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Damian Calhoun. Sports Newsroom Assistant.

// MORE INFORMATION: Associate Mug Shot taken August 24, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Santa Ana’s Jose Mata began both days of the CIF-SS Masters Meet with a loss, but he was able to regroup and refocus and bounce back.

Mata (113) lost by fall to start Saturday’s action at Citizens Business Bank Arena, forcing him to attempt to qualify through the ninth-place bracket.

With the top nine in each weight class moving on to next week’s CIF State Tournament, Mata had little room for error, but he still managed to make things interesting.

He won his first match in the ninth-place bracket, 4-2 against Israel Galvan (Valencia of Valencia) and in the finals, he was forced to overtime, but he was able to pull out a 9-7 victory to qualify.

“It was difficult,” Mata said of having to refocus after his initial loss Saturday morning. “Any little thing could mess up your match, so you have to be very focused and be confident.

“After winning (4-2 against Galvan), that gave me more confidence. It was a long day and after losing the first one, I had to start all the way from the bottom. Even though it was long, it was still good.”

Mata had to win three consecutive matches to stay alive in the tournament Friday.

“That says a lot about his character,” Santa Ana coach Scott Glabb said of Mata. “He understands that the hard work that he put in has got to pay off. He just left it all out there on the mat.”

Mata wasn’t the only Santa Ana wrestler to navigate the ninth-place bracket to qualify.

At 152 pounds, Ed Bilezekchian survived a couple of near-fall situations to prevail 13-9. Bilezekchian led 4-0, fell behind 5-4 and then scored a three-point near fall and takedown for an 11-5 lead. Shadow Hills’ Dylan Vanbuskirk responded with a takedown and near fall, to get with two, but Bilezekchian had a late takedown to secure the victory.

“It is all about trying to get to the state meet and then you can start over next week,” Glabb said.

Easton Amuro (Calvary Chapel, 106), Oliver Rivero (Godinez, 132), Karson Ayres (Fountain Valley, 145), Jared Fernandez (Canyon, 170) and Servite’s Levi Ball-Bryant (heavyweight) also qualified through the ninth-place bracket.

Rivero is the first boys CIF State qualifier for Godinez in the school’s history. He won his ninth-place match, 7-4.

“I feel good about it it,” Rivero said. “This has been my goal since my sophomore year. It feels good to be the first one in the record books.

“I got injured last year at CIF and it was bittersweet seeing all my friends qualify for Masters (last year) and being left behind. This was an emotional, tough weekend.”

Calvary Chapel’s Elijah Palacio (126) and Santa Ana’s Joey Daniel (220) both won section titles. Palacio defeated Trabuco Hills’ Trey Munoz, 7-1, in the finals.

Daniel edged Dominik Urena, 1-0 in the finals.

Luciano Arroyo (Calvary Chapel, 126), Anthony Le (Laguna Hills, 132), Isaiah Mora (Esperanza, 138), Troy Madrigal (Servite, 152) and Aliso Niguel’s Sam Azar (160) were finalists at their weights.

Calvary Chapel (Arroyo, Palacio, Amuro), Esperanza (Aaron Nagao, Mora, Josh Brown) and Trabuco Hills (Matt Roxas, Justin Sarabia, Munoz) all had three state qualifiers, the most among county teams.

St. John Bosco led all teams with eight state qualifiers.

At the CIF State Girls Tournament:

Westminster freshman Aine Drury advanced to the 137-pound final at the Visalia Convention Center, but fell to Shelly Avelino of Benicia High.

She started the second day in the semifinals after winning her first three matches Friday by fall.

Savanna’s Ariel Guzman also started the second day in the semifinals at 111. She eventually finished fourth.

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@scng.com