02.26.07
Lomas captures crown
Lomas captures crown
BHS senior takes first in 118-pound division to lead local wrestlers
BY JEFF EVANS, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jevans@bakersfield.com | Sunday, Feb 25 2007 10:20 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Feb 25 2007 10:26 PM
LEMOORE — When Frank Lomas crumpled to the mat with a left ankle injury late in the first period of Saturday night’s 118-pound Central Section Masters Wrestling Tournament championship match, Lomas found himself in new territory.
Photos:
Photo by Brian Drake / The Californian
East High’s Peter Gonzalez gets dropped on his head by Bakersfield High’s Nektoe Demison during their 112-pound semifinal match at the Central Section Masters wrestling finals in Lemoore on Saturday.
“I’ve never hurt my ankle before,” the senior said. “I had no idea how bad it was.”
Lomas used up most of his 90 seconds of injury time, returned to the mat and finished off Clovis’ Steve Weimer 4-1 to win Kern County’s only individual title at the Masters meet.
Five Kern County wrestlers made the finals, with four losing close matches.
Lomas beat Weimer for the second straight week. He posted a 5-0 win over Weimer in last Saturday’s Yosemite Division title match. Weimer beat Lomas twice last season.
After the match, Lomas had a bag of ice taped to his ankle. Assistant coach Brett Clark carried Lomas back into the Lemoore High gym.
“All of a sudden it popped,” Lomas said. “It’s adrenaline that keeps you going. And that’s dangerous because you can’t feel anything. Then when you stop, it hurts.”
Lomas said the injury occurred when he turned his body and the ankle stayed in place.
Bakersfield High placed third as a team, scoring 125.5 points. Defending state and Central Section champion Clovis-Buchanan had the meet wrapped up before the afternoon matches ended, finishing with 189 points. Clovis was second with 148.
Of the 44 Kern County wrestlers who began the meet Saturday morning, 30 qualified for the CIF California State Championships Friday and Saturday at Rabobank Arena by placing in the top seven in their respective weight classes.
BHS junior Travis Rasmussen was the runner-up at 145 pounds. Rasmussen, ranked third in the state, dropped a 6-2 decision to Selma’s Joe Cisneros, who is ranked No. 1 in the state. Cisneros wrestled his freshman and sophomore years at BHS and was the state 103-pound champion as a freshman.
“We’ve wrestled (together) since sixth grade,” Rasmussen said. “I felt that I didn’t do as good as I could have. But I’d rather lose to him here than at the state meet. Hopefully we’ll meet in the finals.”
Cisneros used an escape and takedown in the second period to build a 3-0 lead. Rasmussen cut it to 3-2 but got no closer.
“He used to be my practice partner,” Cisneros said. “He’s a great guy.”
Knowing Rasmussen changed Cisneros’ preparation for the match, he said.
“I tried to do some things different tonight technique-wise. I went over a lot of things in my head.”
Foothill’s Eric De La Rosa had a tight match with Madera’s Daniel Montelongo, losing 6-5. A takedown and two-point near fall helped Montelongo build a 4-0 lead in the first period. Two reversals got Dela Rosa close, and he escaped with 18 seconds left in the match to pull within 6-5, but he couldn’t get the takedown as the match concluded.
De La Rosa said he focused all week on Central’s Paul Bracamonte, who upset De La Rosa in the semifinals of last week’s Yosemite Divisional.
“I worried too much about that guy and wasn’t really ready for this guy,” De La Rosa said. “Now I’m going to go back and train harder — get in better shape for the state meet.”
East’s Pete Gonzalez reached the finals at 112, losing 3-2 to Selma’s Angelo Quintana. But Gonzalez enjoyed one of the upsets of the day, beating BHS’ Nektoe Demison 6-5 in the semifinals. Demison came in as the favorite to win that weight class.
“We’re good friends,” Gonzalez said. “It was a real bummer when he lost. I was just glad I could pull it out.”
Demison, a former teammate of Gonzalez’s at East, nearly pulled it out. BHS coaches felt he had a reversal and possible two-point near fall, but the officials disagreed. A protest after the match was denied, leaving Gonzalez with the win.
“I left the match up to the refs instead of wrestling the way I could have,” Demison said. “I’ll do better next week at state.”
Also taking second was Arvin’s Frankie Castillo at 130 pounds. Sean Roman-Marin of Lemoore edged Castillo in the finals, 5-3.
The Drillers brought eight wrestlers to the Masters meet and all of them qualified for the state meet.
“That’s the bottom line — getting to next week,” BHS coach Andy Varner said. “I was glad about that above everything else. We didn’t leave anyone at home.”
East coach Joe Triggs had five of his wrestlers qualify for the state meet, a much better performance than he expected.
“Five out of five is huge,” Triggs said. “Peter (Gonzalez) could have wrestled more aggressively, and a couple of things didn’t go our way. But you’ve got to roll with it.”
North High’s 215-pound Lake Terrell was fifth and became the first North wrestler to qualify for the state meet since 1995.
