Bojorquez wins 170-pound title to lead South High to runner-up finish at D-II wrestling championships
There were plenty of opportunities for area wrestlers to cash in on Friday at Golden Valley.
In eight of the 14 divisions, an area wrestler took the mat with a title on the line at the Central Section Division II boys wrestling championships.
But one by one, the local finalists came up short, that is until about the midway point of the finals schedule. That’s when Junior Bojorquez of South High put an end to the drought, taking control of his 170-pound final match in the second period and pulled away for a 10-3 decision over Albert Adams of Clovis East.
“I just wanted to win it for my team, get some team points and try to win another Valley championship” said Bojorquez, who helped his team win the Division III last year, his first year as a wrestler.
Bojorquez, the top seed at 170, was one of 11 Spartans to qualify for next week’s Masters tournament at Clovis-Buchanan, and one of six to reach the finals. It all added up to a second-place finish as a team, 42 points behind D-II champion Visalia-Redwood. Golden Valley was eighth, with Centennial rounding out the top 10.
Bojorquez was fifth in last year’s D-III tournament at 182, but continued his development by following up a South Yosemite Mountain League title with a D-II crown and improving to 27-10 on the season.
“It means a lot to me,” said Bojorquez of his improvement. “I like to put in the work just to make my coaches and teammates proud.”
After receiving a bye in the first round, Bojorquez won three straight matches by fall — all against local wrestlers — to reach the finals. He opened with a victory over Centennial’s William Schwartz in 1:34, reached the semifinals with a win over Foothill’s Adan Rios in just 34 seconds and then followed that up with a pin of Ramon Cendejas of Golden Valley in 4 minutes. Cendejas recovered to place fourth, while Schwartz finished eighth as both qualified for the Masters.
“I just know the job’s not done yet,” Bojorquez said. “I have to keep going and keep trying hard. Wrestling hard like none of this even happened.”
Now the junior wrestler has aspirations to reach the CIF State Championships, which are scheduled for Feb. 23-25 at Mechanics Bank Arena, something he fell short of qualifying for last year.
In all, 37 local wrestlers qualified with top-8 performances, with the Spartans sending 11, Golden Valley and Centennial with eight apiece and Liberty and Foothill with five each.
The Central Section Division I boys will compete Saturday in Lemoore, with Division III in Morro Bay and Division V at Madera-Matlita Torres.
Golden Valley is hosting the Area I and Area II girls championships on Saturday.
Results:
Liberty (5): Dylan Garcia (113), David Hinzo (152), Ronin Davis (160), Jesse Addington (220), Chad Troxler (285).
Team—1. Visalia-Redwood 256; 2. South 202; 3. Porterville-Monache 164; 4. Madera 160; 5.
Kingsburg 157.5; 6. Exeter 141; 7. Hanford 140;
8. Golden Valley 138; 9. Clovis East 133; 10. Centennial 112. Other area teams: 12. Liberty 91;
13. Foothill 90; 17. North 9.