Josh Kawaguchi didn’t get a chance last season to accomplish his goal of making the CIF State Tournament.
As a sophomore at Sonora, Kawaguchi quickly established himself as a wrestler to watch with his title at 106 pounds in the El Dorado Invitational. He also had a first-place finish at the Tournament of Champions and a second at Five Counties.
It seemed as if he was a lock for a trip to Bakersfield for the state tournament. However, he never made it to CIF. Kawaguchi couldn’t make the 115-pound weight limit on the first day.
“A few days before, I was feeling fine,” Kawaguchi said. “Up until the day before, I was fine, but the night before, when I was cutting the last few pounds, I started feeling everything.
“I got exhausted.”
Sonora coach Dave Carrizosa said he noticed a change in Kawaguchi’s demeanor leading up to the CIF tournament.
“He looked almost defeated,” Carrizosa said. “He didn’t know if he could make the weight. We talked the night before about it, and I said go to sleep and wake up in the morning and see what happens.
“He had a feeling he wasn’t going to make it, but he had to go weigh in. If you don’t make weight, you have to not make weight in front of everybody. You can’t just hide at home. It hurt to see him suffer at the end of the season.”
This year, Kawaguchi is back with a refreshed outlook, thanks in large part to a growth spurt in the offseason.
He opened the season wrestling at 138 pounds and placed third at the El Dorado Invitational. He is ranked No. 1 in the county at 132 and third in the Southern Section.
The decision about wrestling at 138 or 132 for the league finals and beyond will be decided later this year.
“We have a three-week stretch (in Januaray) where we’re doing the TOC (Tournament of Champions), Doc B and Five Counties, and I mirrored it that way so we could (prepare for) CIF, Masters, State …,” Carrizosa said. “See if he can do three tournaments in a row, with two-day weigh-ins and see how he ends up at the end.
“If he’s comfortable at 132 and he can make it and he’s not suffering, then he’s going to stay (at 132).”
Kawaguchi wants to keep his focus on the mat and build off the success he has had.
“I’m hoping to have as good a season as last year,” he said “I don’t know about wrestling these bigger guys. I was usually the bigger kid at 115. It will be a big change, but I just have to focus on different moves and techniques.”
NOTES
The two-day Edison Beach Bash and a pair of one-day tournaments, the Scott Davis Invitational at Mater Dei and the Andrew Pena Classic at Irvine, are all on tap Saturday …Fountain Valley, Servite, El Dorado and Calvary Chapel will wrap the Clovis West Shootout Saturday. …Santa Ana is hosting the Lady Saints Tournament Saturday, starting at 10:30 a.m.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
