Who beat him for 3rd? What a weight......
The weight was probably the toughest in CA history, at least the top 4 were.
Mantanona took 1st beating Laird Root 5-4 in the finals
In the semis Mantanona beat Ethan Parco 4-3, Mantanona also beat Parco in OT in the Doc B finals.
Miguel lost to Root in OT 3-1, Miguel was in on probably 5 shots that he didn't finish. Root is real flexible and has real good leg defense. In the finals Root successfully defended 3 shots from Mantanona.
For 3rd Miguel lost again in OT, this time to Parco on the :30 second ride out. Miguel pushed the pace the entire match, I don't think Parco took 1 real offensive attempt the entire match. Miguel had a nice ankle pick that caught Parco off guard but he was able to scramble out.
As far as the weight being tough, these are the placings of the top 4 guys in Ca state the past 3 years.
Miguel was 1st, 1st & 4th at state the past 3 years.
Mantanona was 1st, 2nd & 1st this year
Root was 3rd, 2nd (To Miguel) and 2nd this year
Parco was 5th, 5th and 3rd this year.
Also remember Cali is 1 class with 40 million people in the state
I didn't put the covid year where Miguel won the CA Invitational event, because it wasn't a sanctioned CIF tournament that year.
He's only lost 3 matches in California, 1 was early last season to Root and the 2 this year in OT. In my opinion he's wrestling good but the margin of error between the 4 guys is really close. He's got to improve his top and bottom game for sure. I told him when he gets to Iowa he needs try to learn Spencer and Real Woods head lever tilt game, they're two of the best ever on top.
The 3 point takedown in college will play to his strengths so thats a positive. I think if he manages his weight properly so he can be a 141 pounder starting out and learns to be at least good on top he has a chance to be special. Things like work ethic, clean lifestyle, mental toughness & desire won't be issues for him.
He's wrestling at the end of the March at the Pitt Classic so he's back training today. He's wrestling 152 plus 5 lbs so 157, I would of preferred him wrestling 145 plus 5 but he didn't care, he was honored to be selected. His walk around is like 158-160 any given day. Also he could of made 144 plus 2 = 146 this year in California but he wanted to stay where the best guys were because he knew it was a historic weight.