State high school wrestling highlights stories of perseverance and promising starts
Selma High senior wrestler Jace Luchau remembers his freshman season like it’s yesterday.
He couldn’t find a regular spot in the varsity lineup – until Bears coach Sam Lopez asked him if he was willing to fill in at 160 pounds, more than 20 pounds over his natural weight then.
It turned out to be a rocky season, but one that has been a motivator for three more years.
Luchau, who’s committed to Fresno State, is seeded No. 1 at 152 pounds when the CIF state boys and girls championships gets underway on Thursday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
The Central Section has five of of the 14 top boys seeds, with Selma teammates Richard Figueroa (106) and Tristan Lujan (113), Maximo Renteria (120) and Matthew Olguin (160) from three-time defending state champion Buchanan and Trent Tracy (182) of Frontier.
“I’m excited to compete in one of the toughest tournaments in the country,” said Luchau, who won his third Masters title last weekend. “I’ve wrestled in much bigger and much more meaningful tournaments like Fargo and World Team Trials in Akron, but I know at the same time this is Important to my community and therefore I will compete with pride and a chip on my shoulder.”
The chip on the shoulder started when he was a fifth-grader. He remembers getting made fun of for having one move – the cement mixer.
That served as early motivation, before the freshman experience.
Luchau said he scraped through league and divisionals to reach the Central Section Masters tournament. “I had to win one match at Masters to qualify for state and I ended up going 0-3. It crushed me, and I swore I would get better.”
“It wasn’t til the last two years I grew and developed as a wrestler and I’m still learning and getting better,” said Luchau, who is ranked nationally at No. 6 by FloWrestling and is a seven-time All-American.
He wants to improve on last year’s fourth-place state finish.
“Selma is a tough place to wrestle,” Luchau said. “So much history and respect here. No one on the planet that gets more pumped for the state tournament than Coach and I wanna wrestle under the lights for him.”
Making a mark at Buchanan
Cristelle Rodriguez is the first Buchanan girls wrestler – and the freshman is already dominating like the Bears boys.
She’s 24-0 against the girls and 14-2 against boys, Bears coach Chris Hansen said.
“She’s pretty impressive and has a lot of potential,” he said. “She’s a competitor. It didn’t happen overnight and she’s put in a lot of time and is pretty special.”
Rodriguez is the No. 1 seed at 101 pounds, putting her on a state championship trajectory.
“That would be so amazing,” she said. “I’ve dreamed of that since I was at Atla Intermediate.”
Rodriguez is aiming to follow a path set by two Selma products, Gracie Figueroa and Alledia Martinez, who graduated last year as four-time state girls champions.
Just what can fans expect from Rodriguez in Bakersfield?
“An exciting match,” she said. “I don’t like to keep my matches boring and I like to take down and stand up.”
Strength in numbers
Clovis High qualified wrestlers in all 14 boys weight classes.
The Cougars are led by Jacob Good, who finished fourth last season at 220. Others are Terrence Matthew (106), Justin Mouritsen (113), Brandon Paulson (120), Austin Rhoads (126), Giano Petrucelli (132), Logan Avina-Barajas (138), Nick Martino (145), Max Anderson (152), Mikelli Chiaramonte (160), Austin Frantzich (170), Tyler Gianakopulos (182), Frederick Sayles (195) and Kade Campbell (285).
Buchanan is sending 12 boys: Jack Gioffre (106), Carlos Negrete (113), Renteria (120), Hunter Leake (126), Logan Gioffre (132), Tyler Deen (138), Joseph Martin (145), Rey Raiz (152), Olguin (160), Rocco Contino (170), Jadon Martin (195) and Branden Cardwell (220).
Looking for repeats
Figueroa, Renteria and Tracy are seeking back-to-back state titles.
Figueroa and Renteria are both sophomores, while Tracy is in his final season.
State meet details
Where: Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield
Thursday: Girls bouts begin at 9 a.m., boys at 1 p.m.
Friday: Consolations begin at 9 a.m., quarterfinals begin at 3 p.m.
Saturday: Semifinals begin at 9 a.m., championships begin at 5:05 p.m.
Tickets: Thursday and Friday adult start at $14 and high school students, Children 5-up, Seniors 65-over start at $10; add $1 for Saturday (two separate sessions, two separate admissions)
Details: cifstate.org
Anthony Galaviz: 559-441-6042, agalaviz_TheBee
This story was originally published February 20, 2019 at 3:36 PM with the headline "State high school wrestling highlights stories of perseverance and promising starts."
