With about four hours left in a marathon 12-hour Day 1 at the CIF State Wrestling Championships on Friday in Bakersfield, Gilroy High’s Paul Fox (126), Nikko Villarreal and Willie Fox (145) prevailed in their Championship Round 3 matches, are all 2-0 and into the quarterfinals.
No. 5 Paul Fox set aside Austin Solari (Liberty) by a 10-0 score. Villarreal, the state’s No. 2-ranked 132-pounder eked out an overtime 5-3 victory over Matt Gay (No. 8) of Clovis. Gay, a senior, earned an escape point with 10 seconds left in the match to tie it 3-3. Villarreal, though, produced the pivotal takedown to advance. No. 1 Willie Fox looked sharp in pinning No. 11 Michael Martinez (Wasco) at 3:09 of the second period.
Meanwhile, Christopher’s Jimmie Lopez (106) lost his second match of the day, 9-0, to seventh-ranked Isaiah Hokit of Wasco. Gilroy High’s Victor Olmos (120) also ran into stiffer competition in his second match as well, No. 2-ranked Daniel Gaytan of defending champ and current team-leader Clovis High. Gaytan pinned Olmos in the third period. Jose Lara (285) had to wait three hours between his first and second matches. He was pinned in the third period by Michael Lowman (Foothill). Lopez, Olmos and Lara are 1-1 and still alive in the tournament in the consolation bracket.
Consolation Round 3 is the next set of matches to go at 6:15 p.m. Lopez, Olmos and Lara will be apart of those. The last rounds of the day – Championship Round 4 (quarterfinals) and Consolation Round 4 – are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Check back tonight for the next update. Follow sports editor Josh Weaver on Twitter for up-to-the-minute results.
