2007 Wrestling All-Stars

Now a two-time state champion, Buchanan's Flores proves his personal goals are not stuff of fiction.

Published online on Friday, Mar. 30, 2007

Ryan Flores' coach calls him "the best of the best."

The opponent who had four shots at beating Flores this season calls him "unstoppable."

The rest of us can call him a two-time state wrestling champion.

And that's exactly the way the 215-pounder from Buchanan High planned it.

"I set this goal as a freshman," Flores said. "Now I know I can accomplish the goals I set for myself."

Accomplished with flash, no less.

Flores won his final five matches of the season by pin to capture a second consecutive California Interscholastic Federation championship March 3 at Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena, becoming the first two-time champion in Buchanan history.

It put the finishing touches on a 53-1, 39-pin senior season for Flores, who has been selected The Bee's Wrestler of the Year. Washington's Gilberto Camacho, who went 50-0 in winning the state 103-pound championship, also was strongly considered.

"I knew this was going to be the last time people in California would see me wrestle, and I went out with a bang," said Flores, who pinned Vacaville's Bo Lukehart -- the state's second-ranked 215-pounder -- in 3:02 for the state title.

Those who know Flores best are not surprised by his success -- only two losses in 103 matches, and no defeats against wrestlers from California -- the past two years.

Take Bears coach Dustin Riley, who watched Flores grow from a state qualifier as a freshman, to an emerging talent who placed fifth in the state as a sophomore, to a state champion as a junior, to a marked man who met all challenges as a senior.

Riley said the pressure of being a defending state champion never got to Flores.

Nor did he ever rest on his accomplishments.

"He's been wrestling for so long, on a national level since he was 8," Riley said. "With that comes a great deal of experience. Because of that, matches some guys would be timid about, he gets after it. He does wrestling nine or 10 months a year. When you combine all that time and energy, you get a kid like Ryan, the best of the best."

Flores' only loss of the season came against nationally ranked Skip Crooks of Green River, Wyo., in the finals of the Reno Tournament of Champions, one of the nation's most prestigious tournaments.

The only other wrestler who even came close to defeating Flores was close friend Vince Lopez of rival Clovis. Flores easily handled Lopez 7-1 in a dual against the Cougars and pinned Lopez during the Tri-River Athletic Conference tournament. But Flores could only manage a 1-0 victory over Lopez in the Yosemite Divisional finals and a 3-0 win for the Masters title.

"I knew if anyone was going to beat him, it was going to be me," Lopez said. "That's what I put in my head all year. I came close, but he ended up being the better man. I'm really proud of him."

And just what made Flores the state's best 215-pounder?

"His physical strength," Lopez said. "And he's really athletic, has good agility and good hips. He can scramble out of position and control positions. He can get off bottom. No one can hold him. He's an overall great wrestler."