Wrestling: Golden Bears have head start on best-ever Masters meet

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As far as Temecula Valley Coach Arnold Alpert can remember, his wrestling team has never advanced more than six wrestlers to the state tournament. But that could change in the next couple of days.

The Golden Bears have 13 wrestlers taking part in this weekend’s Southern Section Masters meet at Carter High in Rialto, more than any other school. Four of them -- Erik Reyes at 103, Dylan Barralas at 112, Mario Decaro at 140 and Jake Meredith at 171 -- are returning state qualifiers.

So, just for fun, let’s assume those four finish in the top nine at Masters and qualify for the state tournament once again. Then there’s two other Temecula Valley wrestlers ranked in the top nine in the Southern Section -- Patrick Martinez is No. 2 at 160 and Eduardo Marquez is No. 3 at heavyweight.

If those rankings hold up, that would mean only one of the remaining seven Temecula Valley wrestlers would have to advance for the Golden Bears to beat their all-time record. I realize there will be kids from more than 150 schools vying for the nine spots in each weight class, but that’s still quite a head start for a pretty phenomenal team.

So, based purely on a gut feeling, I say we’ll be seeing at least seven Temecula Valley wrestlers in Bakersfield next weekend.

-- Chuck Schilken, guest blogger

-- Image from www.tvhs.tvusd.k12.ca.us.