Calvary Chapel’s Thomas twins take care of business at state meet

Calvary Chapel's Justin Thomas, left, battles Charles Hubbard during the second round of 160-pound division at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Santiago's Josh Kim, left, battles with Luis Enloe during the third round of the 145 weight division match during the 2016 CIF Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield on Friday.
Santiago's Josh Kim, left, battles with Luis Enloe during the third round of the 145 weight division match during the 2016 CIF Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield on Friday.
Servite's Liam Cronin, right , battles with Mason Hartshorn during the third round of the 113 weight division match during the 2016 CIF Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield on Friday.
Servite's Liam Cronin, left , battles with Mason Hartshorn during the third round of the 113 weight division match during the 2016 CIF Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield on Friday.
Brea Olinda's Ryan Gutierrez, right, battles with Abraham Del Toro during the consolation round of the 126 weight division match during the 2016 CIF Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield on Friday.
Mater Dei's Jed Smith battles Jeremiah Phillips during the second round of a 170-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Calvary Chapel's Jeremy Thomas, left, battles Christian Rodriguez during the second round of the 170-pound division at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Calvary Chapel's Jeremy Thomas, top, gets the upper hand on Selma's Christian Rodriguez during a second-round match in the 170-pound weight division on Friday.
Mater Dei's Jed Smith pins Jeremiah Phillips to win during the second round of the 170-pound division at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Santa Ana's Ricardo Navarrete rolls with Cody Huang during the 126-pound division match at the CIF State Championships at in Bakersfield on Friday.
Calvary Chapel's Justin Thomas, left, battles with Charles Hubbard during the second round of the 160-pound division during the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Calvary Chapel's Luciano Arroyo, celebrates a victory against Robert Areyano during the second round of a 113-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Calvary Chapel's Luciano Arroyo, left, battles Robert Areyano during the second round of a 113-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Laguna Hills' Anthony Le, left, battles Michael Mello during a 120-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Servite's Marcos Polanco, left, battles Josh Cisneros during a 106-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Servite's Marcos Polanco, left, battles Josh Cisneros during a 106-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Mater Dei's Jed Smith battles Nick Maiden during a 170-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.
Santa Ana's Ricardo Navarrete battles Kyle Parco during the second round of a 126-pound match at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield on Friday.

By Damian Calhoun | dcalhoun@scng.com | Daily Breeze

March 4, 2016 at 10:58 p.m.

BAKERSFIELD – A loss in the finals of last week’s CIF-SS Masters Meet provided Calvary Chapel’s Jeremy Thomas with all of the motivation he needed.

Thomas suffered a narrow defeat to Palm Desert’s Anthony Mantanona in the 170-pound title.

The two close friends could meet again tonight in the finals of the CIF State Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena.

To have a chance at avenging that loss, Thomas took care of business Friday.

Thomas won two matches by fall and another by major decision to advance to the semifinals. He will face Dominic DuCharme of Windsor. He defeated DuCharme earlier this season.

“I’m definitely gunning for that first place tomorrow (today),” Thomas said. “I think I performed pretty good (Friday). A little sluggish at first, but it is kind of hard to wrestle someone that doesn’t want to wrestle.”

Thomas was referring to his victory over Jimmy Hoang of American Canyon, 8-0 in the quarterfinals.

“I was just taking shots, like a drilling session,” he said. “I just went to my stuff that I know best.”

Thomas and his twin brother Justin could make tonight a memorable one for the Thomas family.

At 160 pounds, Justin Thomas was dominant as he advanced to the semifinals. He won his matches by technical fall, fall and major decision.

“It would be awesome,” Jeremy Thomas said of the brothers possibly capturing state titles on the same night. “Two twins to win it (state titles), but we’re going to take it one match at a time. I don’t want to look ahead.”

Calvary Chapel ended the first day in seventh place in the team standings. Buchanan leads with 146 points.

Jeremy was fourth last year (145) at the state meet. Justin has been fourth (126), third (145) and second (152) before at the state meet.

Justin will face Jason Bergquist of Folsom in the semifinals, which start at 9:30 a.m.

Servite’s Liam Cronin, who was a state finalist last season, regrouped from his third-place finish last week at Masters and rolled into the semifinals.

Cronin won a match by fall and two by major decision. He will face Alta Loma’s Alex Nunez in the semifinals. Cronin is 1-0 against Nunez this season.

If the rankings hold to their form, Cronin would see Poway’s Chase Zollman in the final.

The finals start at 7 p.m.

Calvary Chapel’s Luciano Arroyo (113), Canyon’s Ethyn Ewing (138), San Clemente’s Kyle Marshall (170) and Mater Dei’s Jed Smith (170) all lost their matches in the quarterfinals.

They join Servite’s Marcos Polanco (106), Villa Park’s Josh Luton (132), San Clemente’s Tyler Meisinger (152), Servite’s Angel Cordova (160), Trabuco Hills’ Lukas Howa (Trabuco Hills, 170), Santa Ana’s Joey Daniel (195) and Calvary Chapel’s Morris Wilner (182) in the consolation bracket, which starts at 9 a.m.

Wrestlers in the consolation bracket must win their first match today to be guaranteed a spot in the top eight of their weight class.

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com