Hesperia's Paulo Valdez earns the 113-pound title at the CIF-SS Masters Meet

For the second straight season, Hesperia’s Paulo Valdez reached the podium at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet in Palm Springs.

Valdez highlights the list of eight High Desert wrestlers who qualified for the CIF State Wrestling Championships.

Valdez, who captured the 106-pound title last year as a sophomore, began the Masters as the No. 2 seed in his bracket and picked up four victories.

Valdez scored an 8-4 decision over Canyon Springs' Max Murillo, the No. 1 seed, in the title match of the gold bracket.

Valdez began the day with an 18-2 technical fall over Magnolia's Joseph Garcia in the first round and then followed that up with a 19-4 technical fall over Godinez's Jesse Hernandez to reach the semifinals. There, he picked up an 18-3 technical fall over Cerritos' James Fukuchi.

The High Desert was represented by 25 boys who qualified for the Masters, held at Palm Springs High School.

Each weight class was split into blue and gold brackets with the top 10, five in each bracket, respectively, guaranteeing a berth to the CIF State Wrestling Championships, in Bakersfield, on Feb. 22 through 24.

Valdez will be joined by teammates Chris Guerrero and Angel Salgado.

Representing Sultana at Bakersfield will be brothers Cael and Rocky Humphrey. Victor Valley also has two qualifiers in Avian Singh and Daniel Mendoza.

Oak Hills will be represented by Charles King in the 215-pound division.

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Here’s a look at the eight wrestlers that qualified for the state championships at Mechanics Bank Arena.

• Andrew Diaz, Hesperia, senior — Diaz qualified after taking third place at 126-pound by forfeit. Diaz began the day with a 6-5 decision and a pinfall victory before dropping to the consolation bracket, where he scored an 8-5 decision over Servite's Alex Newman to reach the third-place match against Highland's Jaime Serrato.

• Angel Salgado, Hesperia, senior — Salgado beat Roosevelt's Noah Vasquez by sudden victory in the fifth-place match in the 144-pound division. Salgado began the day with a 3-0 decision before losing a 7-4 decision to Victor Valley’s Avain Singh, in a rematch from a week ago. In the consolation bracket, Salgado picked up a 7-3 decision over Brea Olinda's Bradley Espinoza.

• Avian Singh, Victor Valley, senior — Singh qualified by taking fourth place at 144 pounds. Singh began the day with a 5-0 decision, then scored a 7-4 decision over Salgado to reach the semifinals. But he dropped to the consolation bracket after an injury default. Singh then scored a 5-0 decision over Roosevelt's Noah Vasquez to reach the third-place match.

• Cael Humphrey, Sultana, freshman — Cael Humphrey took fifth place in the 113-pound division after pinning Arroyo's Lucas Long at the 2:09 mark. Humphrey began the day with two pinfall victories, before losing a 7-3 decision to St. John Bosco's Sean Willcox, the No. 1 seed in the division.

• Charles King, Oak Hills, senior — King qualified after his opponent injury defaulted in the fifth-place match in the 215-pounds division. King began the day with a pinfall in 40 seconds over Norco's Daniel Blue before dropping to the consolation bracket. There, King won matches by pinfall and an 11-2 majority decision before reaching the fifth-place match.

• Chris Guerrero, Hesperia, senior — Guerrero scored a 5-2 decision over Lakeside's Axel Esparza in the fifth-place match at 138 pounds. Guerrero began the day with two victories before dropping to the consolation bracket.

• Daniel Mendoza, Victor Valley, sophomore — Mendoza qualified with a fifth-place finish in the 106-pound division. Mendoza pinned Esperanza's Marchello Calavitta at the 1:56 mark in the fifth-place match. After losing by sudden victory in the first round, he picked up three victories in the consolation bracket, including a pinfall in 31 seconds over Pacifica Oxnard's Jason Ybarra.

• Rocky Humphrey Jr., Sultana, junior — Humphrey took fourth place in the 120-pound division after going 3-2 on the mat. Humphrey began the tournament with a pinfall and 9-5 decision before dropping to the consolation bracket, where he scored a 3-1 decision over Murrieta Valley's Brandon Ryan to reach the third-place match.

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These wrestlers earned victories but missed the cut

• Denzel Cisneros, Sultana, junior — Cisneros went 1-2 in the 126-pound division, with his lone victory being a 7-5 decision over Corona Del Mar's Graham DeSantis.

• Emiliano Hernandez, Hesperia, sophomore — Hernandez began the day with a 2-1 decision over Murrieta Valley's Ty Greer in the 132-pound first round before losing the next two matches.

• Gabriel Garcia, Oak Hills, senior — Garcia went 2-2 in the 157-pound division. He began the day with a 6-3 decision over Royal's Benjamin Kirk and then lost in the second round. Garcia picked up one win, a pinfall over Camarillo's Emmanuel Sandoval, before being eliminated.

• Jesse Cardona, Victor Valley, senior — Cardona went 1-2 in the 175-pound division, with his lone victory being a 10-4 decision over Servite's Brando Mosqueda.

• Marcus Ochoa, Serrano, junior — Ochoa began the day with a pinfall victory over Downey's Demetrio Sandoval in the heavyweight division before losing in the second round and then being eliminated.

• Prince Norris, Adelanto, freshman — Norris went 1-2 in the 175-pound division, with his lone victory being a pinfall over La Quinta's Julian Castro at the 1:43 mark.

• Tyler Mulford, Apple Valley, senior — Mulford went 1-2 in the 120-pound division, with his lone victory being a pinfall over Canyon Springs' Isaac Castaneda.

• Xander Firm, Sultana, junior — Firm began the day with a loss in the heavyweight division and then picked up two pinfall victories over West Valley's Damian Rosales and Servite's Brandon Bass before being eliminated.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: CIF-SS Masters Meets: 8 High Desert boys wrestlers reach the podium