Two area grapplers still in the mix
Sutter High senior Austin Morehead went a perfect 3-0 a the CIF State Wrestling Championships in Bakersfield on Friday and will wrestle in today's semifinals.
The 189-pound Morehead, who placed fifth at the state tournament at 215 pounds last year, started the day with a third-round pin of Edison High's Weston Hawkins. He followed that up with another third-round pin over Buchanan's Tanner Barnes to move on.
In his quarterfinal match against Ponderosa's Lyndell Scarr, Morehead broke a 2-2 tie with an escape in the third round to pull out a 3-2 victory.
Morehead, a three-time state qualifier, will take on a familiar opponent at 10:30 a.m. today when he takes on Calvary Temple's Morgan McIntosh, the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the state at 189 pounds.
"The irony is him and Austin are pretty good friends," Sutter coach Ryan Reynolds said. "They were on the national team together, so they're pretty good buddies."
Lindhurst's Anthony Vega (140) dropped his first match of the day to Bakersfield's Timmy Box, but battled back to record four straight wins by decision and is in position to medal when the tournament wraps up today.
River Valley's Adam Blank (135) opened with a loss to Sultana's Michael Gonzalez and was later eliminated from the tourament after going 0-2.
