Prep wrestling: Buchanan best in Valley but takes back seat to Bergen Catholic at Doc B

For the second time in a month, Buchanan High finished ahead of five-time reigning state champion Clovis at a wrestling tournament.

Unfortunately for both the Bears and Cougars, an eastern invader stole the show at the 39th annual Doc Buchanan Invitational.

Riding three champions and 10 other medalists, Bergen Catholic, a nationally No. 3-ranked private school from Oradell, New Jersey, scored 224 points to outdistance Buchanan (212) and Clovis (163) for the team title Saturday before an overflow crowd at the Cougars’ gym.

The Crusaders – who also had podium-toppers in Gerard Angelo (120) and Joe Grello (170) – are the first out-of-state school to win the Doc B and the first non-Central Section program to do so since Calvary Chapel-Santa Ana in 1997.

The Bears were led by 132-pound champion Durbin Lloren and 182-pound winner Anthony Montalvo, two of Buchanan’s four finalists to capture titles.

“This is good confidence for our guys, the momentum keeps building,” said Lloren of Flo Wrestling’s nationally No. 4-ranked Bears, who also finished ahead of national No. 5 Clovis at the Zinkin Classic on Dec. 19. “We fell short of Bergen, and we would have liked to beat them, but beating Clovis is our main goal and getting that state championship.”

Matthew Olguin (106) and Greg Gaxiola (152) were runner-ups for Buchanan, which had nine medalists overall, including third-place finishes from Ethan Leake (113) and Cade Belshay (170).

State No. 5-ranked Montalvo captured one of four white cowboy hats – the tournament’s signature prize and tribute to namesake and former Clovis Unified superintendent, the late Floyd “Doc” Buchanan – that went to section competitors with a 3-0 upset of No. 3 Roman Romero of McNair-Stockton.

“I expected a more dominant performance, but I got what I could out of the kid. He’s very tough,” Montalvo said. “I tried to portray my dominance. This is just another big step toward my ultimate goal, and everything that matters happens in March (at the CIF State Championships.)”

Lloren, a senior who won the state 120-pound title last year, beat Gilroy’s Alex Felix 3-1 in a duel of the state’s Nos. 1-2 wrestlers at 132 pounds, capturing his second cowboy hat.

“I used to watch this as a kid and I always dreamed of winning this tournament. Time has flown by, I can’t believe I’ve wrestled my last Doc B,” said Lloren, who lost in the finals last season but won as a sophomore. “It feels nice to get some redemption for last year. It means a lot to finish on top in my last year.”

Clovis, which had won six straight Doc B titles, was hurt by the loss of nationally No. 2-ranked 120-pounder and two-time state champion Justin Mejia, who defaulted his second-round match Friday with a knee injury.

Cougars coach Steve Tirapelle said the Iowa commit isn’t expected to be sidelined long and wouldn’t rule him out of Clovis’ next major competition, the Who’s No. 1 Duals at the University of Pennsylvania on Jan. 16.

The Cougars received titles from Seth Nevills (285) and Josh Hokit (195).

State No. 1 Nevills, who opened the season with 11 straight pins before settling for a 5-1 decision over No. 6 Nic Iverson of Ukiah in the semifinals, beat Frontier’s No. 2 Jarrod Snyder 4-0 in the final.

“It was really fun to have someone to compete with,” said Nevills, who won the state 220-pound title last season as a freshman. “I just need to get in better condition and score more.”

Hokit, ranked No. 5 nationally, fell behind national No. 10 Kevin Mulligan of Bergen Catholic 3-0 before tying the match with a third-period escape and winning 5-3 with a takedown with 4 seconds left in the sudden victory overtime period.

“I had to give the crowd what they deserved and pull it out in the end,” Hokit said. “I trusted in my training. I train hard for my coaches, and I just wanted it a little more in overtime. It’s a dream come true to win this tournament. Since I was little, I always wanted to finish on top here, and this was my year.”

The only other section competitor to reach the finals was Selma’s Robert Garcia, who lost a 2-1 double overtime decision to national No. 14 Angelo of Bergen Catholic.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Prep wrestling: Buchanan best in Valley but takes back seat to Bergen Catholic at Doc B."