Hoover High’s Edmen Shahbazyan looks to continue historic run at state

A wild and perhaps unexpected run for Hoover High senior Edmen Shahbazyan will both continue and end at this weekend’s 43rd annual CIF State Championship Wrestling Tournament at Bakersfield’s Rabobank Arena.

Shahbazyan will not only represent his school, but his area as the 195-pounder qualified to the elite competition, which begins at 9 a.m. Friday.

“It feels good and I’m happy that I’m going to state,” said Shahbazyan, who has trained in mixed martial arts for years at the Glendale Fighting Club. “I know I’m the second person to do it from Hoover.”

Shahbazyan (20-5) joins 160-pounder Arthur Ghukasyan as the only two people in the four-year history of the Hoover program to have advanced to state.

Ghukasyan had a strong regular season en route to finishing runner-up at the Eastern Division championships, fourth at Masters and advancing to the first day of state last season.

Ghukasyan finished 3-2 at state and was eliminated on the first day.

This season, Ghukasyan has worked and practiced with Shahbazyan and has been one of the senior’s biggest advocates.

“Arthur sets the example for the team,” Hoover High Coach Dave Beard said. “He’s been able to be a partner for Edmen a lot of times. He’s been a big support.”

While Ghukasyan was a known commodity heading into his senior season, the same could not be said about Shahbazyan, who missed his entire junior season due to injuries.

Shahbazyan then missed most of the regular season recovering from injury before making a late impact for the Tornadoes toward the end of the Rio Hondo League season.

Yet, with only a few bouts under his belt, Shahbazyan showed a penchant for advancing when he pinned St. Paul’s Jasper Gallardo in the Rio Hondo League Tournament semifinals, which clinched Shahbazyan a berth into the league finals.

Even though Shahbazyan was defeated by La Cañada’s Russell Marki, 3-1, he continued to show improvement in finishing third at the Coast Divisional Finals and fourth at Masters.

“To me, the only question was Edmen’s health,” Beard said. “The talent was always there, it was just a matter of getting him to the mat.

“If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year if I thought he could make it to state, I would have said yes, if he was healthy.”

If there’s a concern for Shahbazyan, it’s a slightly stiff neck the wrestler developed after his third-place match at Masters on Saturday in Ontario.

However, Shahbazyan said he’ll be fine for Friday.

“In my last match, I fell on my head, I got dropped on my head,” Shahbazyan said. “It’s a little bit like the muscles around there are a little sore and a little tight. I’m getting rest and I’ll be ready.”

Should Shahbazyan advance past the first day, he would become the first-ever wrestler to do so in school history.

Qualifying to Saturday’s second day of competition includes surviving a combination of three to five rounds of championship and potential consolation action in the double-elimination tournament.

Shahbazyan begins Friday versus San Mateo Serra’s Dominick Christmas in the first round. Christmas is the No. 2-seeded wrestler out of the Central Section, but is unranked in the state rankings, according to thecaliforniawrestler.com.

“This is state and there are no easy opponents,” Beard said. “Definitely once you get past the first round, every single wrestler is going to be very tough.”

A win against Christmas would likely throw Shahbazyan into the crosshairs of state No. 8-ranked Christopher Bailey of Poway in the second round.

“Hey, you can’t count Edmen out,” Beard said. “Yes, it’s going to be tough, but Edmen’s beaten some great guys to get here. He’s been a dream killer and he’s going to have to do more of the same.”