BAKERSFIELD – Johnny Beltran didn’t have much time to feel sorry about things after dropping his semifinal match at the CIF State Wrestling Championships.
The Servite senior still had some work to do to navigate his way to a possible third-place finish, and that’s what he did.
After losing to Folsom’s Nick Fiegener, 11-0, Beltran refocused and defeated Madera’s Alec Gamboa, 7-3, and Rocklin’s Skyler Gonzalez, 3-2, to finish third in the 182-pound weight class at Rabobank Arena on Saturday.
He entered the tournament ranked fourth in the state.
“I knew I wasn’t getting more than one loss at state,” Beltran said. “It is my senior year. I was ready, I felt great. I just had to keep going.”
Last year, Beltran finished seventh at 182 pounds.
“The only two people that I have lost to are in the finals (Fiegener and Corey Griego of Sultana),” Beltran said. “To be honest, I wish I was there (in the finals), but they’re the better wrestlers.
“Personally, I think I accomplished everything that I wanted to do. I trained like I said I would and I did everything to put me in the place I am right now, and I’m happy about that.”
Beltran becomes the first two-time state medalist for the Friars.
“That’s not an easy road,” Servite coach Alan Clinton said of Beltran’s comeback. “Most guys melt down. Johnny put the blinders on and he had a mission. He had goals that he’s worked all year long. He went after them and accomplished them.
“He wanted to be the first two-time state placer for Servite … he had all these little things set up. There was a mission and he accomplished his mission.”
Calvary Chapel’s Aaron Negrette set out on a solo expedition through the consolation bracket at 160 pounds.
Negrette needed a triple-overtime victory in his first match of the day to stay in the tournament, and then he pulled off a victory in overtime and 3-2 decision to reach the third-place match.
He would finish fourth. Last year, he was seventh at 152 pounds.
“Today was like a journey for him,” Calvary Chapel coach Jacob Harman said of Negrette. “This is something that he’s been doing since he was 5 years old. He had to go through all of those guys in order to even get to the third/fourth-place match.”
“There are a lot of good things for him. Senior year and he avenged some losses.”
Negrette defeated Santiago of Corona’s Freddie Garcia, Northview of Covina’s Bryan Salinas and Clovis’ Josh Hokit on Saturday. Garcia and Salinas had defeated Negrette this season.
El Dorado’s Gino Roman (145) and Fountain Valley’s Andrew Morgan (152) were both seventh at their weights. Sonora’s Russell Rohlfing (120) finished eighth.
Two other first-day survivors from the county, Calvary Chapel’s Michael Rangel (106) and Capistrano Valley’s Phillip O’Shea (195), lost their first matches Saturday and were eliminated.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
