BHS Wrestling: Silva faces tough task at state

BARSTOW • Sean Silva hasn’t celebrated a single one of his victories this year.

The Barstow High School 112-pound junior wrestler has abstained from cheering after his numerous wins even though he’s placed at prestigious meets like the Reno Tournament of Champions and Five Counties and is ranked in California (No. 6 112-pounder) and nationally (No. 24).

He’d like to change that this weekend at the CIF State Wrestling Championships at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. The tournament starts today and finishes on Saturday.

While Silva said he’s proud of his accomplishments, the goal is to win a state championship. That’s when he said he’ll celebrate.
“I think celebrating is something that should happen when you achieve your ultimate goal and winning a state championship is my ultimate goal,” Silva said. “I don’t think I’ll be happy until I do win.”

Silva enters the tournament five wins away from achieving that goal, but it won’t be easy. The bad news is Silva is will enter what Barstow coach Adam Hopkins believes is the toughest weight class at CIF.

“In a way, you could put this in perspective this is a national tournament,” said Hopkins referring to the depth an experience of the 112-pound California wrestlers. “This is more than just a high school state championship for us.”

Seven of the wrestlers, including Silva, are returning All-Americans, five are ranked nationally by one publication or another and Hopkins identified as many as eight wrestlers who he thinks can take the title.

However, the good news is that Hopkins believes Silva is among the upper echelon in the weight class.

“He knows he can compete with these guys, so just go in there and battle,” Hopkins said. “I like our draw. I’m sure Sean likes his draw and enjoys what he’s ready to endure, and I’m real positive about what’s going to happen this weekend.”

Silva is in his second trip to the state tournament. He bowed out quickly last year with two losses in two matches a year ago. He’s benefited from a rigorous freestyle season during the high school offseason and attending high-level tournaments this year, Hopkins said.

“About this time of year I always remind myself that I can not allow my kids to just wrestle in the sandbox all year,” Hopkins said. “We’ve got to be able to travel. Being at these tournaments and with the level of these competitors, there’s a reason why we wrestle these people. It’s because we’ve got to get ready for Bakersfield.”

Silva will begin the tournament against Rich Castillo from Antioch High School. He likely won’t have to face Estavan Cabanas, who he lost to at the finals of the CIF-SS Masters, until deep into the tournament.

Silva and Hopkins are looking forward to a potential matchup with Gilroy wrestler Jesse Delgado in the quarterfinals if both wrestlers win. Silva considers Delgado a friend after the two wrestled together on Team California at the Cadet and Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D., and Delgado is predicated to win the match. Silva said he’s ready to prove people wrong to achieve his goal.

“I’m definitely an underdog at the tournament,” Silva said. “That’s how I usually am. Anyone from Barstow is going to be an underdog compared to these other schools. I think that’s best for me because I’ve got nothing to lose.”

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mpeters@desertdispatch.com