Paloma Valley placed second and unseeded newcomer Kyle Barnett defeated the top-ranked Southern Section wrestler (160 pounds) at the 30th Annual Riverside County Wrestling Tournament held this past weekend at Arlington High School in Riverside.

The two-day 48-man double-elimination tournament on seven mats drew 44 teams and 45 CIF-SS ranked wrestlers; 38 had qualified for the CIF-SS Championships last year; eight had qualified for the State meet.

Corona Centennial had won the last four team titles and the defending Division 1 dual meet champion continued their dominance with another team win (225.5 points).

Paloma Valley – with 12 returnees from last season – led the tournament most of the two days, placing eight wrestlers to capture second (214 points). Riverside’s King was third (197); Chaparral was fourth (180); defending Sunbelt League champion, Temescal Canyon and Beaumont tied for the next spot at 154.5 points. Paloma Valley Wildcats Coach Brian Kingman was awarded the tournament’s "Coach of the Year" Award. The Wildcats are ranked #5 in the preseason Division III polls (behind #4 Temescal Canyon).

Great Oak’s Barnett, a junior transfer from Virginia, upset Chaparral’s Bradley Christiansen in the semi-finals round of the 160 pound division. Christiansen is the #1-ranked wrestler at that weight in the Southern Section and the #3-ranked wrestler in the state (California Wrestler). He went 48-7 last year and finished 3-2 at the State meet.

Barnett went on to win the title with a 5-4 decision over Corona’s Cyrus Sanai. Barnett had recorded four consecutive pins and was named Upper Weight MVP at the Mar Vista Battle by the Beach Tournament in December of 2012.

Carter Armendarez, who transferred from Temecula Valley to Great Oak, also won his weight class crown with a Major Decision over Palm Desert’s Matt Holm in the 152 pound class.

Individual Results:

106 – Espinoza (Paloma Valley) decision over Nakoney (Chaparral), 8-7

113 – Parker (Centennial) decision over Vargas (Citrus Hill), 5-4

120 – Castillo (Centennial) decision over Kirk (Elsinore), 6-2

126 – Vasquez (King) decision over Torres (LaSierra), 1-0

132 – Hernandez (Canyon Springs) decision over Looney (Roosevelt)

138 – Sidenour (Beaumont) pin Beas (Temescal Canyon)

145 – Muniz (Centennial) decision over Kistler, N. (King), 8-7

152 – Armendarez (Great Oak) major decision over Holm (Palm Desert), 14-5

160 – Barnett (Great Oak) decision Sanai (Corona), 5-4

170 – H Kistler II (King) pin Castro (Roosevelt)

182 – Lehva (San Jacinto) decision over Sutton (Hemet), 10-4

195 – Barber (Canyon Springs) pin Martinez (Centennial)

220 – Hernandez (Corona) decision over Cepeda (Centennial), 4-1

285 – Abdullatif (Roosevelt) pin Kocay (Paloma Valley)

Key Wrestling Dates:

January 18-19

"Battle for the Belt", Temecula Valley High

February 9

Division I Dual Championships, Los Alamitos High

Division III Dual Championships, Victo Valley High

February 15-16

Inland Division, Individual Championships, Los Osos High, Rancho Cucamonga

February 22-23

CIF-SS Masters Meet, Temecula Valley High