TITANS PIN DOWN 7-TIME CHAMPION

Poway 28, Clovis Buchanan 26

“The king is dead, long live the king!” is a traditional proclamation made following the accession of a new monarch.

While you can’t officially give Poway the wrestling crown until after a successful State Meet in Bakersfield, the Titans’ thrilling 28-26 dualmeet victory over Clovis Buchanan in “The Battle for the Throne” on Saturday afternoon at Fresno City College leaves no doubt who is No. 1 at the moment.

Poway, ranked No. 4 in the nation, scored victories in eight of the 14 matches against the winners of the last seven state titles in a row. In fact, Buchanan hadn’t lost a dual meet against a California opponent since 2015.

“I think our heart was a big factor today,” said senior Elias Navida, whose 6-4 decision over Paris Ruiz at 132 pounds broke a 22-22 tie and put the Titans up for good, via telephone.

Two years ago Buchanan won 11 of 14 matches for a commanding 55-9 victory over the Titans on the Bears’ football field. At the time, Poway head coach John Meyers was disappointed in the lack of heart they showed in the thumping.

Last year, the Bears rushed out to a 10-0 lead after three matches and held on for 31-22 victory at the Titans’ gym.

Starting the match at 150 pounds, Poway got the early start as University of North Carolina-bound senior Laird Root pinned Patrick Roberts in 5:09 for a 6-0.

The Bears weren’t going to give up the crown easily, scoring a pin at 157 and major decision at 165 to go up 10-6.

The Titans would run off three wins in a row to take a 1610 lead. During that streak they got a 10-1 major decision at 175 from top-ranked Angelo Posada, a 3-1 decision by Ben

Bomberger at 190 and a 10-5 decision by defending state champ Robert Platt at 215.

“Ben’s win was huge,” said Meyers in a phone interview. “He had a poor outing vs. Sunnyside (Ariz.) last week, but he worked hard and followed all our directions.”

As the lineup flipped over to the little guys, Poway got a couple impressive decisions for a 22-16 lead. Freshman Arseni Kikinou, ranked No. 1 in the state, rode a first-period takedown to the back to shut out No. 3 Blake Woodward at 106, 6-0, and Edwin Sierra, No. 2 in state, scored a 5-3 decision over No. 3 Rocklin Zinkin at 113.

Two straight Buchanan wins set the stage for the last three matches.

First Navida, ranked No. 6 in state, scored a pair of takedowns and two escapes for his win over 11th ranked Paris Ruiz at 134.

Paul Kelly, ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 4 in the nation, gave the Titans a sixpoint lead with his solid 5-1 decision over Gavin Bauder, who a year ago was a state finalist at 132 wrestling at Clovis North.

A pin at 144 from Buchanan’s No. 1-ranked Leo Contino could have tied the score and given the Bears the victory by criteria but was held to a 13-4 major decision by freshman Mario Carini.

“We didn’t tell him anything about not getting pinned to him,” said Meyers. “You can’t say something like that to a kid ranked No. 7 and who wants to win.”

“Overall, I knew there was going to be some upsets and we’ve got to lift some kids up and get ready for what’s next,” said Meyers.