Yacuta shines at Masters Tourney

Injured for part of the year, Porterville 130-pound sophomore is ready when it counts.

Yacuta soared to the finals, becoming the only Orange Belt wrestler not to have to wrestle in the consolation bracket at the CIF Masters Tournament, and got second to Madera South senior Raul Estrada, last Saturday.

Yacuta headlines a group of six local grapplers who will be making a return trip to Bakersfield this Saturday to compete in perhaps the toughest high school wrestling tournament in the country: The California State Tournament.

Three Exeter Monarchs qualified (103-pound freshman Lupe Florez, 119-pound junior Jason Gagnon and 125-pound senior Robert Patino) while senior 135-pound rivals Gabe Ramirez (Monache) and Micky Phanthavong (Granite Hills) will also make the trip.

Yacuta defeated Kerman’s Kevin Rojas in the first round and earned a 4-3 decision over Buchanan senior Anthony Waters in the semifinals. He lost 5-3 to Estrada in the finals.

Ramirez was the second-highest placer of the group, finishing in fifth. Ramirez lost to eventual champion Seth Hicks in the semifinals and sent down to the consolation bracket where Clovis’ Alec Dieter pinned him with 15 seconds left in the third period. The senior Marauder would repeat his performance from last week, beating Moses Quesada, only this time he won outright, as Queseda finished the match. Ramirez got a 7-5 decision. 

Phanthavong, who led the placers at the Divisional Tournament with a third-place finish, ran into trouble in the quarterfinals, getting pinned by Selma sophomore Nathan Zarate. Phanthavong then faced Dieter, whom he defeated in Lemoore, in the consolation bracket, but Dieter got his revenge with a 6-0 decision. 

The Grizzly senior finished in seventh place, which was just enough to earn a state berth.

Florez finished in seventh place at 103 by virtue of his place-match victory over Monache’s Harley Davis. Florez also pinned Davis in the second period of their first-round match. As a result, Florez will be moving onto state while Davis’ season is complete. 

Patino lost to eventual champion Brandon Rocha (Lemoore) in the semifinals and finished in sixth place.

Gagnon finished in eighth place as well, losing twice to EB’s Peter Gonzalez. 

Gagnon’s eigth place finish would’ve eliminated him, as the Central section only gets seven entries, but the Central section fills any open spots from the Oakland section at the State Tournament.

Overall, the Monarchs broke the trend, sending three of its four representatives to state.

The Sequoia division as a whole was not as successful, qualifying just 43 percent of its CIF Section entrants to state. 

The Yosemite division qualified 88 percent of its entrants.

The Tournament starts at 8 a.m., Friday, at the Rabobank Arena, Theater & Convention Center in Bakersfield.

State Matches

103-pound Lupe Florez vs. Play-in round winner (Wayland Zhou, Oakland vs. Thien Tran, Irvine). Zhou, a sophomore, was first in the Oakland section while Tran, a junior, was fourth in the Southern section.

119-pound Jason Gagnon vs. Play-in round winner (Matt Fregoso, Rosemead vs. Terry Allen, Hogan). Fregoso, a sophomore, was sixth in the Southern section while Allen, a senior, was second in the Sac-Joaquin section.

125-pound Robert Patino vs. Joey Davis, Santa Fe in the Play-in round. Davis, a freshman, was ninth in the Southern section. 

130-pound Shane Yacuta vs. Gary Espinosa, Alemany in the Play-in round. Espinosa, a senior, was eighth in the Southern section.

135-pound Gabe Ramirez vs. Play-in round winner (Dimitri Crouch, Santa Fe vs. Ryan Smith, Liberty). Crouch, a junior, was seventh in the Southern section while Smith, a senior, was first in the North Coast section.

135-pound Micky Phanthavong vs. Sean Regan, Sultana. Regan, a senior, was fourth in the Southern section.