan Polo, 6-5, in the championship game while Eastvale topped East County, 14-6, to win the bronze medal.
South Coast defeated the Nighthawk Water Polo Club, 9-5, in a cross-bracket game but lost an ensuing 6-5 matchup to the Sons of Odin in the fifth-place game.
Nighthawk defeated Mid-City, 17-7, to take seventh place.
Roll call
Sports in this year’s State Games included archery, badminton, basketball, BMX, diving, field hockey, junior lifeguards, judo, pickleball, powerlifting, rugby, skateboarding, soccer, softball, surfing, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, track and field, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
Archery and BMX took place at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. Southwestern College and Larsen Park hosted the soccer tournament, Discovery Park and Chula Vista Community Parks hosted part of the softball tournament and Olympian High School served as the host venue for track and field.
The Unleash The Beast Wrestlikng Club won its second consecurtive team title at the high school wrestling tournament at Rancho Bernardo High School.
For results by sport, visit the website at www.calstategames.org.
California State Games
Wrestling Tournament
July 15-16 at Rancho Bernardo High School
High School Boys Division
Top five teams:
- UTB
- Rancho Bernardo WC
- Terminators WC
- Downey
- Future
Top Individuals
106 Pounds
- Justin Allred (Terminators WC)
- Nikko Beato (UTB)
- Fernando Barreto (Pounders)
- Braydon Concepcion (Rancho Bernardo WC)
- Naythan Galbiso (Imperial)
- Robert Soriano (Olympian)
Championship: Allred pinned Beato in 1:16
Third place: Barreto (Pounders) pinned Concepcion in 1:17
Fifth place: Galbiso pinned Soriano in 1:20
113 Pounds
- Alex Ramirez (Pounders)
- Chaz Hallmark (unattached)
- Isaac Medina (Downey)
- Gavin Concepcion (Rancho Bernardo WC)
- Colby Behne (Ramona)
Round-robin records: Ramirez 4-0, Hallmark 3-1, Medina 2-2, Concepcion 1-3, Behne 0-4
Championship: Ramirez pinned Hallmark in 0:54
Third place: Medina defeated Concepcion by 3-2 decision
120 Pounds
- Dilan Ajtun (Downey)
- Raul Garcia (Matadors)
- Vinny Reyes (Future)
- Artino Oliva (Oak Hills Bulldogs)
- Abraham Cervantes (Downey)
Round-robin records: Ajtun 4-0, Garcia 3-1, Reyes 2-2, Oliva 1-3, Cervantes 0-4
Championship: Ajtun pinned Garcia in 3:08
Third place: Reyes pinned Oliva in 0:28
126 Pounds
- Jake Grigg (Rancho Bernardo WC)
- Jordan Bendorf (Bonita Vista Brawlers)
- Bradley Conner (Serra High School)
- Jacob Soni (Carmel Valley Rebels)
- Michael Cava (Carmel Valley Rebels)
- Adrian Gottuso (Cataline)
Championship: Grigg defeated Bendorf by 14-3 major decision
Third place: Conner pinned Soni in 1:10.
Fifth place: Cava defeated Gottuso by forfeit
132 Pounds
- Roland Dominguez (Downey)
- Andrew Sloan (Apex Wrestling Academy)
- Nathan Kiddoo (Ramona)
- Nikolas Florales (Future)
- John Tadlock (Rancho Bernardo WC)
- Christopher Jennen (Mustang Wrestling)
Championship: Dominguez defeated Sloan by 6-4 decision
Third place: Kiddoo (Ramona) pinned Florales in 3:52)
Fifth place: Tadlock defeated Jennen by 13-10 decision.
138 Pounds
- Kenji Beato (UTB)
- Darian Murphy (UTB)
- Matthew Morales (Downey)
- Caleb Enciso (Terminators WC)
- Micha Leininger (Rancho Bernardo WC)
- Axel Velazquez (Trojans)
Championship: Beato (UTB) defeated Murphy by 9-0 decision
Third place: Morales defeaterd Enciso by 5-2 decision
Fifth place: Leininger pinned Velazquez in 4:30
145 Pounds
- Paul Ortiz (Imperial)
- Obadiah Salas (Terminators WC)
- Christian Navida (UTB)
- Ethan Ryan Deguzman (Olympian)
- Broc Holabird (Ramona)
- Christian Quinto (Saints Wrestling)
Championship: Ortiz (Imperial) defeated Salas b7 10-7 decision
Third place: Navida pinned Deguzman (Olympian), time unavailable
Fifth place: Holabird defeated Quinto by forfeit
152 Pounds
- Elijah Neal (Team Fujii WC)
- Emerill Abad (PIMAA)
- Guillermo Gonzalez (UTB)
- Marcus Monzon (Imperial)
- Felix Osorio (Terminators WC)
- Joshua Cocova (Oxnard Bengals)
Championship: Neal defeated Abad by 14-6 major decision
Third place: Gonzalez defeated Monzon by 6-2 decision
Fifth place: Osorio defeated Joshua Cocova by forfeit
160 Pounds
- Jake Carpenter (Kinectic Percision)
- Anthony Gonzalez (San Diego Kings)
- Wlll Curtis (Future)
- Axell Perez (UTB)
- Zachary Zidrivich (Rancho Bernardo WC)
- Christian Cruz (Valley Center)
Championship: Carpenter defeated Gonzalez by 8-1 decision
Third place: Curtis pinned Perez (UTB) in 0:33
Fifth place: Zidrivich pinned Cruz in 0:31
170 Pounds
- Luis Alvarado (Gremlin WC)
- Shane Finney (San Marcos)
- Peter Thomas (Carmel Valley Rebels)
- Joseph Ta (PIMAA)
- David Luis Moreno (Patriots)
- Javen Jovero (Rancho Bernardo WC)
Championship: Alvarado defeated Finney by 4-2 decision
Third place: Thomas defeated Ta by 6-2 decision
Fifth place: Moreno defeated Jovero by 8-7 decision
182 Pounds
- Uriel Beristain (UTB)
- Godfrey Lozada (Rancho Bernardo WC)
- Kelani Sorensen (San Marcos)
- Hanul Kim (Future)
- Joseph Velado (Palisades)
- Daniel Chipres (Terminators WC)
Championship: Beristain defeated Lozada by 15-6 major decision
Third place: Sorensen defeated Kim by 8-0 major decision
Fifth place: Velado pinned Chipres in 1:10
195 Pounds
- Michael Viramontes (Gremlin WC)
- Raymond Vargas (Gremlin WC)
- Thomas Schmitt (UTB)
- Shane Hansen (Oceanside)
- Richard Hernandez (Downey)
Round-robin records: Viramontes 4-0, Vargas 3-1, Schmitt 2-2, Hansen 1-3, Hernandez 0-4
Championship: Viramontes defeated Vargas by 5-0 decision
Third place: Schmitt pinned Hansen in 1:35
220 Pounds
- Hamzah Alsaudi (KPWC)
- Elias Velasco (Downey)
- Andrew Villagomez (Montgomery Aztecs)
- Joe Anthony (UTB)
- Felipe Surabia (Gremlin WC)
- Antonio Diaz (Rancho Bernardo WC)
Championship: Alsaudi pinned Velasco in 1:56
Third place: Villagomez defeated Anthony by 12-3 major decision
Fifth place: Surabia pinned Diaz, time unavailable
285 Pounds
- Joshua Avila (Pounders)
- Alex Alcala (Bonita Vista Brawlers)
- Fernando Salvador (Downey)
Round-robin records: Avila 2-0, Alcala 1-1, Salvador 0-2
Championship: Avila pinned Alcala in 3:18
Second place: Alcala pinned Salvador in 0:32
High School Girls Division
100-105 Pounds
- Yesenia Deguir (unattached)
- Emily Sway (Carmel Valley Rebels)
Round-robin records: Deguir 2-0, Sway 0-2
Championship: Deguir won by decisions of 6-1 and 8-1
115-119 Pounds
- Savannah Kiddoo (Ramona)
- Jazmine Plasencia of (unattached)
- Amber Plasencia of (unattached)
- Rianne Elyse Magbuhat (Olympian)
Round-robin records: Kiddoo 3-0, J. Plasencia 2-1, A. Plasencia 1-2, Magbuhat 0-3
Championship: Kiddoo defeated J. Plasencia by 12-4 major decision
Third place: A. Plasencia pinned Magbuhat in 0:55
136-144 Pounds
- Cheyenne Bowman (Pounders)
- Alexa Downs (Team Puma)
Round-robin records: Bowman 2-0, Downs 0-2
Championship: Bowman won by fall in 0:20 and 2:05
Girls 163-174 Pounds
- Sasha Medvidoric of Future
- Ariana Betance of Terminators WC
Round-robin records: Medvidoric 2-0, Betance 0-2
Championship: Medvidoric won by fall in 1:17 and 3:17
