STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS : Roman a Tired 3rd-Place Gladiator

The fight for third place was all that remained Saturday for the six area wrestlers still alive in the state championships at the University of the Pacific’s Spanos Center.

And a difficult fight it was.

When it was over, only senior Gabe Roman of Oxnard High (145 pounds) had made it through the consolation round undefeated to finish third among what began Friday as a field of 32.

Roman (48-2) defeated Adrian Garcia of Watsonville, 15-8, in the third-place final. “There’s nothing else after this,” Roman said. “So I wanted to go all-out. I didn’t think the competition would be as tough as it was. But I expected to do well.”

Others fell short of expectations.

James Castaneda of Alemany, who entered the tournament as the most likely to succeed among 23 area competitors, finished a disappointing fifth after being pinned for the first time this season, by Michael Kawamura of Rosemead in a 119-pound semifinal.

Castaneda (61-15), who placed fourth at the state meet last season and fifth as a sophomore, was overwhelmed by Kawamura. The Southern Section Masters champion settled matters in 2 minutes 31 seconds.

Senior Tom Nelford of Rio Mesa (62-8) finished fourth at 152--losing to Steve Schenk of Anderson, 7-0, in the third-place final--after hobbling through much of the two-day tournament because of a sprained right knee.

Sophomore Jesse Bautista of Rio Mesa (125) had similar difficulty. Bautista placed sixth after defaulting in the third-place and fifth-place semifinals because of a sprained left knee.

Bautista (45-11) defeated Ralph Lopez of Clovis West, 11-4, and Eric Serda of Wasco, 7-2, on Saturday morning. However, after defeating Serda, Bautista was carried from the arena by Coach Todd Stoke.

“I’ll be all right,” Bautista said. “And I’ll be back. Next year, you’ll see me in the finals.”

Roman and Nelford wrestled themselves to near-exhaustion. Both participated in five matches Saturday.

Roman, Southern Section Division I champion, advanced with victories over Ryan Williams of Highland (Central Section), 8-0; Phillip Castillo of Montgomery, 8-6, in overtime; Shane Duclos of West Valley, 11-5; and Dave Hennig of El Dorado, 8-6, in overtime.

“I’m tired,” Roman said.

Nelford, Channel League champion, defeated Derek Bowerman of Livermore, 16-6; Matt Demers of Grace Davis, 3-2; Dana Garcia of Independence, 5-2; and Jason Perry of Ceres, 6-3.

After, Nelford walked with a limp and was bleeding from the mouth. “The first bout (on Friday) I popped my knee,” Nelford said. “But I decided this is my senior year--I’m not going to let a leg injury stop me.”

Jose Barahona of Canoga Park (135) and Kevin Wright of Bakersfield (171) both placed eighth.