Having made history by capturing City Section titles in their respective weight divisions one week earlier, Palisades High senior wrestlers David Rheingold, Brad Boorstin and Kenny Jones had high hopes heading into the CIF state championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
They were the Dolphins’ first state qualifiers and sought to represent their program and their section with pride. They did just that, although none managed to survive the first day of the two-day meet. Rheingold and Boorstin went 1-2 and Jones went 0-2 Friday against the best wrestlers in California.
In his first match at 113 pounds Rheingold lost 7-2 to Brea Olinda’s Ryan Gutierrez. He earned a 5-2 decision over Oakland’s Walter Williams in his second match but was eliminated by Elk Grove’s Jacob Seto, who took a 6-0 decision in the second round of the consolation bracket.
In the 170-pound weight division Boorstin was pinned in 1:25 by Josh Hokit from Clovis in his first match. An hour later he was back on the mat for the consolation draw and Boorstin decisioned Santana Ruiz of Fowler 9-5. In the next round he got pinned in the second period by Citrus Hill’s Joel Villa.
“Brad actually got hurt and the referee didn’t stop it,” Pali High Coach Aldo Juliano said.
Jones, who pinned Birmingham’s David Hernandez to win the City title, engaged in a tense struggle with Frontier’s Jarrod Snyder in the first round of the state tournament. The match was scoreless into the third period, when Snyder got an escape and a takedown to go ahead 3-0 and wound up winning 5-1.
The loss dropped Jones to the consolation bracket where he faced Robert Knight of Newbury Park. Once again, the match went into the third period before Knight won by fall in 4:35.
“I was surprised because I thought Kenny had a good chance,” Juliano said. “It was crazy.”
— Steve Galluzzo
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