Buchanan wrestling wasn’t supposed to win this year, but it did. That’s what Empires do

Strike up the Imperial March. The Buchanan Empire strikes back, four times over.

The Buchanan High boys wrestling team extended its hold on the West Coast wrestling galaxy with a fourth straight state team championship Saturday, squashing any rebel uprising from first whistle to last at the California Wrestling State Championships at Rabobank Arena.

These Bears aren’t particularly Darth or Sidious, as their Star Wars-like Empire nickname would suggest, but they are the absolute death knell to competitive balance in the local sport for the foreseeable future. They even wore black uniforms in the finals, as if to play the part.

“It’s a little unbelievable,” said Buchanan coach Troy Tirapelle, after his team outscored second-place Gilroy 235-182. “It’s difficult to fathom what we just accomplished.”

This really isn’t as easy as Buchanan makes it look. It can’t be, not in a wrestling-rich state with five teams ranked in the nation’s Top 50.

Olguin, Renteria win titles

It’s just that, Buchanan has become that much better than the rest. Eight Bears placed in the top five (out of 14 weight classes). Six wrestled in the finals. Two of them – Matthew Olguin and Maximo Renteria – took the victor’s crown.

That makes it 34 state medalists in four years, the most for any wrestling program in California high school history. The four straight team titles is one away from matching Clovis High’s unheard of stretch of titles from 2011-15.

“It’s a four-peat now,” said Olguin, who conquered the 160-pound field for his second state title and fourth state medal. “To be able to keep repeating, it’s just great. When we were in middle school, it was The Empire. Now, it’s become a Nation, something even bigger.”

Call it what you want: Expanding Empire, Sovereign nation. Buchanan just pulled off a state title in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

Underdogs

Did you get that? The Bears are ranked third in the nation in what was supposed to be a down year. Half of their state medalists are underclassmen. Another two are just juniors. First-in-the-state makes the greatest learning curve in the history of wrestling.

“We graduated a lot of our staples from last year,” Tirapelle said. “A lot of people didn’t think we were the favorites coming into this year. It’s the first time in a while we got to play that to the kids. ‘Hey, not a lot of people think you’re good enough to win it all.’ It’s fun to try and prove people wrong.

“I told them at the start of the season, ‘You’re not the defending state champs. Those guys graduated. Where does your tradition start?’ They really responded to that.”

‘Keep the tradition going’

Olguin, who has never not won a state high school team title, beat Noah Blake of Del Oro-Loomis 8-3 to match his freshman-year title. Takedown here. Near-fall there. Another takedown. And off to the Fresno State wrestling program he goes, knowing Buchanan will be just fine without his 46-0 senior assistance.

“I’m excited to see what happens here even after I’m gone,” Olguin said. “Now it’s their turn to keep the tradition going.”

Who’s they? They’re all they. That’s what makes Buchanan so indomitable. They come in waves, and leave as a blur with all the best trophies.

There’s sophomore Maximo Renteria, winning his second state title with a 3-2 decision over Clovis’ Brandon Paulson at 120.

He’ll be back with state runners-up Rocco Contino (171) and Jadon Martin (195) in the upper weights, and Jack Gioffre (106) and Carlos Negrete (113) in the lowers.

Buchanan girl a champ, too

The scary part? The Empire has franchised over to the opposite locker room, where Bears freshman Cristelle Rodriguez won a girls’ state title at 101 pounds, beating Sofia Martinez of Ayala-Chino 6-0.

So goes The Empire, a program nickname created by a Buchanan parent when Tirapelle took the controls in 2011. Yeah, it’s going to stick for awhile.

“I kind of like it,” he said. “But, hey, you can call yourself an empire, but you’ve got to put in the time and the effort to build an empire.

“It’s a lot of work, but you’ve got to be able to enjoy it.”

Top-5 finishes and three titles for Clovis, Selma

▪ Clovis senior Jacob Good won the 220-pound title with a 10-1 victory over Mike Ruiz of Villa Park.

The Cougars finished third in the team standings with 171.5 points. That makes it 31 straight top-five finishes in the state team standings, including 11 straight.

▪ Selma sophomore Richard Figueroa won his second state title at 106 pounds. Ranked first in the nation, he beat Buchanan’s Gioffre 18-3 in the finals.

Teammate Tristan Lujan followed with his first title with a 2-1 victory over Buchanan’s Carlos Negrete at 113. The Bears took fourth with 139.5 points for the program’s eighth top-five team finish in state history.

▪ Sophomore Ryan Franco of Clovis North finished as state runner-up at 132 after losing in the final 1-0 to De La Salle-Concord senior Kyle Parco. That helped Clovis North finish ninth as a team.

▪ Two Fresno Unified wrestlers placed: Bullard senior Dawson Sihavong third at 145 and Edison senior Kwabena Watson eighth at 220.

LINK: Final results and brackets

This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Buchanan wrestling wasn’t supposed to win this year, but it did. That’s what Empires do."