SIERRA HOLDS SLIM LEAD AFTER FIRST FULL DAY

By John Van Gaston for the COA

After the first two sessions on Friday of the Commission on Athletics Wrestling Championships presented by U.S. Bank, three teams will be represented by five wrestlers in the semi-finals. Not coincidentally, those are the top three scoring teams with two sessions remaining, which will be held on Saturday at Fresno City College. The championship round and the third consolation round will take place at 10:00 a.m. with the fourth consolation round slated for 1:00 p.m. The fourth consolation round will determine the third through eighth place finishers, while the championship finals are set to start at 6:30 p.m.

Leading the way after the first two days is Sierra College, who has compiled 60.0 team points and has five wrestlers in the semi-finals with another two in placing rounds. Following the Wolverines in team scoring is Bakersfield College (56.0 team points), who also has five semi-finalists and two others in placing rounds, with Cerritos College and Santa Ana College tied for third place with 49.5 team points. Cerritos had five of their six wrestlers advance to the semi-finals, while the Dons saw three go through the first day undefeated.

There will be five head-to-head match-ups in the semi-finals involving the top four teams, with Cerritos having a say in four of those match-ups. The Falcons will square off against two Sierra opponents, along with one match against both Santa Ana and Bakersfield. The other match pits Sierra against Bakersfield.

Through the first day, 16 of the 20 top seeds and #2 seeds have advanced to the semi-finals, with the lowest seed advancing being fifth-seeded Konrad Schwartz at 174 pounds from Sacramento City, while third-seeded Ronnie Hopkins of Cerritos has also advanced to the semi-finals at the same weight.
http://www.tmi.150m.com/Results2005-2006/05-JCSF-Fresno-R2.pdf

-COA-