Bishop Bronco Wrestling 16 Feb 25
This past Friday and Saturday, six Bishop Broncos wrestled at the Central Section Division 5 Tournament in Visalia – the first step to the state championships. Broncos at this tournament were juniors Kano Graves (4-0), Mikey Trejo (5-1), and Chucky Delgado (2-2), along with sophomores Jaidyn McKellips (5-2) and Daxen Svacina (0-2) and freshman Messi Trejo (0-2). Wrestlers must place in the top 3 at this tournament to advance to the Central Section Finals next weekend. There is a consolation bracket for those who have lost one match, where wrestlers are all vying for 3rd place. Although they wrestled their best, 2 of the Broncos went 0 – 2. Sophomore Jaidyn McKellips, wrestling at 144 pounds, won a match in the Championship bracket but then lost his next match against the #1-seeded wrestler. In the consolation bracket, Jaidyn fought his way to the match for 3rd place by pinning all three of his opponents – one in just 47 seconds. Unfortunately, Jaidyn lost the match for 3rd place and finished in 4th. Junior Mikey Trejo made his way to the semifinals in the 157-pound weight class, where he lost against a wrestler from Tehachapi. This wrestler happened to be the younger brother of the Tehachapi wrestler that Will Hennarty beat 2 years ago to qualify for the state tournament. Mikey fought his way to the 3rd place finish, where he won with a 10-4 decision, qualifying him for the Central Section Finals.
Junior Kano Graves at 159 pounds had a 15-0 technical fall in his first match and pinned his next two opponents, making it to the finals. Like his other matches, Kano dominated his opponent, pinning him for a FIRST PLACE CIF win. Only 2 points were scored against Kano in the tournament, showing his dominance.
This year 24 schools were attending the Division 5 championships and Bishop finished in 14 the place – not bad for a team with just 6 wrestlers in the 14 weight classes. Even though High Desert League foe Kern Valley brought 9 wrestlers, the Broncos outscored them by 10 points. Head Coach Brady Howell said, “We were definitely planning on having a few more wrestlers advance to the Masters Tournament but all in all I am proud of these guys. Placing 3 out of 6 wrestlers and having 2 go to Masters is still a huge accomplishment for Bishop.”
The next action for the two Broncos left in the playoffs is the Central Division Championships in Fresno this coming Friday and Saturday.
