Six Carlsbad Wrestlers Compete for State Title

The Carlsbad area sent six wrestlers to the 40^th annual California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championships but none were able to come home with medals after two days of grueling competition.

Here’s a breakdown of how they did:

Jesse Orona, , 160 pounds: Orona made it to the second day of competition but he lost his first match Saturday to Steele Canyon’s Brady Beamon (eventual eighth-place winner), 8-1. Orona won his first match of the tournament 5-3 over Sebastian Suikowsky of Fresno-Hoover. After a pin loss to eventual champion Joey Davis of Santa Fe, Orona pinned Bryan Garcia of Arroyo valley (Southern Section No. 9) in 4:56 and won 4-3 over Bakersfield’s A.J. Fierro  (Central Section No. 3).

Charlie Rassel, Carlsbad, 220 pounds: Rassel, the No. 2 wrestler from the San Diego Section, lost his first match 7-0 to Elk Grove’s Josh Letuligasenoa. But he turned it around in the consolation bracket, winning 5-3 over Chatsworth’s Charlie Lemons, then pinning Edison-Fresno’s Otilo Carrillo in 4:54, then besting Clovis’ Matt Weiss (Central Section No. 2) 4-2 before losing to Fresno’s Arnold Salinas 5-2 to end his tournament. His 3-2 record wasn’t enough to advance to the second day of competition and he finished 3-2.

Danny Knox, Carlsbad, 182 pounds: Knox lost 5-1 to Brody Goens of Chino Hills but beat Taryn Christiansen of El Molino (North Coast Section No. 4) 9-2, then beat Carmel wrestler and Central Coast Section Kodiak Sauer 3-2  before his tournament ended with a 7-4 loss to Gabriel Gonzalez of Washington Union-Fresno (Central Section No. 7).

Chance Eskam, Carlsbad, 195 pounds: Eskam also made the second day. He beat Lenny Pedraza of Madera (Central Section No. 5) 7-4 to start his tournament and then pinned Tyler Larcom of Wheatland (Northern Section No. 3). He lost Elder Cruz of La Habra (Southern Section No. 2) of La Habra before pinning Atascadero’s Andrew Bittle (Southern Section No. 8). He won 3-1 over Joe Arellano of Vista Murrieta (Southern Section No. 7) by a 3-1 score before Bellarmine-San Jose’s Danny Chaid eliminated him in a pin.

Ian Baker, , 152 pounds: Baker lost 3-1 to Clovis’ Colby Thompson and then lost 7-3 to Miguel Ruiz of Madera, 7-3.

Paul Head, La Costa Canyon, 182 pounds: Head made the second day but lost his big match, losing to Brody Goens of Chino Hills 7-4. He was pinned by state champ Nikko Reyes of Clovis to start out and then won 13-3 over Max Oswald (North Coast Section No. 2) before beating Jariah Booker of Las Plumas-Oroville 10-3. He beat Deandre Daise of Lemoore (Central Section No. 8) 8-4.